About Us

Savea is a FinTech platform and specialist wine advisor, with offices in Singapore and London. We seamlessly combine efficient investment in fine wine with cultivating a passion for collecting and drinking it.

Invest In Your Passion

Our Story

Who we are

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Wine has been a cherished part of human civilization for millennia, with Georgians enjoying it 8,000 years ago, Persians 7,000 years ago, and Sicilians 6,000. Its allure has been celebrated by Homer and treasured by kings like Tutankhamen. The Roman Catholic Church sanctified it in rituals, and French monks in medieval Europe honed their craft to perfection.

This deep-seated tradition of wine resonates with Savea's own story. Our roots date back 30 years to when our Founder, Sam, received a case of Chateau Palmer 1989, his birth year, and bottles of Port as Christening gifts. That modest £90 case has since matured into a grand £5,500 – a testament to wine's enduring value.

Sam's fascination with wine grew under the influence of his traditionally British claret-collecting father and a French uncle, the Chairman of a wine guild near Paris, who boasted a collection that included the esteemed Domaine de la Romanee Conti.

In the world of wine, time moves at a different pace. Modernization occurs, but it respects age-old traditions. It's an industry where innovation is approached with deliberation and care – especially in France, where the essence of life is savoured as much as the wine itself.

The advent of blockchain technology presented a pivotal opportunity. In 2020, Sam and Lee envisioned merging this disruptive tech with the timeless art of wine investment. Their dialogue was about creating harmony between the steadfast world of wine and the dynamic potential of blockchain.

And what of Sam's Christening presents? Well, his father wisely chose to enjoy the Palmer 1989 himself, having decided Sam probably wouldn't have appreciated it – a decision made in good humour, considering the fate of the Port bottles in Sam's college dorm. At Savea, we cherish each bottle's story and value, ensuring that the legacy of wine continues with the respect it deserves.

Sam Mudie
Sam Mudie
Co-Founder & CEO

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Sam has worked in the wine investment industry since 2012, including 9 years with the world’s largest specialist advisor, Cult Wines, with USD 360m assets under management. Here he founded the Singapore office, managed the business across Southeast Asia and was on the Investment Committee. During this time, he built up a large network of individuals with interests in various ‘passions assets’ such as wine, whisky, watches, art and cars. Sam has been featured in Robb Report, Forbes, MoneyFM, The Peak and CNA, and was previously a member of the British Chamber of Commerce’s Finance and Fintech Committee.

Lee Smith
Lee Smith
Co-Founder

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Lee co-founded and was previously CTO and Head of Product at Paidy, a card-less, real-time payment network in Japan. Paidy’s shareholders include Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Visa and Fidelity, and was acquired by PayPal in 2021 for USD 2.7bn. Lee also co-founded Wavecell, Asia’s leading cloud communication platform with customer such as Lazada, Viber and SAP, which was acquired by 8x8 Inc in 2019 for USD 125m. Today Lee is building an ecosystem of companies focused on tokenization of physical assets and infrastructure for organizations to run their operations on the blockchain.

Gemma Doran
Gemma Doran
CFO

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Gemma has 23 years of experience in finance and auditing, including 10 years at Finance Director level and 9 years as CFO, 5 years of which was within the wine investment sector. She has a track record of managing large teams in finance, HR and logistics, and has significant international financial regulation knowledge as well as broad fundraising (over $25m) and M&A experience.

Lee Vidor
Lee Vidor
CTO

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With over two decades in technology, Lee has experience in support, operations, development and systems architecture. He was a member of the founding team of Wavecell, a Cloud Communications Company, acquired by 8x8 in 2019. Fuelled by his passion for blockchain and decentralisation, Lee is actively engaged in driving innovation by exploring and implementing cutting-edge solutions for diverse problems.

Luke Griffiths
Luke Griffiths
Head Buyer

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Since 2004, Luke has worked across industry, most recently in senior buying and broking positions at Cult Wines, Wine Invest and Justerini & Brooks. Prior to that in Operations LHK Wines and Retail Store Management at Jeroboams. The relationships Luke has with wineries and key suppliers is vital to Savea.

Ralph Glenc
Ralph Glenc
Finance Manager

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Ralph has 25 years of experience in auditing, accounting, and consulting, including 14 years as a Finance Manager and Management Accountant. He specialises in implementing new accounting systems and processes and successfully managing change in complex business environments, startups, and SME companies. Ralph is not just a seasoned professional but also a committed learner. He is a proud ICF International Coaching Federation member and holds a prestigious Google Project Management Certificate.

Victoria Newton
Victoria Newton
Logistics Manager

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Victoria has worked in the wine industry since 2014 across retail, importer, and fine wine investment sectors, plus three years in premium spirits. Her focus throughout her career has been in logistics and stock control, particularly in bond movements and managing relationships with major bonded warehouses such as Octavian Wine Services and London City Bond, where total value of wines and spirits stored exceeds £4bn. She is currently completing her WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wine and hopes to complete this immense qualification in the autumn of 2024, having studied since January 2022.

Kevin King
Kevin King
Creative Director

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Kevin’s career is rooted in culture, spanning music, art and design, events and community. He worked at Universal Music, before founding Secret 7", a project that collaborated with musicians and artists including The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, The Chemical Brothers, Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor and Sir Paul Smith. He later co-founded Goodness, a creative agency who counted Sony, Sonos, Squarespace and WeTransfer among their clients.

Patrick Thornton-Smith
Patrick Thornton-Smith
Strategic Advisor

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Patrick worked at Cult Wines for 6 years as Chief Customer Experience Officer & CSR Lead. Prior to that, he was Managing Director at Duco Technologies, the global fintech provider of data control services. He has a further 30 years’ experience in the global derivatives post-trade and OTC cleared swap markets and held senior management positions at Barclays Capital, ICAP and a range of technology firms including SunGard, FFastFill, MarginClick and Rolfe & Nolan.

Akira
Akira
UI Developer

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With a decade of experience as a UI developer specialising in front-end web technologies, Akira’s journey began as a designer at Paidy in Tokyo. His expertise adds finesse to our user interfaces, creating seamless experiences.

Chris Clayton
Chris Clayton
Blockchain & Systems Engineer

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With 12 years in IT, Chris excels in support, database management and development. Driven by crypto technology passion, he shapes technical engineering and development.

External Advisor
David Tan

Chief Legal Officer, Head of Digital Assets and Distributed Ledger Technology at Hawksburn Group, Singapore

External Advisor
Richard Hemming MW

Master of Wine, Head of Wine at 67 Pall Mall, Writer for Jancis Robinson MW, Singapore

External Advisor
Deno Fischer

Ex-Partner at KPMG, ex-Senior Partner at Accenture, MBA lecturer at Oxford and Cambridge universities, New York

External Advisor
Dr Philippe Masset

PhD in Finance specialising in empirical finance, alternative investments, and wine economics, Switzerland

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