Lodavo is Canada's first prize-linked savings app, founded in Montreal in 2022. It connects to your existing bank account, tracks the savings you already do, and gives you free tickets into weekly cash-prize draws. It changes the reward of saving, not its safety, and it is always free to use.

Why prize-linked savings instead of a regular savings account?

Saving is the safest thing many Canadians could do, yet it feels slow and boring, so people chase lottery tickets instead. Lodavo attaches an exciting prize to saving itself, giving you the thrill of a long shot for the money you keep in your own account, with nothing to lose.

How does the weekly draw work?

Connect your bank account so Lodavo can track your savings, then pick your lucky numbers and earn free tickets into the weekly draw. The more you save, the more tickets you get. Match the winning numbers to win cash prizes, up to $10,000, with at least $100 guaranteed to a member each week.

Is it free, and is my money safe?

Yes to both. Lodavo has no subscription, fees, or purchase necessary, with prizes funded by partners and sponsors. It uses bank-grade, read-only access through Plaid and cannot move, withdraw, or charge your funds. Your money stays at your own Canadian bank, earning the interest your bank already pays.

Introducing Lodavo: Revolutionizing Savings in Canada with Prizes

Lodavo started with a frustrating contradiction. More than a quarter of Canadians say they couldn’t cover an unexpected $500 expense, yet more than half of Canadian adults still buy lottery tickets every year. We chase the thrill of a long shot, while the safest thing we could do, saving, feels slow and boring. Lodavo was built to fix that mismatch by making saving itself the thing with a prize attached.

Why we built Lodavo: Canada’s savings problem

Lodavo grew out of a real and growing problem. According to Statistics Canada (opens in a new tab), more than a quarter of Canadians would be unable to cover an unexpected $500 expense. At the same time, more than half of Canadian adults buy lottery or raffle tickets in a typical year (opens in a new tab), putting money into long odds that almost never pay back. Why do so many people spend on lottery tickets instead of saving? Because the lottery feels exciting and saving feels boring.

In fall 2022, over one-third (35%) of Canadians reported that it was difficult for their household to meet its financial needs in the previous 12 months. When asked whether their household had the resources to cover an unexpected expense of $500, 26% said that they would be unable to do so […] (Statistics Canada)

For generations, saving has been built around delayed gratification, with none of the immediate rewards that social media, games, and apps have trained us to expect. Lodavo changes the reward, not the safety. You save in your own account, and saving earns you a real shot at a prize.

How Lodavo works: save, play, win

Save

Connect your bank account so Lodavo can track your savings. Your money stays in your own account and keeps earning interest, just like before.

Play

Pick your lucky numbers and earn entries into free weekly draws. The more you save, the more tickets you get.

Win

Match the winning numbers and you win cash prizes, up to $10,000, with a guaranteed prize of at least $100 going to a member every week. It’s always free, so there is nothing to lose.

What makes Lodavo different

Completely free. No subscription, no fees, no purchase necessary. Prizes are funded by partners and sponsors, not your deposits.
Your money never moves. Lodavo connects read-only to your existing bank and never holds, withdraws, or charges anything.
Built for your phone. Manage everything in the app, with no branch visits and no paperwork.
Made for Canada. Lodavo is Canada’s first prize-linked savings app, designed for the way Canadians actually bank and save.

Is your money safe with Lodavo?

Yes, because Lodavo never touches your money. When you connect a bank account, Lodavo uses bank-grade, read-only access through Plaid (opens in a new tab) to see your balance and verify your savings. It cannot move your funds, withdraw, or charge you anything. Your money stays exactly where it is, at your own Canadian bank, earning whatever interest your bank already pays.

Lodavo is not a bank or a deposit account, and it pays no interest itself. It simply rewards the saving you are already doing. If you have ever wondered whether prize-linked savings is gambling, the short answer is no, and the full reasoning is there.

Why Canada is ready for prize-linked savings

This is not an untested idea. In the UK, a prize-linked product called Premium Bonds (opens in a new tab) is one of the most popular savings products in the country, held by millions of Britons. In the US, programs like Save to Win have helped tens of thousands of people save through their credit unions. The model is proven. It simply had not crossed the border yet.

With most Canadians already banking on their phones, prize-linked savings fits naturally here. Our full guide to prize-linked savings in Canada goes deeper on how it works and why it is legal.

The team behind Lodavo

Lodavo was founded in Montreal in 2022 by two university students with complementary skills, one in finance and one in software.

Benjamin Thomas, CEO: Benjamin brought the idea for Lodavo to life at a pitch competition while studying finance at Concordia University, after seeing how well prize-linked savings worked in the UK and the US and believing Canada deserved the same.
Luke Freund, CTO: Luke leads the engineering behind Lodavo. He studied software engineering at McGill University and has a background in hackathons and entrepreneurship, building technology to solve real problems.

Benjamin Thomas, Co-Founder & CEO

Luke Freund, Co-Founder & CTO

Ready to make saving exciting? Download Lodavo free and start earning tickets in this week’s draw.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.