Maidenhead twins launch driving theory app that could 'become a billion-dollar company'

Two former Furze Platt School students say the ‘possibilities are endless’ for their new driving theory app that’s pipped to become a billion-dollar company.

Twin brothers Sam and Ben Barrett launched Drivewiser in December, which has a TikTok-style algorithm for users to scroll through content rather than read ‘old-fashioned’ textbooks.

The app brings together licensed content from the DVSA along with personalised study plans and is free to download from the App Store.

“It’s a fundamentally better experience and more geared towards the younger generation who are trying to pass their theory test at the moment,” Sam told the Advertiser.

The 29-year-old said they’ve received thousands of downloads since launching two weeks ago and are also working with the UK’s number one driving TikTok channel, Driving School TV.

They have a community of driving instructors who regularly suggest new app features such as push notifications, horizontal videos and text-to-speech, to help people with learning difficulties.

“People love it. When you download the app, you can create your own plan, and that drives the sense of accountability,” said Sam.

“Our app is similar to Duolingo, so you let us know when your test is, and we work backwards, create your plan and tell you when you need to study and how long you need to study for.

“Based upon that, you can engage with the content, and then we tell you if we think you're ready.”

The duo started their careers at Monzo Bank after graduating from university and have garnered years of product experience from various tech start-ups, including Canva, Strava and Runna.

“We’ve got lots of experience in going into startups at early stages and building out the foundations for growing the business,” added Sam.

“So we wanted to come together and use that experience to build a driving theory app because we saw the problem, and we want to try and fix it.

“We knew that we could build an app that would be better than anything else in the market.

“We're just getting as much feedback as we can and also raising investment.”

After Ben failed his driving theory test numerous times and Sam passed his driving test last year, the pair found ‘lots of problems with the current experience’.

“It felt quite old-fashioned and out of date,” added Sam.

“We wanted to try and challenge ourselves to build something which would ultimately make driving easier and more accessible to more people.

“It’s an interesting time in the global market because, clearly, the way things are going, they're just not working and not scalable.

“Since COVID, it’s become even more difficult and even more expensive to book a test, and that's why people are using bots, but this company will eventually become a billion-dollar company, so the possibilities are endless.

“At the moment, we're just starting with theory tests and what we really want to try and do is perfect that experience to make sure it's flawless from end to end, and then you can go global with that experience.”

This could mean expanding to tests for e-scooters, buses and lorries, or across different markets such as Australia and the USA.

“We also want to become not just the app that solves the driving theory needs as well, we want to try and facilitate the experience, so not only do you use Drivewiser for passing theory, but for learning to drive as well,” said Sam.

He suggested a marketplace to find instructors or building functionality for test routes and black box technology into the app.

Launching their app has been ‘tough’ as it involves running social media, contacting driving instructors for the affiliate program and creating investor decks to ‘sell the vision of the company’ – all while dealing with the stress of paying out of pocket for business licenses.

But with Sam currently based in Australia and Ben in the UK, the dynamic has so far been ‘fun’.

“It’s a case of really rolling up your sleeves and trying to do as much as you can,” said Sam.

“It’s a challenge, but it's fun, especially when you're working with your twin.”

The pair plan to visit their old schools, Claire's Court and Furze Platt Senior, for talks in the new year.