Australian FinTech company profile #5 – SavR
- Company Name: SavR
- Website: www.savr.online
- Key Staff & Titles: Tim O’Shea – CEO, Costas Aletrari – CTO, Kevin Lacey – COO
- Location(s): Brisbane, Australia and Kansas City, USA
- In one sentence, what does your fintech do?: An Automated savings App to help people Plan, Savr FOR and Save ON their next Vacation
- How / why did you start your fintech company?: My career in the Finance industry has centred around helping people improve their lives by better managing their money. Our app was originally designed to help people reduce debt faster, but our users constantly requested help with saving for a Vacation. With all the other financial noise most people experience, taking some time away and exploring new places is still high on the wish list for most people, and we aim to help people achieve that with a simple and free mobile app.
- What the best thing your company has achieved or learnt along the way (this can include awards, capital raising etc)?: Early on, we won a pitch competition in the United States, secured banking partnerships and external capital from a private equity investor. We got off to a flying start, and look forward to our current fundraising efforts accelerating us to explosive user growth.
- What’s some advice you’d give to an aspiring start-up?: Listen to your users. Get feedback, talk to them, understand what they want and provide it. Most of what you think you know will turn out to be wrong. Adapt quickly, and above all be willing to adapt to what the data tells you.
- What’s next for your company? And are you looking to expand overseas or stay focussed on Australia?: We have completed a substantially improved version of our app, and we are currently raising a seed round to focus on user acquisition and monetisation. We have been in discussions with US based investors, but would prefer an Australian VC partner. Ultimately, we will focus on the US market as a priority.
- What other fintechs or companies do you admire?: I really admire the companies tackling huge markets. VOLT Bank is a great example of this. The first recipient of a new banking licence in Australia for a long time, they are taking on the big banks head first, and unashamedly making their focus about positive client outcomes, not bottom line profits. A tough task, and an admirable mission.
- What’s the most interesting or funniest moment that’s happened in your company’s lifetime?: I think the most interesting things that we have experienced along our journey so far is how much we can learn from our Users. Our team has a depth of experience in the tech and finance field, but as we have developed and deployed our product, we have learned something interesting, or has our assumptions challenged at basically every turn. It’s very much an ‘expect the unexpected’ scenario, and we thoroughly enjoy what our users have taught us.
