Six companies in Australia have won places on the 2024 list of Forbes Asia 100 in Watch, notably Hello Clever, a Fintech startup founded and operated by two young people from the province of Vinh Long in southern Vietnam.
Nguyen Hieu Trieu Vy, which bears the name of Gavin, and Tran Thu Thuy Quynh, who passes by Caroline, both aged 32, co-founded Hello Clever in 2020.
Gavin, who is responsible for the company’s technology, said that the original objective of Hello Clever, which was launched in 2020, was to create an application to help young people manage their personal finances.
However, his first product did not win a lot of traction, and it was not until 2022 that the startup struck it.
Previously, credit card payments in Australia required several hours, or even days for the regulations, and the funds only return to the merchant’s account once everything has been treated.
In 2018, Australia implemented the new payment platform, which made it possible to treat transactions in real time. Then Payto was introduced on the new payment platform in July 2022, more simplifying instant payments.
During this month, Hello Clever became one of the first fintech platforms to connect with Payto.
According to an expert from the Reserve Bank of Australia, any fintech wishing to connect with Payto must ensure that its technology meets the strict standards established by a new payment platform and a payment.
They must also have financial licenses in Australia and comply with the regulations established by the Australian Securities Investments Commission and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
According to Gavin, business technology is not very different from its competitors.
“The difference may be that our team is more passionate. Most of our technological team is from Vietnam, and they are always ready to work day and night. (Their passion) is an interesting characteristic of Vietnamese entrepreneurs, ”said Gavin.
A world team
However, the partnership very early with Payto was not a guaranteed success.
According to Caroline, Hello Clever has chosen to develop a cashback functionality. When users make payments via Hello Clever, they receive cashback from merchants. This allows customers to save big during shopping.
Traders also benefit from this because they receive payments instantly instead of waiting for days, helping them to optimize cash flows. Cashback promotions also help stimulate sales.
AI applications integrated by Hello Clever help traders to analyze consumer trends and suggest the most effective means of performing their promotions and setting cashback rates.
Hello Clever currently has more than 100,000 customers in Australia and around 400 partner brands.
In 2022, the company raised $ 4.5 million to (US $ 2.8 million). At the end of 2024, the startup obtained additional $ 5 million in ($ 3.1 million), increasing its total valuation to around $ 10 million to ($ 6.2 million).
The company has around 40 employees in six countries. The technological team is based in Vietnam, with young talented professionals confident in their ability to compete with other startups in the same field.
Meanwhile, sales and marketing teams are based in Australia, while other staff are in Finland, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. Singapore and Japan teams focus on the company’s expected expansion in 2025.
Bart gameing, director of partnerships at Choco Up, a global income-based growth and growth platform, said Hello Clever has increased exponentially in the past three years, providing unique consumption solutions.
One of Caroline’s main responsibilities is to help Hello Clever to connect with Kols, Partners and Merchants.
Andrew Thornton, manager of partnerships at Tyro, a financial technology company based in Australia, praised Hello Clever’s remarkable capacity to adapt and develop, responding flexibly to the needs of companies while providing solid value.
They are continuously taking advantage of new technologies in banking services and payments, which causes rapid improvements that give customers access to innovation, said Thornton.
Caroline and Gavin were friends at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school in the province of Vinh Long.
Caroline studied finances and accounting at the University of Technology in Sydney in Australia and had experience in large companies like WPP, IPG and James Hardie.
Gavin obtained a Software Engineering scholarship from FPT University in Vietnam and graduated from a major promotion in 2014.
Almost 10 years later, he obtained a master’s degree in RMIT University in Ho Chi Minh City, graduated again at the top of his class.
They connected completely by chance, both wanting to create something from their own during the COVVI-19 pandemic, when the country was almost completely locked.
Caroline admitted that their early success was partly due to their daring approach, recalling the daring attitude characteristic of people in the Mekong Delta region.
They took the whole Hello Clever team to Vietnam for a week -long trip last year. It was also the first time that the whole team has met in person.
“We wanted our colleagues from other countries to understand more about Vietnam and its people. Even if we go worldwide, we firmly stand on local land. A solid base will allow us to go far, ”said Caroline.
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