Kenyan Money Manager App Alvin raises $740k pre-seed Funding Round
Kenyan smart money manager app, Alvin, helping people align their daily spending around savings goals, has raised $740k in a pre-seed funding round as it continues to hone its product, which is in the private beta phase.
The round was led by Ingressive Capital, and featured Zephyr Acorn, Voltron Capital, Future Africa and Tahseen Consulting. Other notable investors in the round included Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade, and Tony Nicalo, the former CEO of marketing company Dondé.
Alvin was launched in May last year. The platform leverages automated budgeting, personalised offers and applied behavioural game design strategies to help people align their daily spending around their savings goals in a sustainable way.
Alvin app’s interface
Alvin’s CEO Winston Reid spoke on the utilities of Alvin’s app, highlighting that the Alvin app is designed as a companion.
“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.
“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.
Alvin has also launched its flagship product, the Alvin App v1 Labrador public beta, as an intentionally soft launch while it made amendments ahead of a formal launch. The Alvin app will launch publicly in Kenya in the next few months, but the startup already has international ambitions.
“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,” Reid said.