A fintech startup with a clear vision: a personal finance management app that helped everyday consumers understand their money without the complexity of tools designed for financial advisors. The founder had domain expertise (former wealth management), a $2M seed round, and 16 weeks before their next board meeting where they needed to show a launched product with traction.
Their first development shop delivered a prototype after 8 weeks — but it couldn't connect to real bank accounts (the API integration with financial data aggregators wasn't built), the categorization engine classified 40% of transactions as 'Uncategorized,' and there was no security architecture. The founder had $800K left and 16 weeks.
Speed + financial services compliance expertise. They couldn't afford another false start. We'd built in regulated financial services before and understood the data aggregator landscape.
Full personal finance management app — iOS and Android. Bank account aggregation via Plaid and MX with fallback handling. AI-powered transaction categorization with 97% accuracy — trained on financial transaction datasets, with user feedback loop improving categorization over time. Spending analytics with trend detection and anomaly alerts. Savings goal engine with automated recommendations. Debt payoff optimizer (avalanche vs snowball with custom scenarios). Net worth dashboard aggregating bank accounts, investments, property, and liabilities. Push notifications for bill reminders, unusual transactions, and milestone celebrations.
Launched in the App Store and Google Play 11 weeks after engagement start. 200,000 downloads in the first 6 months. 4.7-star rating. Transaction categorization accuracy reached 97.3% within 90 days through the ML feedback loop. Series A followed within 4 months of the board meeting.
The first call is with a senior engineer.
Tell us the industry, the regulatory environment, and what needs to be built. We'll tell you if we've done it before, what it should cost, and how long it takes.