Acquisition project | Zolve

WHAT IS ZOLVE?

Zolve is a neobank, that gives its customers access to global financial products. Zolve provides its customers with effortless US Banking, regardless of whether they live in the US or not. Zolve's main aim though is to provide its users faster money transfers between India and the US. Normally transfers from US to India take about 7 days but Zolve's ensures that the transfers happen within 24 hours. Moreover, Zolve also guarantees lower than average transaction costs by promising lowest exchange rates and minimal transfer fees.

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ABOUT THE COMPANY

Zolve was founded by Piyush Agarwal and Raghunandan G in the year 2020 and has a current valuation of $210 million. Since its inception Zolve has acquired 500,000 users and raised about $10 million in their last round.

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BUSINESS DEEP-DIVE

• Zolve has grown at good pace since 2020 in terms of customer acquisition.
• But they are not the leaders in this space when it comes to google search results and play store search results, their competitor "Wise" beats Zolve in both these areas.
• In June 2024 Zolve had 100K+ downloads on Play Store and has a 4.3-star rating on the same. On the other hand "Wise" at the same time is 10M+ downloads.

Although this does indicate that Zolve has achieved PMF, but they have a lot of work to do in terms of diversifying their brand as compared to their competitors.

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PRODUCT HOOKS

The first thing that was critical for me to understand were the hooks of this product, what really reeled people in to use this product. My understanding of this is presented in the screenshots below:

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Along with providing effortless US Banking and Quick money transfers, Zolve is also known to have a seamless and quick onboarding process, which requires minimal effort on the customer side, making Zolve a very attractive product for anybody already going through the paperwork hassles that come with moving to another country.

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FIGURING OUT ICP​

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Abhay Kulshreshtha

Abhay is embarking on his journey to the US to pursue his Msc in data science. His parents will be supporting him partially with his tuition fees and since they will be using their savings to do so he wants to be very mindful on how the money transfers will take place and he wants to ensure that he is able to get the lowest conversion rate possible on these transfers. He is also unaware as to how to navigate the banking system in the US and needs help figuring it out.

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Discovery:

Abhay was searching for cheap and efficient ways to transfer money to the US, when he came across the Zolve website. Right of the bat, the offering that he could transfer his credit history from India to the US captured Abhay's interest and the offering that he wouldn't have to wait for days in the US before getting access to a bank account in the US seemed very lucrative to Abhay.

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Conversion:

He signed up to explore the different products that Zolve had to offer. He realized that Zolve had really streamlined the process of a credit history transfer and it was very easy for him to get a US Checking account as well as a Credit Card while he was still in India. Moreover, the money transfers were way faster than SWIFT as well as cheaper.

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Retention:

The simple user interface has made it easy and secure for Abhay to use the Zolve app consistently. There are also options to schedule your transfers to and from India, moreover Zolve also notifies you when the conversion rate is in your favor so you can make your money transfers then.

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Rahul Mehra

Rahul is a 32-year-old Consultant working in the US on an H1B visa. He has retired parents, living in India and he helps them out by sending them some money every month. Regardless of how the conversion rates are, he needs to send this sum every month and needs a fast and efficient way to do so.

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Discovery:

Tired of going through the 7 days wait period on SWIFT that he normally uses to send money to India, Rahul was doing some research to find a faster way to send money, which is when he came across Zolve.

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Conversion:

As soon as Rahul logged on the website, he was able to connect with a Zolve executive with his queries, who understood Rahul's pain point and explained to him how fast money transfers work with Zolve. This instantly got to Rahul as there were no upfront fees to open the account and due to the hassle-free onboarding Rahul felt at ease to open an account with Zolve to facilitate his monthly transfers.

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Retention:

Rahul was quite satisfied with the faster transfers at minimal cost with Zolve. He also really appreciated the feature that allowed him to schedule these transfers as this took the stress out of the process for him.

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Ruheen Singh

Ruheen is an 18-year-old undergrad student, who is going to the US to study Business Management and needs to apply for a loan for the same. She has a partial scholarship which will cover up to 70% of her tuition fees, and therefore she just needs a loan to cover up the rest 30% + her initial living expenses till she gets a part time job.

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Discovery:

While doing research on how to get the best possible loan rates for a US education, she comes across Zolve, and reaches out to a Zolve executive, who walks her through the easy application process for a loan through Zolve.

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Conversion:

Ruheen realizes the perks of onboarding onto the Zolve ecosystem, as they not only help users secure loans at very good interest rates but will setup a US newcomers entire banking ecosystem for them. Zolve also helps its users with their visa application process and overall provides a great host of financial services for a person migrating to the US.

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Retention:

Ruheen is also very impressed by the easy onboarding onto the Zolve ecosystem and easy application process of the loan through Zolve. These amenities along with the easy access to the US Banking system makes Zolve a no brainer for her.

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UNDERSTANDING ZOLVE'S SUCCESS AND USP

1. Zolve has found a good fit among the young adults moving to the US who don't have access to the US banking ecosystem and access to easy credit.
2. They have made their offering very easy to use and flexible which appeals to those with low funds to. There is no need for complex SSN or long wait times to set up the account.
3. Since adding visa services and loan services, Zolve has created an ecosystem for itself to cater to the young adults moving to the US and making that process easy for them.
4. Finally, Zolve is providing a solution for the young millennials and Gen-Zs who don't want to lose their credit history and all the access that comes with it when they move to a new country.

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ZOLVE'S COMPETITORS

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The top 3 competitors of Zolve are as followed:

1. Leap Finance: Leap Finance solely focusses on student loans and helps them finance their education abroad. On the basis on this education loan that the student gets issued from leap, they can get an associated US Bank account as well as a credit card.
2. Wise: Wise allows its users to hold, send, spend, and receive money globally. Over 11 million people have used Wise to send money overseas. Wise calculates its fee as a percentage of the total amount that is being transferred. Typically, this amount is about 3.5% - 4%.
3. Aldera: With Aeldra, non-US-citizens can get a US bank account and a Mastercard debit card for purchases in the US. Although, Aldera has no additional Fund Transfer fees, it also doesn't have any credit history transfer options or any credit card services.

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In comparison to its competitors Zolve is providing a complete ecosystem to its users, wherein they can get a US Bank Account, credit card, credit history transfer and loans. Zolve also helps its users with Visa services. In terms of International Fund Transfer fee, Zolve charges its users a flat fee of $15 for each transaction happening through its platform, but there are no other hidden charges.

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Key Traits

Immediate adoption, Repeated usage and willingness to pay.

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ICP PRIORITIZATION

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The above data indicates that both ICP-1 and 2 have great potential and are worthwhile targets to pursue. The only difference is that ICP-1 has a significantly higher rate of adoption than ICP-2 and therefore the ROI would be much higher on pursuing ICP-1 in comparison to ICP-2. Therefore, I would say that a higher focus on ICP-1 would be greatly beneficial.

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TAM, SAM AND SOM

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TAM

Total Addressable Market for Zolve would be anyone who is planning on migrating to the US or has already migrated to the US with ties in India.

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On an average the number of students pursuing their education in the USA increases from 12-35% every year. We must also consider that about 70-80% of the students going abroad end up applying for student loans and the average ticket size of these loans are also increasing by 15% every year. This entire segment of both NRIs and Students will be requiring services for regular international bank transfers either to manage their loans, or to receive funds from their homes or to send funds back.

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Given that a single transaction costs $15 on Zolve and the average rate of transaction taking place for students and NRIs is monthly, so the TAM will be $438,585,300 yearly.

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SAM

Now, we need to dissect the TAM into markets where Zolve could add value.

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SOM

Now for SOM, we need to identify the total achievable market that can be captured.

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Total Revenue Potential of SOM is: $190,440,000 yearly.

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WHAT ACQUISITION CHANNELS TO BUILD TO ATTRACT OUR ICP

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​Key Channels

Given that there is already an existing need among target audience for a solution that allows them to make fast and cheap money transfers, optimizing product listing on google search and app store would be of high priority. This will ensure that the ready convert customers are acquired who are actively searching for similar apps. Currently, "Wise" comes at the top for money Transfers, both for google search and on the app store. Just by increasing its positioning on Google searches, Zolve could significantly gain traction.

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​The keywords should include:

Use case Keywords: Cheap Money Transfers to US, Get a US Bank Account

Brand Keywords: Zolve+US Money Transfers, Zolve+ US Banking

Competitor Keywords: Wise, Leap Finance, Aldera

Use case options keywords: US Banking, US Loans for education, US Education Scholarships, US Visa Application

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This should be complemented with sufficient references in public forums like Quora, Medium, Reddit etc which induces a lot of confidence among the ready to pluck audience.

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Next, to bring awareness to wider target audience, we should run social media ad campaigns on primarily on Instagram, Facebook, ShareChat and Youtube.

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CONTENT LOOP

On doing some Google SEO research, I realized that some of the most commonly asked questions are "Easy money transfers from US to India", "Easy money transfer from India to US", "How to Pay fees from India". There is content on Youtube, Instagram and Quora where people have shared their journeys, when they had made the move to the USA and how they personally make these transactions. People have also used this subject in their vlogs to capture the product journeys that they went through and how to avoid paying additional fees in this entire process. For example, there is great content on Western Union and SWIFT banking online but none on how to use products like Zolve.

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Currently, Zolve's Youtube Channel only has 6.64K subscribers and the average views on each of its videos is only 300-400.

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Moreover, Zolve only has about 101 followers on its Instagram page.

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My first suggestion would be to reach out to Micro content Creators, that have a following of about 30-50K who have a niche in vlogging about their move to the USA. Such content creators are known for their honest recommendations and usually have a very loyal following. These influencers typically also charge less for partnerships, it is also a relatively low effort task with fast lead times.

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Zolve can also reach out to some more known content creators with 500K+ followers who are known to talk about the pain points that Zolve is trying to solve for, such as the following content creator.

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Typically, students move for either undergrad or grad to the US which puts our potential user base in the age category of 18-28. This generation spends most of its time on Social Media platforms and trusts these platforms for honest recommendation. So, a young student moving to the US would typically start following creators who have had a similar journey to theirs. They would follow them for advice on housing, for do's and don'ts with respect to money transfers, phone plans etc. So, in this case our product discovery would happen as our potential user is in the research phase of their move and is looking out for guidance from people who have already done it.

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PRODUCT INTEGRATIONS

All the other products that ICP 1 (International student) uses frequently are:

• Counselling services for GMAT/GRE and College Applications
• Services to open an NRI Bank Account
• Visa Services
• Loan Application Service

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Since the Indian International student base is growing at rate of 12-35% every year, partnering with leading career counselling services such as Leverage Edu, Career Launchers, Pratham to include Zolve's banking services as a part of the student's counselling package would greatly benefit both the Counselling company as well as Zolve.

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REFERRAL

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Brag worthy feature of Zolve

1. Effortless US Banking
2. Faster and Cheaper Money Transfers

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Platform Currency

1. Offering USD credits to the customers

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When and who do you ask for a referral

1. When someone has made 5+ transfers on a regular basis
2. When someone has signed up for an additional product with Zolve
3. When the USD price is increasing against INR

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How Will the user discover the Referral Program

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After the user makes 5 consistent transfers through the app, we congratulate the user on being consistent with the app. Then we ask for a review rating of the app. If the rating is above 4 stars, then we request the user to refer the app to his/ her friends for a USD credit of $100.

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Similarly, even after successful completion of point 2, we congratulate the user on signing up with another product on Zolve, take his/ her rating and then ask for a referral.

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For point number 3, when the USD price is increasing, we send a push notification to the user about how even through this inflation of USD against INR, their friends can save on transfers using Zolve. Request him to refer the app to earn additional USD during this price increase.

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The referral link feature will be present on their banking app. They will be able to copy this link and send it through the choice of their medium of communication.

The referees will get notified on the app itself when their referral has successfully gone through and the USD 100 will be automatically credited to their account.

The referral invite will be a simple link, which will take the potential customer to a unique sign-up page, where they can sign up to create an account with Zolve and upload their details to open an account.

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Referrals have a fast lead time and a high conversion rate as the people seeking referrals are already interested people in need of a quick solution. Even though there is a cost associated with the referral, this is a very flexible mode of acquisition that can be scaled down in case need be.

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