Australia has 6 representatives in the list of 100 most worth-watching companies in Asia in 2024 announced by Forbes Asia. Surprisingly, Hello Clever, founded and run by two young people in Vinh Long, is among them.
Hello Clever staff from six countries gathered in Vietnam for a week-long trip, also their first face-to-face meeting - Photo: NVCC
Nguyen Hieu Trieu Vy (Gavin) and Tran Thi Thuy Quynh (Caroline Tran) are both 32 years old and are co-founders of this start-up Hello Clever.
Hello Clever seizes opportunity in Australia
Gavin, who is in charge of the technology part, said that the initial orientation when Hello Clever started in 2020 was an application to help young people manage their personal finances. But the first product did not create momentum, and it was not until 2022 that this start-up's "right time" came.
Previously, credit card payment transactions in Australia would take several hours to several days to reconcile and if all the money was okay, it would be transferred to the seller's account. In 2018, Australia deployed the "New Payments Platform" system (NPP) allowing payment transactions to be made in real time. Then PayTo was born on the NPP platform in July 2022, continuing to simplify instant payments.
In July of that year, Hello Clever became one of the first Fintech platforms to connect with PayTo.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) expert, any Fintech that wants to connect with PayTo must first ensure that the technology platform must satisfy a series of technical standards set by NPP and PayTo. Not to mention having a license to operate in the financial sector in Australia, complying with the regulations of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the RBA.
"What is Hello Clever's secret?". Trieu Vy said, the company's technology is not really different from other competitors who were also racing hard at that time. "Maybe it's just that our team is more passionate. The technology team is mostly Vietnamese and always ready to "work" day and night - a unique characteristic of Vietnamese people when starting a business!", Trieu Vy laughed.
The company's vision is written in ink, meaning it cannot be changed, while the execution strategy is written in pencil, which can be completely flexible and open, and even competitors, if they cooperate well, will win together.
TRAN THI THUY QUYNH
Global Team
But "joining hands" early with PayTo does not mean that we can "rest easy". Caroline Tran said they chose to implement the cashback feature. That is, when users pay via Hello Clever, they will receive a cashback from the seller from a few percentage points to a few percent, or a few dollars to a few dozen dollars depending on the promotion. But that way, customers have significant savings when shopping, suggesting more beneficial options.
The same goes for stores, as they receive money instantly instead of waiting a few days, which helps optimize cash flow. Cashback as a form of promotion helps increase revenue. It is the AI applications integrated by Hello Clever that help stores analyze consumer trend data. Thereby, they suggest how they should apply the program and what cashback rate will be most effective.
Hello Clever now has more than 100,000 Australian customers, along with about 400 partner brands. In 2022, the company raised 4.5 million Australian dollars. At the end of 2024, this start-up received 5 million dollars from an investor, bringing the total capitalization value to about 10 million Australian dollars.
About 40 employees are currently located in six countries. Of which, the technology team is located in Vietnam, with young people who are good at domestic technology, confidently competing in technology with many other start-ups in the same field.
The sales and marketing team is in Australia, along with other staff in Finland, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan. Those in Singapore and Japan are focusing on the expected landing in 2025.
"Amazing"
Bart Jeung, global partnerships director at Choco Up, said Hello Clever has grown “exponentially” over the past three years, offering unique consumer solutions.
"Thuy Quynh is the "key" to connecting people, whether they are investors, KOLs, partners or traders. Her optimistic and positive attitude not only affects the Hello Clever team but also the people she meets and connects with," Bart Jeung commented.
Mr. Andrew Thornton - Head of Partnerships at Tyro - said that Hello Clever's ability is "incredible", especially in adapting and growing flexibly to meet business needs, bringing solid value.
“You are constantly leveraging new technologies in banking and payments, rapidly driving innovation that gives customers access to innovation,” said Andrew Thornton.
Western quality in the West
Thuy Quynh and Trieu Vy were friends at Nguyen Binh Khiem High School for the Gifted (Vinh Long). Quynh studied finance and commercial accounting at the University of Technology Sydney (Australia), and tried her hand at several large corporations such as WPP, IPG and James Hardie. Trieu Vy is a techie, received a scholarship to study software engineering at FPT University, and graduated as valedictorian in 2014. Nearly 10 years later, Vy received a scholarship for a master's degree in information technology from RMIT University and again graduated as valedictorian.
They connected quite by chance, when both wanted to do "something" of their own with the idea budding at the time when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and the whole country was almost locked down. Quynh admitted that the initial success of both of them was somewhat typical of the Southwest people who "willing to play, say and do".
It was the generosity of the "Western people" that made the two of you "spend a lot" to bring the entire Hello Clever team from all over to Vietnam for a week-long trip last year, which was also the first time the entire team met in person.
"We want people in other countries to understand more about Vietnam and its people. Because even though we go global, we still stand on our local feet first. Only with steady feet can we go far," Quynh said.
Green start-up gathering placeSource: https://tuoitre.vn/hai-ban-tre-vinh-long-va-fintech-hello-clever-duoc-ua-chuong-tai-uc-20250203101159092.htm
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