BATON ROUGE — Louisiana State University student Hadi Choumar is working on a lot more than just his degree. At just 22, he’s also the CEO of his own successful and growing company, Tech Tren.
“About two years ago, I started working on some algorithms for the financial markets, and we’re integrating AI into it,” Choumar explained. “Basically we’ve created a platform that is all in one for retail investors.”
Tech Tren puts everything in one place: custom financial GPT, AI price prediction models, social media, real-time charting, and more in one platform.
Choumar hopes his new platform will help young people feel less overwhelmed and more confident investing. “We’re removing the obstacle for young people who want to get started in the market, by taking away the idea that you need a financial advisor,” Choumar said.
“People feel like they need to have a financial advisor to get started in the market. They feel like they’re getting beat out by all of these hedge funds and money makers in the financial markets right now, and so we’re empowering retail investors. That’s the entire goal.”
Taking off
Choumar said he came up with the idea as something for personal use, and he initially didn’t plan to start a company. “It was my concept. I created the code and everything,” he said. “Then I started to realize, ‘Wow, this this thing really works,’ and the ideas just started flowing. There’s an opportunity for it, not just for me to use, but for other people to use as well.”
Choumar brought his idea to his now co-founder earlier this year. “I officially founded it back in May with my co-founder. I told him about my idea, and he believed in it,” Choumar said. “He has the same mission and the same idea: that we need to be helping retail investors have a fighting chance in the world and and in their finances. Since then, it’s been a journey, and we’re grateful.”
“At first, it was just a bunch of code, but now it’s a full on interface that’s very attractive when you look at it,” Choumar said. “It’s been a lot of long nights. A lot of frustrating nights, but it’s worked out so far.”
Seeing growth
Since launching in May, Tech Tren has seen rapid growth. “We originally pitched to people who we knew,” Choumar said. “We brought in about a dozen people, but out of that dozen, one of them believed in us, and they decided that it was worth a shot.”
The company has raised about $300,000 in seed money, and Choumar is still taking meetings with possible investors. “It’s just about making sure that we lift off at this point and keeping up momentum. Because momentum right now is probably the most important thing.”
Right now Tech Tren is only a website, but Choumar and his co-founder have plans for the future as the company grows. “We’re waiting for traction first, and then we plan on developing a mobile app.”
Balancing act
On top of running Tech Tren, Choumar is also taking online courses at LSU. “It’s pretty difficult, but it’s not anything that’s too much for me to handle.”
To help him balance everything, Choumar switched from being a full-time student, taking classes in person, to part-time online. “It helps me manage my classes and and make sure that I still get my degree, because I do want to use my degree for something later down the line.”
Choumar is studying construction management and expects to graduate next semester.
“It’s a lot, but being busy is a blessing from God.”
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