Sophia Lan studied Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College, where she was inspired to start her own business. WInvest Collective is a financial platform and online community aimed at teaching everyday women financial literacy and how to achieve financial goals step-by-step.

The company won the Innovate UK Financial Services award in 2023 and works with organisations including Signal AI, Imperial, and Essence Media to deliver workshops and tools to employees to help them better understand and manage their finances.

Sophia entered the ‘Female Founders’ competition run by not-for-profit business incubator, Virgin StartUp, and freelance platform, Fiverr, earlier this year as part of her plans to launch a new app called ‘Money Bestie’, which will help hundreds of women to take charge of their finances and plan for their future, even if they have no financial education or understanding.

Sophia was one of four founders selected as a finalist from more than 800 entries. Each finalist was given £3,000 in Fiverr credits to help develop their business ideas and paired with a top female business mentor for six weeks. Sophia was coached by Raissa de Haas, co-founder of Double Dutch, an online cocktail business which Raissa set-up when she graduated university and went on to raise more than £4million. With support from Raissa to prepare her scale-up plans, Sophia then pitched in front of Holly Branson, Virgin Group’s Chief Purpose Officer and Gali Arnon, Chief Business Officer at Fiverr at the competition final at Virgin Hotels London in Shoreditch.

Sophia will receive £15,000 in Fiverr credits, which she plans to allocate primarily to software development. This funding will significantly advance the app's development, while also supporting the business’ growth marketing and enabling deeper research into user behaviour and needs. Sophia will also have access to Virgin StartUp’s new digital Community – an online home for entrepreneurs who want to connect with likeminded founders – where she‘ll be able to access 1:1 mentoring, business courses, access to startup events and more.

Speaking about winning the competition, Sophia explains: “I love helping people train their financial muscles and teaching them about money, stocks, and investing.  I understand the pain-points that everyday people have when it comes to understanding their finances and investing.

“Being a female founder is tough. Funding is harder to come by, and every day brings new challenges, so when I saw the Virgin Startup Female Founders Competition, I thought it looked like a great way to validate my solution and access resources to accelerate our growth.

“The whole experience has been incredible. Hearing about Raissa’s journey – starting her business straight out of university and raising millions in funding – was inspiring and helped me refine my strategy. She also gave me insights into pitching, which helped me craft a winning presentation.

“I’m now looking forward to scaling WInvest, launching Money Bestie and empowering hundreds of women to actively take charge of their finances, transforming them into tools that benefit their families, societies and communities.”

Holly Branson comments: “Sophia took away the top prize for her commitment to bridging the gap that women and girls face in financial literacy. The Winvest Collective platform is such a clever and engaging way to do this, and it has enormous potential for growth and real-world impact. I can't wait to see what Sophie and all the finalists do next.”

Gali Arnon, Chief Business Officer at Fiverr, comments: “I loved the personal stories behind the finalists; they truly reflect the passion and purpose driving the businesses they are building. I’m proud to be part of an initiative like this, which celebrates diversity and highlights women’s ability to forge their own paths to success. Fiverr’s partnership with Virgin StartUp is a fantastic example of how collaboration can amplify these efforts, providing a platform for innovation and empowering women to thrive in business.”

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