Meet the Beewisers: Matthias – Founder and head of Beewise

For today’s Beewise Spotlight we would like to introduce you to Matthias van den Eede. He is the true source behind making the Beewise application become reality. As Azimut’s International Business Developer he took the initiative to start the project from zero and turn it into the investment app it is today.

About Matthias

Matthias first studied International Business Management in Gent, Belgium. During these studies he had the chance to do an exchange in Toronto and later on an internship in Santa Barbara. During this internship he not only further developed his sales skills, but also found his interest in technology. Santa Barbara was the perfect place to chase this passion. That’s why he continued working there for another three years after his internship, until he was ready for the next challenge in his life.

Why Azimut?

When Matthias was looking for his next challenge he already knew he was very interested in business development, sales and investing. This is why when he got a job offer at Azimut, an Italian asset management firm, it seemed like the perfect opportunity combining these three interests together. At Azimut he became responsible for International Business Development with a focus on technology.

Matthias believes that technology has the power to change the world. Nowadays, everything is becoming more digital, including day-to-day activities, and this is something he really kept in mind when he started working for Azimut. Especially fintech is evolving fast and has a lot of hidden opportunities that Matthias loves to find out about.

“I think it is great that I keep discovering and learning new things every day while searching for and developing new opportunities for Azimut.

Creating the Beewise project

After a few months of working for Azimut and discussing financial applications they could possibly create, it was decided that together with the strong Azimut team, Matthias would be responsible for creating an investment app for millennials. As Matthias has always been an entrepreneur at heart, he felt very lucky that at Azimut he got the opportunity to become an intrapreneur, meaning he created a start-up in an already well-established company. Getting the support from Azimut played an essential role in successfully creating the application.

Why an investment app for millennials?

Azimut saw that many millennials often don’t know a lot about finance and tend to see this as a big barrier to investing. On top of that, they think they need a certain amount of money to invest. That’s why Azimut created Beewise: to change things up for the better.

“What is so great about the Beewise app is that we are trying to break down all these barriers by making investing much more accessible to millennials. You can simply start investing with as little as 10 euros without any experience thanks to our 5 thematic portfolios, which are all managed by highly experienced portfolio managers. We want people to understand that even if they don’t invest a lot it can make a big difference in the long-run. The faster you start the more benefits you get in the long-run.”

Matthias also tells us that next to investing, they also wanted to help people understand and manage their financial health better. That’s why he sees the Personal Financial Management (PFM) feature as a crucial part of the app. Here, users can set budgets and save money more easily.

“Personally, I have never been afraid of change. I think change can be a great thing. Especially when it can help people improve their lifestyle and achieve their goals faster. In this case, we are trying to do this by changing the way millennials look at investing. I am truly grateful to be part of a positive project like Beewise that is trying to evolve towards a more accessible and sustainable way of investing.”