Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU) shares are up more than 4% after giving an update.
Douugh describes itself as a fintech (financial technology) business that’s AI driven and provides a financial wellness app.
What happened?
Douugh revealed that it has successfully completed its $12 million placement.
The company is going to use that money to accelerate its product development measures and customer acquisition plans in the US where the app is now live.
Douugh reported that it has seen steady week on week growth in the US and this is going according to management’s plans. It’s planning to significantly increase its marketing spend in the coming weeks.
The fintech also said that it’s working on the development of key features of its app following the launch of its smart bank account which can integrate all bank accounts of the user. The first stage of automation is focused on sweeping funds once a salary deposit is received to cover outgoing bills and contributions to savings goals, leaving a safe-to-spend balance for customers to confidently spend within any given salary cycle compared to pre-configured spending targets.
After that, Douugh will launch the first stage of its integrated investment management offering called ‘Wealth Jars’ within the next three months which will help people invest money into custom built portfolios.
The other pillar of the business is its ‘Credit Jar’ joint venture partnership with Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) which allows customers to borrow up to $1,000 and repay in six weekly instalments.
Douugh said that it’s now actively pursuing strategic partnerships and acquisitions to further accelerate its growth plans.
Summary thoughts
Helping people with managing their money is a good thing. The US is a huge market and there’s a lot of potential growth there. At the moment it is just potential. For me, revenue growth with a path to profit is really important to see. At this stage it’s to early to gauge how much revenue growth Douugh can achieve – there’s plenty of competition in personal finance apps as well as buy now, pay later. So I’m just an interest observer right now.
There are other ASX growth shares that make a lot more sense to me including Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH) which is exposed to the trend of payments moving from cash to electronic.