Much of the current innovation in the fintech space focuses on empowering the unbanked and the underbanked to have access to crucial financial services. One people group that has been continually overlooked is Gen Z (ages 11-25), who only have access to cash or their parents' cards to make payments. Zywa is on a mission to change that. 

Zywa is a social banking app and prepaid card created specifically for Gen Z, allowing teenagers to spend, receive and manage money completely cashlessly. They can also earn rewards and interact with their friends on the app, and parents are even able to send money to their kids to cover expenses in a controlled environment. 

Zywa was inspired by the lived experiences of its co-founders. Alok Kumar (CEO) and Nuha Hashem (CTO) grew up in the gulf region and identified the pain points of young people who were stuck with borrowing their parents' cards or asking for cash to make payments. They recently raised $3 million in seed funding which they will use to fuel their growth in the UAE and expand into Saudi Arabia and Egypt. 

In this conversation on The Change Officer Podcast, Alok and Nuha share: 

• Zywa's fascinating origin story 
• Why they decided to leave their established career paths and focus fully on Zywa instead 
• Their experience and the value they gained from being involved in the YCombinator accelerator programme 
• How they sourced, pitched to and selected investors for Zywa 
• How they are building their business and their product 
• Why they were able to successfully partner with banks 
• What a growth team is, the value it holds, and how they built theirs 
• How they are gathering the data to build a product that truly meets the needs of its users 

Find Zywa online: https://www.zywa.co

Host: Vuk Zlatarov

🎬 This episode is produced by Poddster, an end-to-end video podcast production company that helps businesses conceptualize, produce, manage, and grow podcasts for their brand. Click this link to book a free consultation with Poddster's team or rent a studio: poddster.com/book-free-consultation/

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✨ They say that change is the only constant. If this is true, we want to know what is the change ahead. To get the answers, our hosts Ivan Zeljkovic and Vuk Zlatarov are talking to the change-makers themselves. We invite you to join us on the journey of getting the answer ✨

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