Financial literacy is important knowledge that needs to be learned. Nobody is born with an understanding of how to maintain good credit scores, save money and avoid debt. Some kids learn how to take care of their money from financially savvy parents, others may end up learning from their parents’ mistakes.
Founded in 2014, Greenlight Financial Technology is an Atlanta-based FinTech company that’s empowering parents to raise financially-smart kids. Its innovative family finance product, Greenlight®, is a debit card for kids that parents manage by app using flexible parental controls.
Greenlight’s patent-pending technology enables parents to manage chores, set parent-paid interest rates on savings, and choose the exact stores where their children can spend money. Kids monitor balances, create saving goals and learn how to make real-world trade-off decisions.
Yesterday the startup announced that it has raised $54 million in Series B funding led by Drive Capital with participation from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Existing investors TTV Capital, Live Oak Bank and Relay Ventures also participated. Greenlight says the investment will fuel continued growth and accelerate the company’s development roadmap.
The cash injection will also allow the company to weave more educational layers into the app experience along with investing, “to get kids familiar with the tools to build long-term wealth.”
“Greenlight has built an incredible platform that makes it convenient and safe for parents and kids to manage their money. We’re proud to support their growth and help them on their mission,” said Chris Olsen, Partner at Drive Capital who has joined the Greenlight Board. “What attracted us to Greenlight is the scarcity of tech platforms empowering consumers to be more financially successful.”
The company has experienced rapid growth since launching its product in 2017, helping more than half-a-million parents and kids manage daily family finances and watch dimes turn into dollars.
“We’re thrilled to partner with our Series B investors to bring Greenlight to millions of new families and help parents prepare their children for healthy financial futures,” said Tim Sheehan, CEO and Co-Founder of Greenlight. “In the near future, I hope that this generation of kids grow up to spend wisely, learn the importance of saving and feel confident investing to build wealth over the long-term.”
