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The Duolingo for Personal Finance? Inside Vespid's Pivot

Edrea Lee, Co-Founder & CEO, Vespid

16-Jun-25 10:00

The Duolingo for Personal Finance? Inside Vespid's Pivot

What if learning about money felt less like a lecture and more like a game? Vespid, a Malaysian startup, is building the "Duolingo for personal finance" to make financial literacy accessible and engaging for young people. But the journey here wasn't straightforward.

Co-Founder and CEO Edrea Lee shares the story of Vespid's major pivot, from an ambitious plan to be the "Robinhood for Malaysia" to a gamified education platform. She details how they validated this new direction, the lessons learned from an evolving founding team, and their current B2B strategy of partnering with financial institutions.

We discuss:

  • The pivot from an investment platform to a gamified EdTech app.

  • How gamification (streaks, points, rewards) boosts user retention.

  • Their B2B strategy for commercialisation and monetisation.

  • The evolution of the founding team and lessons in entrepreneurship.

  • Their pre-seed funding journey and plans for scaling.

For founders navigating a pivot, or anyone interested in the intersection of EdTech, FinTech, and gamification, this conversation is for you.

Produced by: Roshan Kanesan, Kishan Sivaswamy

Presented by: Roshan Kanesan


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Categories:  technologyWomen in Businessmarketseconomyeducationentrepreneursfinancial wellnessyoung finance

Tags:  edtechfintechgamificationfinancial literacystartups





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