Stack.io raises $2.7 million to teach teens and parents about crypto

For the price of a cup of coffee, your teen can learn how to invest in cryptocurrency.

Today, Stack.io released what CEO Will Rush says is “the premier crypto education and trading app for teens and their parents.”

The subscription app costs $3 per month per user and is available for android. It was designed with Gen Z in mind, a generation that will grow up with blockchain and most likely own some kind of digital assets, Rush told TechCrunch.

He co-founded the company with CTO Natalie Young and CCO Angela Mascarenas in 2021. The founding team has an eclectic background that includes teen fintech app Copper and titles for Rush, while Mascarenas helped digitize the cookie ordering system for Girl Scouts and Young was a T-Mobile engineer.

At Copper, Rush led efforts to teach kids how to invest, but found that replacing the word “stock” with “crypto” sparked more engagement. He would also see Reddit posts from teenagers trying to get into crypto using their parents’ info to create an account on exchanges like Coinbase or Robinhood and have them frozen – and rightly so – for not having the age to have an account.

“It was clearly a thesis that no one was doing any groundbreaking effort on,” Rush told TechCrunch. “How can we be the good guys and create a safe and educational ecosystem? »

Coinbase and Robinhood already dominate the crypto exchange space, but Rush believes Stack stands out from the crowd by offering features like access to tax benefits and control of a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) account. ) and a shopping environment designed specifically for teens. And, when teenage users turn 18, the assets are transferred into their name. Users can also earn rewards as they learn, which can translate to getting the app for free.

It also limits the assets offered to protect its users, Rush said. It will start with seven cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano. Stack also does not allow off-platform transfers, which Rush claims will reduce cryptocurrency fraud and scams plaguing exchanges by up to 98%.

“By making these few decisions, we believe we can deliver a better educational product,” he added.

Meanwhile, the app launches with over 6,000 users on the waitlist and follows a $2.7 million investment from Madrona, The Venture Collective, Santa Clara Ventures and a group of investors. providential and individual. The new investment gives Stack just over $3 million in total funding to date.

The new capital injection will allow the company to continue to develop its app and financial literacy program focused on high schools. Rush also wants Stack to get more financial licenses and expand its offerings. The company currently has eight employees and plans to hire two more this year.

Next, the company will perform what Rush calls “a more thoughtful overhaul of its educational content” which includes creating compelling financial content similar to what’s popular on TikTok and YouTube.

“We need a big push to make it relevant for teens and we’re looking at educational topics like NFTs, metaverse and web3,” he said. “We aim to be the trusted account to democratize investing for young people.”