Savings app Oval Money raises £1.3m to expand product range

AUTOMATED savings platform Oval Money has raised £1.3m in a fresh funding round that will be used to expand the range of products that users can put money into.

The app was founded by former Uber Italy chief executive Benedetta Arese Lucini and lets users track spending and set amounts of money to be saved into a digital wallet each time they make a purchase.

It raised £800,000 on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube in January – despite only targeting £500,000 – and received a further £500,000 from industry figures including Fabio Cannavale, chief executive of Lastminute.com.

Read more: RateSetter and Zopa among P2P lenders signed up to money platform Bud

The Financial Conduct Authority-authorised firm has also said it plans to add peer-to-peer lenders to its platform and the funds will go towards building a ‘marketplace’ that would include P2P and other products.

“Once again, we’re overwhelmed by the support Oval Money has received,” Lucini said.

“Not only because it illustrates true value in our product, but because it has allowed us to focus on the next chapter in the platform’s development, allowing us truly to democratise saving and investment, and help tackle the poor savings culture that has become endemic within Europe and the UK.”

Oval also integrated with Facebook last October, enabling users to save money each time they post on the social media platform.

The firm wants to help tackle the poor savings culture in the UK which sees one in four households holding less than £100 in savings. It is especially targeting people working in the gig economy. Users are saving an average of £130 per month through the app, it said.