Alvin, a smart money management software that helps users align their daily spending around savings objectives, has acquired a pre-seed fundraising round of $740,000 in Kenya as it continues to refine its product, which is now in private beta.
Alvin is a smart money management software that utilizes automated budgeting, personalized offers, and applied behavioural game design principles to help users align their daily spending around their savings objectives in a sustainable way. It was founded in May last year.
Last year, the company introduced its flagship product, the Alvin App v1 Labrador public beta, as a soft launch to allow it to make changes before an official debut, and closed the year with an oversubscribed US $740,000 pre-seed investment round.
Ingressive Capital led the round, which also included Zephyr Acorn, Voltron Capital, Future Africa, and Tahseen Consulting. Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade and Tony Nicalo, the former CEO of the marketing firm Dondé, were among the other significant investors in the round. It also includes US$100,000 from Forum Ventures, a US-based B2B SaaS-focused accelerator program, after Alvin was selected to join in its W22 batch, which begins this month, as well as a few other American and Kenyan angels.
Winston Reid, the CEO of Alvin, stated that he and his co-founders developed the company to address an issue that they and their peers faced on a regular basis.
“The only personal finance apps we could find in Kenya were not optimised for the local context, offered no guidance to help us acquire the assets we wanted to save toward, and only offered the ability to save but give no daily support to help us save for goals that require consistency for long periods of time,” he said.
“In order for anyone to build sustainable saving habits, they need to have sustainable spending habits. And doing this requires giving people more support than reminders to make deposits.”
“Next, we will be adding card transaction tracking for Kenyan banks and the ability to contribute to a high-interest yield savings account without having to leave the Alvin app. Alvin is ultimately designed to be your daily pocket companion that makes it dead simple to feel like you’re in control of your financial situation, and that every day you’re on a clear path toward buying that plot of land, or that house,” Reid said.
“With powerhouses Ingressive Capital, Shola Akinlade, Voltron Capital and Future Africa onboard, we have immediate plans to expand to Nigeria in the latter half of 2022,” he added.
“Labrador,” the initial edition of the Alvin app, is now in private testing. It includes M-Pesa cost monitoring and the ability to construct a budget in two minutes, telling users how much they can spend each month on items like food, entertainment, and rent depending on their income and most important savings goal.
The Alvin app will be available to the public in Kenya in the coming months, but the business has already set its sights on the rest of the world.
