Joola

What Joola does

Joola is a Seattle-based, privately-held mobile savings application founded in 2018 that enables individuals and groups to automate contributions toward shared and personal financial goals such as travel, events, gifting, and ROSCA-style rotating savings circles. The core product is a self-serve iOS and Android app that handles goal naming, contribution scheduling (biweekly or monthly), real-time progress tracking, fund locking until goal completion, and cash-out to a Joola wallet, with funds processed through a U.S.-licensed payment processor and protected by 256-bit encryption. The product suite spans Solo Savings for individual goals, Group Savings with synchronized contributions and shared visibility, Savings Circles (ROSCA) for rotating lump-sum distributions, and a digital wallet for post-goal fund storage. Joola monetizes purely through a transaction fee of 1% plus 30 cents per deposit, with no subscriptions, account maintenance fees, or minimum balances, and distributes exclusively through the Apple App Store and Google Play. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed funding rounds or institutional investors, participated in the Boeing Employees Credit Union FinTech Incubator, CoMotion (University of Washington), and WTIA programs in 2021, and operates a Spanish-language site (es.joola.app) alongside its English-language presence.

Name

Joola

Legal name

Joola

Website

https://joola.app

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Joola is a mobile savings app that automates individual and group contributions toward shared goals like travel, events, and rotating savings circles, monetizing through a 1% + 30¢ per-deposit transaction fee.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Personal Finance Apps

akta.pro primary industry

Savings Automation & Goal-Based Savings (FSAGADAC)

Keywords

• Mobile savings app
• Group savings platform
• Automated savings contributions
• Rotating savings circles
• Social financial platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees: Joola charges a small processing fee per deposit made to savings goals. The fee is 1% + 30 cents per transaction. There are no monthly subscriptions, no account maintenance fees, and no hidden costs. Users only pay when they actively add money to their savings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Joola is a mobile savings application that enables individuals and groups to save for travel, experiences, and shared goals through automated biweekly or monthly contributions. The app offers solo savings, group savings with real-time progress tracking, and rotating savings circles (ROSCA) where members take turns receiving pooled funds. Funds remain locked until the savings goal or timeline is reached, and the service is delivered through a U.S.-based licensed payment processor.

Product overview

Joola is a savings application that offers a unified platform for personal and collaborative savings management. The core product is the Joola App, which encompasses Solo Savings for individual goal-based saving, Group Savings for synchronized contributions among multiple users, Savings Circles (ROSCA) for rotating lump-sum distributions, and a Joola Wallet for fund storage after goals are reached. The platform operates on a transaction-fee model (1% + 30¢ per deposit) with no subscription fees, targeting users seeking automated savings for travel, experiences, and shared financial goals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Joola App Mobile savings application for iOS and Android that enables solo and group savings with automated contributions, real-time progress tracking, and locked funds until goals are reached.
• Solo Savings Individual savings feature allowing users to set personal financial goals, automate contributions on a biweekly or monthly schedule, and track progress independently.
• Group Savings Collaborative savings feature enabling friends, family, or groups to save together toward shared goals with synchronized contributions, visible progress tracking, and individual fund management.
• Savings Circles (ROSCA) Rotating Savings and Credit Association feature allowing groups to pool funds in rotation, where each member receives the lump sum in turn, facilitating community-based financial goal achievement.
• Joola Wallet Digital wallet holding unlocked funds after savings goals are reached, ready for cash-out by users upon goal completion.

Quantifiable outcome

• Users report saving hundreds of dollars without actively thinking about it
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoola was a participant in BECU's FinTech Incubator 2021 program, a regional fintech accelerator run by the Boeing Employees Credit Union in partnership with University of Washington's CoMotion and WTIA. The incubator supports early-stage fintech companies with mentorship and resources.
• CoMotion (University of Washington)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoMotion is the innovation hub at the University of Washington that partners with BECU's FinTech Incubator. Joola participated as part of this regional startup ecosystem program.
• Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWTIA is a regional technology industry association. Joola is an affiliate member and participant in the BECU/CoMotion/WTIA FinTech Incubator ecosystem.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Qapital: Qapital is a goal-based automated savings app that lets users set savings rules and save toward individual or shared goals. Its closest direct competitor to Joola in combining automation, goals, and group/shared savings features in a mobile-first experience.
• Digit: Digit is an automated savings app that analyzes users' spending and moves small amounts into savings. It competes with Joola directly on automated micro-savings and goal-based saving via a similar mobile, low-fee product positioning.
• Twine (by Juntos): Twine is a joint savings app that lets couples, friends, and families save together toward shared goals with automated contributions. It is one of the closest direct peers to Joola's Group Savings and ROSCA-style product.
• Plinqit: Plinqit is a goal-based savings app that pays users rewards for saving consistently. It competes directly with Joola on automated savings toward user-defined goals in a mobile-first product.

Broad incumbents

• Acorns: Acorns is a large U.S. micro-investing and savings platform with automated round-ups and goal features. It operates across the broader personal finance space and competes with Joola for the same goal-based savings user, but with a much larger product suite and marketing budget.
• Current: Current is a U.S. neobank offering mobile checking, savings pods/goal-based saving, and group features. It competes with Joola for the same goal-based savings demand while providing broader banking services.
• Stash: Stash is a U.S. investing and banking platform offering automated savings and goal-tracking features alongside investing. It sits in the broader personal-finance incumbent category that competes with Joola on automated, goal-based saving.

Emerging players

• Goalry: Goalry is a goal-based financial management platform focused on savings goals and group saving mechanics. It overlaps with Joola's core proposition of structuring savings around named goals, though with a smaller user base.
• Greenlight: Greenlight is a family/kids banking and savings app with parent-controlled goals and shared family saving features. It is comparable to Joola on family/group savings and parental oversight, but targets minors and is part of a broader debit-card banking product.
• Step: Step is a mobile banking platform targeting teens and families with savings goals and parental visibility. It overlaps with Joola on family/friend group savings use cases while offering an underlying banking account.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/joolaapp
• Instagraminstagram.com/joola.app
• TikToktiktok.com/joolaapp
• Xx.com/joolaapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Joola