About DreamStart Labs

DreamStart Labs is a social impact technology company and member of the Inclusive Fintech 50, honoring the top 50 tech companies driving financial inclusion worldwide.

About DreamSave

DreamSave is a digital savings group solution that has won multiple awards, including the Vodafone Wireless Innovation Award and the ”Best Developing World Technology,” ”Best App,” ”Best Data Platform,” and “Best Mobile Innovation” awards at the 2021 World Changing Ideas competition.

DreamSave includes two key components:

How it works

DreamSave requires one shared smartphone per group. Members set up their constitution, and DreamSave does the rest, automating calculations, enforcing policies, and cutting meeting times in half. At the end of each meeting, all members receive personalized SMS messages with meeting summaries, balances, transaction receipts, loan reminders, and goal progress. The application works offline. Data is backed up automatically anytime a 2G network is available, even if the application is not running. As groups meet, data is updated in DreamSave Insights for authorized NGO partners.

Availability

DreamSave supports all types of savings groups, is available in 18 languages, and has a presence in more than 20 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Getting started is fast, easy, and affordable. Even groups with limited literacy and no previous digital experience learn quickly.

DreamSave benefits

• Cuts meeting time in half. DreamSave makes it fast and easy to run meetings, giving groups more time for the things they care about.
• Eliminates errors and fraud. Transactions are calculated automatically, eliminating errors. DreamSave also makes it impossible to manipulate records, change transactions without member approval, or do side deals behind the backs of members.
• Automates share-out. Groups see their progress throughout the cycle. When they are ready to share out, everything is automatic. No calculations, no disputes, no surprises.
• Improves transparency. Members receive personalized meeting summaries and transaction receipts by SMS after each meeting, even if they did not attend in person.
• Improves financial literacy. Members demonstrate far higher financial literacy after using DreamSave, with the most significant gains coming from women.
• Motivates higher savings. DreamSave motivates higher savings through individual and group goals, fun awards, graphics, and gamified achievements.
• Accelerates loan repayments. Awards, reminders, and nudges lead to faster repayment time on member loans.
• Credit scores and bank linkages. DreamSave builds data-driven credit scores and makes it easy to link to banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) for formal credit.
• In-app messages and surveys. Non-governmental organization (NGO) partners can send messages and surveys to remote groups directly through DreamSave. Survey data is collected automatically and correlated with member financial and demographic data.
• Automatic data collection. As groups meet, data is securely backed up to the cloud where it can be viewed and analyzed by authorized partners in DreamSave Insights.
• Security and data privacy. DreamSave uses bank-grade security and privacy. Records cannot be accessed, viewed, or tampered with. Data belongs to members and is never shared without explicit permission (see Privacy Policy).