17. 8. 2022
DoDo, Notino i Relay. Companies jump on the trend of payouts at any time, and so the Czech startup Advanto is growing
We are revolutionizing the field of financial care for employees.
Companies that are already using Advanto
How did it all begin?
Advanto was founded by Martin Fortelný together with his university classmate Jan Kölbl. Martin came to Honza with the idea of creating an application that would allow people to access paycheck or part of it whenever they want it and not wait until the regular payout date.
According to surveys and experts, the once-a-month paycheck turns out to be one of the main reasons why people find themselves in financial trouble or even in a debt trap. Moreover, the Czech Republic is alarmingly at the top in terms of the number of people in foreclosure. This was all the more reason for the founders of Advanta to offer a new way of paying wages that would allow people to bridge the money gap without penalties or interest and avoid the overpriced loans that put so many Czechs in a debt trap.
Martin Fortelný, CEO
He has worked at CreativeDock, Bentley, and startups in Europe and Asia. At Advant, he is responsible for overall company operations, compliance, strategic direction, investor relations, and recruiting key contributors.
Jan Kölbl agreed with the idea and within a few days he created a prototype of an application that allowed payouts at any time. Together with CEO Martin Fortelný, he became the CTO of the start-up Advanto, which they officially founded at the beginning of 2020.
After a few months, they found their first employer who was interested in providing a paycheck to their workers at any time. It was the Transport Company of Ústí nad Labem. In addition to the interest in innovation, one of the impulses for the introduction of Advanta was the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the associated uncertainties that increased the risk of financial problems among employees.
As recently as 2020, Advanto received a multimillion-dollar investment from the Nation 1 venture capital fund. In 2021, Advanto received another investment from the V-Sharp Alpha fund.
Jan Kölbl
He gained his first business experience in the consulting company PwC and on internships abroad. After that, he began to focus mainly on the technological part of the business. At Advant, he is responsible for the system, its security, operational risks and development.
Team Advanto
Martin Fortelný and Jan Kölbl
Martin Fortelný met Jan Kölbl during their studies of finance at the CEMS VŠE program. A year after graduating from college, they founded the startup Advanto in 2020.
David Bystrzycki, Advisor, CFO, Credit Risk and Product
Graduate of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University and the MBA program at the Katz Business School in Pittsburgh. For six years he worked in corporate management in the PPF Group. He was responsible for launching several fintech startups within PPF Group's innovation farm, including the peer to peer platform Zonky. David oversees finance, working with Martin and Jan to drive the strategic direction of the company and its product.
+ many other motivated and enthusiastic professionals.
Do you want to become one of us?
Contact us by email at: kariera@advanto.cz
As more employers began to pay their workers at any given time, Advanto also began to collect valuable feedback. This, combined with research from research agency EMA data and the experience of HR and recruitment experts, confirmed that pay anytime and Advanto not only improves financial stability, but also recruitment. Plus, it increases their satisfaction, loyalty, efficiency and hours worked. Pay Anytime has thus proven to be an advantage not only for employees but also for their management.
In 2021, Advanto was already used by a number of more and less well-known Czech companies, including DoDo, Lagardère, Costa Coffee, Burger King and Rellay. The number of users of the app increased sevenfold between December 2020 and 2021. The app has also seen a significant expansion of the Academy section, where users can educate themselves in financial literacy, practice it or contact experts from People in Need in case of acute problems.
Advant's ambition is to make payday a new standard at any time, replacing the outdated monthly rhythm of wage payments and the associated disadvantages. It also intends to expand the application with new functionalities beyond payout at any time, which will further lead users to financial stability. And not only in the Czech Republic but also in other European countries. The benefits of a payout at any time apply anywhere.
The benefits of a payout at any time apply anywhere.
Advanto in media
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