A Fintech startup that is democratizing the financial services for SME’s in the UK
Read the interview with Panos Savvas, Akoni’s co-founder and CTO, in which we talk about our collaboration.
Our client, AkoniHub from London is selected among 12 winning Fintechs to advance the future of SME banking in the UK.
Akoni is an innovative company that helps SME’s to maximise their interest earned and manage risk without the hassle of researching rates, setting up then monitoring multiple accounts. They do the work in scanning the marketplace for the best rates and help the companies make the most of their cash in a safe and secure way. They work with Barclays, Aldermore, Metro Bank, Clydesdale Bank, Arbuthnot Latham, Hodge Bank, Oak North Bank and many more. As an innovative company they are recognized by BBVA, Forbes, Fintech Influencers and Nesta.
Panos, Co-founder & CTO of Akoni, has extensive retail and commercial banking expertise. With over 13 years in Banking and Fintech, he has been leading global product development teams and change management programmes for leading financial organisations including RBS, IG Group, Intelligent Environments and others. He has worked with a wide range of Fintech and e-commerce ventures, providing consultancy on tech strategy and product/service design. As one of the founders, he is currently focused on scaling the Akoni business. Akoni is fundamentally changing the way business bank and procure financial services, leveraging data to create a personalized and tailored experience for SMEs and small corporates, and our WF team is here to do the software development part.
What made you choose our services over anything else you could have done?
I have been in touch with the management team at Web Factory for a number of years and know how they operate. They are extremely diligent, hard working and helpful. More importantly they really are passionate about their projects. I initially had a strong recommendation from mutual contact who was delighted with their work, and we had the opportunity of working together in a small way previously. When it came to the time I needed to scale my development team Web Factory were an obvious choice for me.
What was your problem before you started using our services?
As a start up in London, hiring quality team members can be very challenging. Much more so since the Brexit referendum. I was looking for a near shorе team that could embed in Akoni. What is more I needed a development partner that could cover data science skill, java development and front end work. Web Factory managed to tick all those boxes, but also brought in management oversight and great relationship management.
What results did you get from our services?
We delivered a brand new product for my company which required us to work quickly and in an agile fashion while still maintaining very high quality standards. More importantly we built a strong team that has remained engaged and delivers exceptional value on a daily basis.
What has that meant for your business?
The most important factor was the creation of a permanent, highly skilled team that understand our platform, our challenges and our technology. It does not feel like an outsources arrangement. This gives us all the flexibility we need.
What has that enabled you to do that you couldn’t before?
We have been able to build more technology and deliver results faster to our banking clients and B2B users. By expanding the team we have accelerated our roadmap.
What do you value about your partnership with Web Factory LLC?
The team we have built with WF works as an extension of the company, and the skill level is high as is the engagement with our business goals. The most satisfying element has been the support and collaboration we have received from the management team. I also very much enjoy my visits to Skopje which have become regular. The team and company make my stays very enjoyable.
Using the multiple sources of business data and the power of innovation to deliver personalized prompts and products to SMEs, Akoni is aiming to fundamentally change the way businesses bank. Together we aim to develop the software that will democratize the financial services for SME’s in the UK.
But what would be a cutting edge Fintech software solution without implementation of AI? Finance is no exception, as one of the most crucial segments, where Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a paradigm-shifting technology, is seamlessly changing the way we are used to do banking, forecasting and finances more globally.
Our spin off company, Pendulibrium, in partnership with Akoni, is working to infuse Akoni’s platform with an AI solution.
We expect that in the future the users can wield the power of AI to expand their opportunities and make better decisions through a polished cash management platform and an enhanced user experience.
If you want to find out more about our services and our scope of work, do not hesitate to reach out and schedule a call with our CTO or our Business Development Team!
