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Wable helps people ‘willing and able’ to connect
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
WABLE, a social app for neurodivergent people, including those ‘on the spectrum’ – started during the COVID lockdowns in Melbourne – is today beginning to have a global impact.
It’s a culmination of the work started by Holly Fowler in 2000 when she was about 20 years old. 
“I watched the ABC series Love on the Spectrum,” Ms Fowler told Talking Business. “I fell in love with the show and I thought, why isn’t there anything like this to connect the neurodivergent community for friends and dates and other resources as well?”
Of course, it’s become much more than that. It’s now an app designed to create connections.
“Sometimes I go back and look at how much it evolved. Because we have an in-app psychologist, and I am speaking with parents and carers and support care workers, primary carers in the neurodivergent community, it occurred to me that, yes, there are lots of people seeking romantic partners and, yes, Wable can be platform for that.
“But it can also be a platform for making friends, to connect even if you’re not sure of what relationship you’re looking for but you want to connect with like-minded people who might understand the similar challenges that we’re going through” she said.
“Neurodivergent or neurotypical, we all want to feel valued and understood.
“That made rethink and broaden the app for what it was offering. If we could make it a platform for as many people as possible to find the connections they’re looking for, then why not open it up.”
Chasing down the investment
Obviously anyone opening an app when they were about 20 years old needs investment. That’s exactly what Ms Fowler managed.
“It started (out) just as myself,” she said. “I started the idea by myself and started building out what that prototype looked like with savings but like, I am 25, and savings could only get me so far when starting a business and I hadn’t done anything like this before,” she said. 
“I was building what the prototype would look like in the middle of the night and refining the idea and what I wanted Wable to look like – but that was beside my day job.
“I needed to make sure I had funds behind me but also to get the right team in place so that when we got to launch and people were using it, there would be the right resourcing in place to make sure we could service the customers.
“So I quickly needed to get investment and get a team around me that had the same vision,” Ms Fowler said.
“I’m really lucky now. We have got a board of four and more staff outside of that board which has been instrumental in our growth and success.”
Wable gets international attention
The most exciting thing about Wable is it is attracting overseas audiences and it’s planning to expand.
“We got to launch in Australia, which was a pretty big feat, but then there were a lot of people trying to sign up for the app overseas,” Ms Fowler said.
“We always had expansion plans. We’ve already got sign-up groups overseas and I am really excited for when the app is turned on in their country.
“We’re looking to launch next in the UK, US and New Zealand.” 
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
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