Building an AI-Powered Fintech Platform with Dr Tanvir Uddin | Ep 324 | DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Anthony Sapountzis, CTO and Co-Founder of Aerion Technologies and DevReady.Ai, speaks with Dr Tanvir Uddin, Founder and CEO of Wholesum, about building an AI-powered investment platform that connects investors with underserved businesses seeking capital. Dr Tanvir shares how his experience at McKinsey, research in microfinance and work across agricultural supply chains and technology start-ups shaped Wholesum’s purpose. The conversation explores alternative investments, retail investor access, fintech product development and the role of AI in creating a scalable financial services business.

Dr Tanvir founded Wholesum after recognising that high property prices and volatile share markets had left many Australians searching for more diverse investment opportunities. With support from family, early customers and angel investors, he launched a small wholesale fund and expanded it gradually over three years. That measured growth allowed the team to strengthen its operations, understand investor needs and prepare the business to serve retail investors, including young graduates and everyday Australians.

As Wholesum moves into the retail investment market, customer experience, education and accessibility have become central to its product strategy. The company has built a digital application engine that simplifies onboarding, document submission and compliance processes. It is also exploring AI-powered educational content, customer self-service and accessible human support to help investors make informed decisions. These capabilities are designed to serve customers with different levels of financial knowledge while maintaining strong governance and risk controls.

Dr Tanvir and Anthony also discuss the opportunities and risks facing non-technical founders who use AI tools to build software. Wholesum uses Claude to refine product briefs, develop workflows, consider database architecture and plan security requirements before development. Dr Tanvir continues to seek guidance from cybersecurity, compliance and product specialists, especially when dealing with customer data and regulated financial services. Their discussion highlights why successful software depends on clear planning, expert review, customer research and a sound understanding of the problem being solved.

Looking ahead, Wholesum plans to scale its retail investment offering across Australia and New Zealand before exploring further international markets. The company also aims to unite investor onboarding, account management, dashboards and reporting within a proprietary application. With revenue increasing month on month, Wholesum is working towards a late-seed or potential Series A funding round to support its technology roadmap and global expansion.

Dr Tanvir closes with practical advice for early-stage founders navigating pre-seed and seed growth. He recommends maintaining open communication with customers, testing ideas continuously, improving the customer experience and protecting cash flow to extend the company’s runway. For Wholesum, one of the clearest signs of product-market fit came when most of its first 100 customers had no previous connection with Dr Tanvir or his team. Their willingness to invest showed that the product, value proposition and market messaging were reaching customers beyond the founders’ personal networks.

#DevReadyPodcast #Fintech #AI #FinancialTechnology #StartupFounder #ProductDevelopment #AlternativeInvestments #AerionTechnologies