FinTech for kids: Greek startup WOLI raises €700K in a round by Eleven Ventures
The Greek startup WOLI has raised €700.000 in a seed round, led by Eleven Ventures, a fintech-experienced VC and the first investor in the Bulgarian tech unicorn Payhawk. Incoming investors include prominent angels and entrepreneurs such as Victor Trokoudes from Plum Fintech, Thanassis Sofianos from Relevance, and Hristo Borisov from Payhawk. The fresh funding will enable WOLI to further develop its product, grow its team, and prepare for operation in new markets.
“While personal finance management for families has been a growing trend, children are participating in ever more cashless transactions, requiring that they be served with tailored financial products, adequate education, and brand identity. We are very happy to welcome Vasilis and his team to Eleven, as WOLI is taking on a mission to change how money management and financial education in the family works,” said Managing Partner at Eleven, Vassil Terziev.
Across Europe, pocket money is predominantly still in cash, leaving kids and teens with no proper tool to manage their own money and set their own goals, as well as no debit card for secure e-commerce payments. At the same time, parents have little control over their kids’ financial habits and find it very difficult to educate them on money management principles.
WOLI is a money management platform designed for families, which helps children grow good money skills in a fun and secure way. The solution offers an engaging and educational money app and prepaid card for kids while assisting parents with a tool that automates allowance and provides absolute security and control.
The Greek company issues a colorful prepaid Mastercard tied to the child account and enhances the child banking experience with unique modules such as financial literacy, quiz-based games, as well as a marketplace with relevant rewards and offers.
Founded in 2020, the fintech for kids grew past 1,000 accounts in its first 3 months of operation and enjoys continuous growth of its card payments in Q1/2022. The WOLI app (available for iOS and Android) and colorful card are currently offered only in Greece where the company is streamlining its operations and testing new features before expanding in new markets such as Italy and Spain.
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“We are extremely excited for the upcoming year. We have a challenging roadmap in place, with many features that extend way beyond fintech, and we aim to position WOLI as one of the leading kid and teen neobank brands in Europe. To achieve this, we need to focus on growing our team with superstar talent and executing our strategy with efficiency and speed. Bringing such a great lineup of investors onboard is surely a major milestone on our mission,” says WOLI CEO and founder Vasilis Zoupas.
The awarded fintech is licensed to operate as an E-money distributor across the EEA and is part of esteemed programs such as the Visa Innovation Program and X-Europe. The company was founded in 2020 by Vasilis Zoupas and Filippos Antonopoulos with the mission to empower young people with financial freedom and knowledge.
The smart money app is currently working on new features, such as financial literacy platform, smart saving goals, money gift cards from relatives, and a marketplace where teens will be able to access various rewards and products, such as vouchers for their beloved online gaming brands.
