Tell us about your startup and what inspired you to start it.
WALO’s ambition is to become the leading global personal finance app for good that helps families achieve financial freedom.
At WALO, we take a unique approach to address the financial literacy gap, by empowering parents to teach their kids about money. WALO unburdens parents by embedding financial education into their existing habits, and making it easy and automatic for them to help their kids develop healthy money habits.
We started WALO because we believe financial education is a must for the younger generation and we experienced the consequences of not having it when we were younger. We learned the hard-way and made costly and avoidable money mistakes. I have always wanted to start my own business and I asked myself, why not solve this issue. I decided to take the leap and haven’t looked back since. We are confident that with WALO, we will do better with the next generation.
What energizes you to pursue your startup even when things aren’t going as planned?
Life at a startup is full of ups and downs. What gets me through our tough days is the team. – I’m lucky to be surrounded by an extraordinary group of talented and motivated people that just keep me going. I know that no matter what issue we end up facing, we will be able to get through it together.
What life or work experiences helped prepare you to be a successful entrepreneur? Why?
Management consulting has been a great school, as it helped me develop essential skills that are key to my work today: resourcefulness, structured thinking, a solution-oriented mindset, and the ability to juggle multiple things at once.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities and/or challenges for fintech in 2022 and beyond?
Embedded finance is a growing opportunity in Canada as it’s becoming more and more mature in other markets. The underlying trend highlights the need to make financial services more value-additive and differentiated in a traditionally commoditized sector.
What change would you like to see in your industry?
More diversity & inclusion, more funding going towards diverse team, less systemic bias, more womxn in Fintech!
What is your motto in life?
Mandela’s famous quote: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Story of my life.
What is one thing you’ve learned so far or taken away since joining IFH Lab?
The importance of being adaptable! You will encounter different types of problems and the only way to move past them is to think outside of the box and lean on your resources.
Register to our IFH Lab Demo Day here to listen to Rim’s pitch and to learn more about WALO.
More on WALO:
Website | Linkedin | Twitter
Connect with Rim directly here.
