Former Habito founder Daniel Hegarty has raised £2.5m in pre-seed funding for his new savings app Communion.
The funding was led by Target Global and a roster of investors including Erin Lantz, Greg Marsh, Max Rofagha and Uncommon Creative Studio.
The news comes just months after Hegarty stepped down from his role at London-based digital mortgage broker Habito.
Commenting in his new startup, Hegarty, said: “We believe everyone has the ability to take control of their money and build a buffer against the world, so long as they’re given the right conditions, tools and support to do so.
“We created Communion for people to fix their relationship with money and live life with more autonomy and less fear.”
The entrepreneur said Communion was to built on the principle of ‘saving is freedom’ and the app aims to change people’s approach to saving money.
“You want to go on holiday, you want to move to a nicer area, you want to quit your day job, you just want to feel less anxious about money,” said Hegarty.
“The difference between doing the thing you’ve always wanted to do, and never having the chance isn’t hustling, get-rich-quick-schemes or meme stocks – it’s saving.
“But as simple as that sounds, saving is a really hard thing to do. Pretty much everything around us prevents us from being able to hold on to what we earn and no one is currently tackling the underlying pressures and biases that are at play when it comes to money.”
Communion uses psychology and behavioural science to tackle underlying and money anxiety.
Members are coached through a personalised 12-step wealth-building plan and explore their own unique relationship with money with the help of Communion’s community and unlimited access to its team of money guides.
Hegarty added: “Of course, money is a deeply personal and complex thing for all of us. No two people’s experiences of it are the same. But one thing is almost universally true: we all feel anxious about it.
“That’s because whether you have a little or a lot, the anxiety we feel is never just about money. It’s about our life, our hopes, our purpose. It’s about our emotions, mindset and behaviour.
“The world doesn’t need another money app that fails to address this. We’re here to help people fundamentally understand their relationship with money and the role it can play in their life.”
Dr Ricardo Schäfer, partner at Target Global, said: “We’re thrilled to be supporting Dan and his team at Communion on their mission to arm people with a financial buffer against the world.
“FinTech and the finance industry at large are awash with money apps and tools but none that go to the heart of what it really takes to build wealth with confidence and control.
“With the backdrop of the cost living crisis and rising concerns about the nation’s financial future, there has never been a better time to address the advice gap in the UK.”
All members start their Communion experience the same way: by opening an FSCS-protected savings account and practising a daily saving ritual for 10 days.
During this time, members are encouraged to reflect on beliefs they hold about money and the way they spend while ritually saving just £1 a day.
This small act of saving repeated daily is designed to embed and reward good money habits. After this initial saving ritual, members are invited to automate their saving and start personalising their own wealth-building plan in line with their goals and values.
Communion’s proprietary autosave technology allows people to increase their savings incrementally over time so that they reach their personal saving target steadily and painlessly.
Members have unlimited access to Communion’s team of money guides – real people with personal finance experience – for all-important help and answers to their burning money questions.