Kameo’s investment platform is now available as an app

Kameo is an investment platform that enables both private individuals and institutional investors to invest in loans for real estate projects across Scandinavia. Through the platform, property developers gain access to fast and flexible financing, while investors receive monthly interest payments until the loan is fully repaid.

When Kameo decided to launch their service in app form, they chose Qvik Group as their tech partner to complement their existing development team with our expertise in design, app development, and data visualization. Our collaboration is ongoing as we continue to improve the service and customer journey, which now spans a website, web app, and mobile app.

– We’ve already seen positive results from the app. Many investors who had been inactive for a long period have started investing again, which we believe is largely due to the app increasing engagement and making it easier to get started, says Linda Borgudd, Head of Marketing at Kameo.

Kameo has been an active platform since 2014, but when they approached us, they needed to revamp their technology stack to modernize the entire infrastructure and enable the development of new features. Since many of Kameo’s users accessed the platform via their mobile phones, it was time to offer a native mobile app for a better user experience. They also wanted to refresh their brand to more clearly reflect their position as a fintech company.

We joined with designers and developers who became an integrated part of Kameo’s existing team. Together with their Product Owner, CTO, and Head of Marketing, we created the new design, supported the development of their APIs, and led the process of building the new app. In addition, we worked together to develop new overarching features for Kameo’s entire service and infrastructure.

We value the Qvik Group for their commitment, positivity, friendly atmosphere, and long-term mindset. They make us feel like an important client, and over time they’ve truly started to feel like real colleagues.

Urban Stärner, Chief Product Officer at Kameo

Developing an app was an important next step for Kameo. The goal was to make investing more accessible and convenient for their users by providing better portfolio oversight, improved communication, and the ability to invest directly from their phones.

– The aim is for the app to grow into the backbone of the Kameo platform, since mobile is already the natural tool for many when it comes to investments, says Urban Stärner, Chief Product Officer.

The app also aims to increase engagement among Kameo’s existing users.

– Our hope is that the app will lead to faster investment activity, higher engagement, and reactivate investors who have been inactive for a while. The goal is to make it as easy and seamless as possible for our users to track their portfolios, make decisions more quickly, and feel closer to their investments, says Linda Borgudd.

When we began the design process, Kameo already had a defined flow for the app, so our initial focus was on the visual design. As always, we wanted to create an intuitive and inspiring user experience that would keep users coming back. Since the app conveys a large amount of data and numbers, we placed particular emphasis on making the information easy to digest and engaging to interact with.

We involved test groups throughout the design process to help guide our decisions. This resulted in the creation of a new color palette and the decision to implement both light and dark mode in the app.

The blue color has long been part of Kameo’s brand identity, but through our work we developed a new shade, fresher and younger, clearly distinct from traditional banks. The result is a modern look and a color palette that works seamlessly in both light and dark mode.

I want to encourage others to dare to try different approaches. At Kameo, the final result looks very different from the first design iterations. It has grown together with the fantastic team at Kameo.

Josefin Molander, Designer

The app was built using React Native, a flexible framework that allows for launch on both the App Store and Google Play. Our developers worked closely with Kameo’s internal team of project managers and developers. Together, we fostered an open and transparent atmosphere where ideas could flow freely, ultimately resulting in a solution that was both technically robust and user-friendly. Throughout the process, code quality was a top priority.

The fact that the developers have such a strong focus on code quality and structure makes it easy for us to take over and continue building on the app internally – which is crucial for a long-term technical product.

Eric Jonsson, Chief Technology Officer at Kameo

One of the goals for the app was to attract a broader audience with a wider range of investment opportunities than before. To support this, we helped Kameo develop a new feature: a pre sign up period. This gives all interested investors the chance to participate and receive proportional allocations. Previously, smaller investors often struggled to secure a share as larger investors quickly filled the available amounts. Because this feature was such an important milestone, it was launched on the web while app development continued behind the scenes.

The new app relies on a complex set of data points drawn from Kameo’s existing APIs. While Kameo is responsible for the data management, we acted as their sparring partner to decide how the APIs should be developed to deliver the data required by the app. With our experience in app development, we were able to guide them on structuring APIs in a way that simplifies integration.

Since the app is a platform for people’s personal investments, it was crucial to make it feel reliable, stable, and fast. To ensure data loads quickly, we made architectural decisions regarding API design and data handling. By caching data and fetching smaller chunks at a time (for example, only what is visible at the top of a page as it loads), we built a solution that inspires user confidence.

In its very first week, the app was downloaded more than 3,000 times, and Kameo received highly positive feedback from users.

– We’ve had a lot of appreciation from users who have long requested an app. They especially highlight how convenient it is to get an overview of their portfolio, see returns and interest income directly on their phone. It makes it easier to follow how investments are actually performing, which in turn motivates them to continue investing. It’s clear that the app’s simplicity and accessibility are making a difference, says Linda Borgudd.

Push notifications have been particularly popular, since many want to act quickly when new loans are released. Previously, opportunities could easily be missed if you didn’t actively check your email.

Linda Borgudd, Head of Marketing at Kameo

As Kameo’s tech partner, we actively work to identify strengths and weaknesses throughout the entire customer journey. Once the app design was completed, our designers turned their attention to Kameo’s web platforms, including both the public website and the web app users reach while being logged in.

The goal of updating the web platforms is to mirror the new visual identity of the app, ensuring a consistent look and feel across all touchpoints, regardless of which platform users interact with. This work is still ongoing, and we are grateful for the continued trust Kameo has placed in us!

– Our collaboration has been smooth and professional from start to finish, and we've truly felt like we’ve been working as one team. We’re really looking forward to continuing our partnership, both to further develop the app and to take on future projects that will make Kameo even more user-friendly and a leader in the industry, says Urban Stärner.