The Berlin Fintech Bling has closed a new round of financing. (Source: Company)
Frankfurt The pocket money app Bling defies the current crisis: The Berlin fintech collects 3.5 million euros from investors and increases its rating to an eight-digit sum, as the Handelsblatt learned in advance. The company did not want to give a specific number.
“We have relied on a sustainable business model since day one. This is one of the reasons why we were able to conclude such a strong seed financing against the general trend,” said co-founder and CEO Nils Feigenwinter. A company’s second round of financing is called the seed round.
In fact, after the record year 2021, venture capitalists are much more cautious this year in view of the turnaround in interest rates, the war in Ukraine and rising inflation. This primarily affects consumer-oriented fintechs (B2C), which also include bling. But in contrast to other companies, the Berliners have relied exclusively on a payment model from the start.
The company has been offering an app and a prepaid card (bling card) since the summer of this year. Parents can transfer pocket money to the app, for example, and the children and young people can then use it to pay independently. The minimum age is seven years.
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“Often we are the first digital banking experience,” says Feigenwinter, who founded the company in 2021 at the age of 20 together with Leon Stephan. “For decades, families have been neglected as a target group. We’re going to change that.”
Parents are in control
For the payment card, Bling works with the banking-as-a-service provider Treezor, a subsidiary of the French bank Société Generale. Parents can always control spending and set limits. Completed household tasks such as cleaning windows or mowing the lawn can also be rewarded in this way.
The app costs EUR 2.99 per month per child. According to their own statements, around 10,000 families are actively using the app just under six months after it was launched.
>> Read here: Will these 36 billion German start-ups get through the crisis?
Competitors in the USA show just how great the potential is. For example, fintech Greenlight collected $260 million last year, including from well-known US investor Andreessen Horowitz – and increased its valuation to around $2.3 billion. Among other things, Greenlight offers a debit card for children. Five million parents and children use the app.
However, Feigenwinter wants to concentrate on Germany first: “We want to conquer the German market and in the medium term have a bling card in every fourth child’s room,” he said. The new financing round is led by the Dutch investor Peak. Before that, however, the Berlin fintech was also able to win over the entrepreneurs and business angels Lea-Sophie Cramer and Verena Pausder as well as football world champion Andre Schürrle.
With the money raised, Bling now wants to continue to grow. In addition, a savings offer is already planned for the birth.
more on the subject: Financing for German start-ups is collapsing