Oval Money to create ‘end-to-end’ savings solution

OVAL Money, an automated saving and crowd-investing marketplace app, plans to create an “end-to-end” savings solution for its users after closing its crowdfunding round above target.

The start-up, which recently revealed it will add peer-to-peer investing to its app, said it will develop a “multi-sided marketplace” for saving and investment products.

The company raised £788,440 through a 14-day crowdfunding campaign which closed on Monday at 58 per cent more than its initial target.

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It comes after Oval integrated with Facebook in October, enabling users to save money each time they post on the social media platform.

Users set savings aside through “steps” – commands based on user behaviours that draw money from a linked current account into a digital wallet.

Oval, which is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, claimed its users are saving an average of £130 each month.

More than 3,000 new users joined the app in a single day on Tuesday following the close of the crowdfunding round.

In total, it has nearly 60,000 users on iOS and Android across the UK and Italy, the two markets which it is currently targeting.

Oval Money co-founder and chief executive Benedetta Arese Lucini, the former chief executive of Uber Italy, said Oval Money will continue to make saving and investing easier and more intuitive for its users.

“Together with our community of 60,000 individuals, we are excited and eager to embark on the next chapter in the Oval Money story,” she added.

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