Latest news with #AcornsEarly
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Acorns acquires family wealth and digital memory platform EarlyBird
Savings and investing startup Acorns has acquired EarlyBird, an investment gifting platform for families, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the acquisition, EarlyBird will shut down, and all customer accounts will officially close on June 23. Customers' funds will be returned to the bank account connected to their account. Founded in 2019, EarlyBird launched a product that combined financial investing with community. The app allowed families and friends to gift investments to children while preserving memories through a digital time capsule. The investments would become the child's once they turned 18, and they could use funds for things like paying for college, paying a down payment on a home, or seeding their first business. "When we founded EarlyBird, we envisioned creating a platform that would transform how families leave lasting legacies for their children," said EarlyBird CEO and co-founder Jordan Wexler in a statement. "The opportunity to join Acorns not only reaffirms our vision, but expands our impact to millions of families who also care deeply about building their children's financial futures." Wexler and co-founder Caleb Frankel will join the Acorns team to help build out Acorns Early, the startup's smart money app for kids. Acorns Early offers a debit card designed for kids and teens to help them develop financial literacy and manage their money. The company launched Acorns Early following its acquisition of GoHenry, a startup focused on providing money management and financial education services to 6- to 18-year-olds. Acorns believes that by bringing on Wexler and Frankel, the company will be able to leverage their experience and passion for the space to enhance Acorns Early. "Our vision is to build a financial wellness system for the whole family, creating compound growth at every life stage," Acorns CEO Noah Kerner said in an email to TechCrunch. "The shared experiences and insights between our two teams will enable us to deliver this vision faster and better so that we create maximum value for everyday American families." Existing EarlyBird customers will be offered a free one-year subscription to "Acorns Gold," a plan that offers access to all Acorns products, including Acorns Early. Customers will receive an email detailing the sign-up process. Acorns notes that EarlyBird users will not be able to transfer their EarlyBird funds over to Acorns Early. If users want to continue their investing journey with Acorns, they need to withdraw their funds from EarlyBird and open a new account with Acorns. The company plans to integrate EarlyBird's digital time capsule feature into the Acorns Early app at a later date. On EarlyBird, the feature allowed users to build out time capsules by recording videos at memorable moments in their lives. For example, if a mother received a promotion and wanted to gift a one-time investment to her child, she could record a video talking to her child about it to commemorate and remember the moment. The acquisition comes as Acorns has doubled its customers on Acorns Gold, its $12 per month subscription plan, over the past year. "Our Gold Plan will be the place to deliver financial wellness for the whole family — products for parents, kids, and all the connective fabric between the family unit," Kerner said. "This will be the place where the whole family can manage their money as they grow smart money habits together." Acorns raised $300 million in March 2022 and was valued at $2 billion at the time. The company did not provide an updated valuation. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Mayor
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Startups Weekly: A brighter outlook, but don't get carried away
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can't miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here . Startup news this week was fairly routine — in a good way: Aside from a minor kerfuffle between Y Combinator and Google, there was no headline-grabbing drama. Just steady progress and business as usual. Image Credits:Chime With IPO plans, acquisitions, and new launches, this week offers genuine reasons for optimism and bullishness. But don't get carried away, either: We're not ready for Theranos 2.0. Interesting filing: Digital consumer bank Chime publicly filed for an IPO this week. Among other numbers, the paperwork revealed it paid around $33 million to the Dallas Mavericks as part of its marketing efforts. Neon lights: Databricks is planning to spend around $1 billion to acquire Neon, a startup building an open source alternative to AWS Aurora Postgres, with hopes that their combined offerings will let customers more efficiently deploy AI agents (whatever those are). Catching the worm: Savings and investment startup Acorns acquired EarlyBird, an investment gifting platform for families, for an undisclosed amount. EarlyBird will shut down, and its co-founders will help build out Acorns Early, the startup's smart money app for kids. Bridging gaps: AutoUnify, the latest startup coming out of Porsche's partnership with venture studio hopes to become the Plaid of automotive retail with an API that bridges the communication gap between dealerships and service shops on one side and manufacturers and software vendors on the other. Friend or foe: Google launched its AI Futures Fund, a new initiative seeking to invest in AI startups that use DeepMind's tools. Also this week, Y Combinator released a brief accusing Google of being a 'monopolist' that has 'stunted' the U.S. startup ecosystem. Dual use: British startup Vertical Aerospace is working on a hybrid-electric eVTOL aircraft that would capitalize on its position as the only European player in the space, among rising demand for home-grown defense solutions. Are you kidding? Elizabeth Holmes' partner, Billy Evans, is reportedly trying to raise $50 million in funding for a new blood-testing startup with a pitch that resembles Theranos'. Image Credits:Bestow AI was once again a recurring theme in the pitches from startups that announced rounds this week, but these companies focus on a wide range of sectors and problems. Plus, there's fresh funding for fintech and for New York-based startups. Bestowed: Insurtech startup Bestow raised a $120 million Series D, including $75 million in primary investments, to launch new products and underwriting capabilities. AMD-powered: Las Vegas-based TensorWave raised a $100 million funding round co-led by Magnetar and AMD Ventures for its data center infrastructure, which primarily relies on AMD hardware. One step ahead: Sprinter Health, a company offering at-home preventative healthcare services such as blood draws, raised a $55 million Series B round led by General Catalyst. Pan-African: Egyptian startup Nawy, Africa's largest proptech platform, secured a $52 million Series A led by Partech Africa and $23 million in debt financing to support its MENA expansion. Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are its next markets. Read More Reverse flipping – medium rare or well done? - Breakfast club: Fast-growing AI note-taking platform Granola raised a $43 million Series B at a $250 million valuation and launched a collaboration feature for teams. Fusion in a bottle: University of Wisconsin spinoff Realta Fusion obtained $36 million in fresh funding, which it plans to use to finalize the design of its Anvil prototype reactor. Talking babies: Hedra, a company helping artists produce podcasts featuring AI-generated talking babies, locked in $32 million from a16z. Fashionable: Doji, a startup hoping to make virtual apparel try-ons both fun and social, secured a $14 million seed round led by Thrive Capital it will use to improve its AI avatars. Bigger apple: New York-focused VC firm Work-Bench raised $160 million for its fourth fund, which will support seed-stage founders building enterprise software. Deeper: Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund launched a $26 million fund to back early-stage startups more meaningfully than as an angel investor. The fintech company was last valued at $3.5 billion in a March funding round. Image Credits:Eric Slesinger CIA officer turned investor Eric Slesinger may be the only American VC exclusively investing in European defense tech. In a recent episode of the StrictlyVC Download podcast, he told TechCrunch about the arguably prescient move that led him to found 201 Ventures.
TechCrunch
15-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Acorns acquires family wealth and digital memory platform EarlyBird
Savings and investing startup Acorns has acquired EarlyBird, an investment gifting platform for families, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the acquisition, EarlyBird will shut down, and all customer accounts will officially close on June 23. Customers' funds will be returned to the bank account connected to their account. Founded in 2019, EarlyBird launched a product that combined financial investing with community. The app allowed families and friends to gift investments to children while preserving memories through a digital time capsule. The investments would become the child's once they turned 18, and they could use funds for things like paying for college, paying a down payment on a home, or for seeding their first business. 'When we founded EarlyBird, we envisioned creating a platform that would transform how families leave lasting legacies for their children,' said EarlyBird CEO and co-founder Jordan Wexler in a statement. 'The opportunity to join Acorns not only reaffirms our vision, but expands our impact to millions of families who also care deeply about building their children's financial futures.' Wexler and co-founder Caleb Frankel will join the Acorns team to help build out Acorns Early, the startup's smart money app for kids. Acorns Early offers a debit card designed for kids and teens to help them develop financial literacy and manage their money. The company launched Acorns Early following its acquisition of GoHenry, a startup focused on providing money management and financial education services to 6- to 18-year-olds. Acorns believes that by bringing on Wexler and Frankel, the company will be able to leverage their experience and passion for the space to enhance Acorns Early. 'Our vision is to build a financial wellness system for the whole family, creating compound growth at every life stage,' Acorns CEO Noah Kerner said in an email to TechCrunch. 'The shared experiences and insights between our two teams will enable us to deliver this vision faster and better so that we create maximum value for everyday American families.' Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Existing EarlyBird customers will be offered a free one-year subscription to 'Acorns Gold,' a plan that offers access to all Acorn products, including Acorns Early. Customers will receive an email detailing the sign-up process. Acorns notes that EarlyBird users will not be able to transfer their EarlyBird funds over to Acorns Early. If users want to continue their investing journey with Acorns, they need to withdraw their funds from EarlyBird and open a new account with Acorns. The company plans to integrate EarlyBird's digital time capsule feature into the Acorns Early app later this year. On EarlyBird, the feature allowed users to build out time capsules by recording videos at memorable moments in their lives. For example, if a mother received a promotion and wanted to gift a one-time investment to her child, she could record a video talking to her child about it to commemorate and remember the moment. The acquisition comes as Acorns has doubled its customers on Acorns Gold, its $12 per month subscription plan, over the past year. 'Our Gold Plan will be the place to deliver financial wellness for the whole family — products for parents, kids, and all the connective fabric between the family unit,' Kerner said. 'This will be the place where the whole family can manage their money as they grow smart money habits together.' Acorns raised $300 million in March 2022 and was valued at $2 billion at the time. The company did not provide an updated valuation.
