Odebiyi pivots to SaveCircle

Bobola Odebiyi is a well-known figure in Milwaukee’s startup ecosystem.

The Nigerian-born CPA is the founder of CrossKudi, an international money transfer platform. The blockchain-based business was launched in 2020. Since then, the company has made headlines by winning contests and earning grants from FOR-M and the Milky Way Tech Hub, as well as a $100,000 investment from the Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator.

CrossKudi faced many challenges, including international banking regulations, that slowed the growth of the company.

“We tried very hard. A lot of companies are trying to do the same thing. We decided to pivot to a solution that can quickly go to market,” Odebiyi explained.

His new company, SaveCircle, is another fintech product designed to help users improve their financial standing. The app-based product encourages saving by allowing users to create groups of savers who have all agreed to work together to meet monthly saving goals.

Family, friends, and community members are able to form a saving community to reach a shared financial target. Each group member agrees to a monthly saving amount and the duration of time the money will be saved. As the goal is reached, team members will take turns receiving payouts until the terms of the agreement are fulfilled.

Currently, the product is being designed for customers with U.S. bank accounts, but Odebiyi plans to offer the app internationally in the future.

The app allows users to access large sums of money at once to handle large expenses, like appliances, funeral costs, or paying off credit card debt. Odebiyi believes this tool will help users save thousands of dollars in credit card interest fees, both by providing another option to access funds for large purchases and allowing debt to be paid off quickly.

Additionally, he believes the power of peer pressure will help people achieve financial goals that they may not have the spending discipline to meet on their own.

Odebiyi and his team are still finetuning the app. They hope to release the minimum viable product (MVP) in the third quarter of 2024. The team is planning to release the app before the end of this year.

“I can just feel it. We have it now. It is very exciting that this solution is coming out of Wisconsin,” he said.

To follow the launch of SaveCircle, connect with the company here.