Black-owned, Education-first Kids and Family Banking App Goalsetter raises $3.9M Seed Round led by Astia

The Goalsetter team
The Goalsetter team

Black-owned, Education-first Kids and Family Banking App Goalsetter raises $3.9M Seed Round led by Astia

     Goalsetter, a Black-owned kids and family finance app that provides a next-generation, education-first banking experience for U.S. kids and teens, recently announced its seed capital raise of $3.9 million.
     The capital raised will support the company’s plans to accelerate subscriber growth and enhance its ability to further build out its platform. According to a press release, Goalsetter is the only debit card in the U.S. with a financial literacy curriculum designed exclusively for teens and tweens.
     Initially set for $3 million and oversubscribed, the round was led by Astia, with additional participation from PNC Bank, Mastercard, US Bank, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Elevate Capital, Portfolia’s FirstStep Fund and Rising America Fund, and Pipeline Angels as other major investors.
     Individual investors include notables such as philanthropist and investor Robert F. Smith, founder, chairman & CEO of Vista Equity Partners (who wiped out debt for Morehouse College graduates), NBA Stars Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Baron Davis, Actors Sterling K. Brown (“This is Us”) and Ryan Bathe (“The First Wives Club),” MLB Star CC Sabathia and Executive Director of PitCCh In, Amber Sabathia.
     “As the only Black-woman owned fintech company focused on the kid’s fintech space, we know how critical early finance education is to all kids in our country, and to Black and Brown kids in particular,” said Tanya Van Court, CEO and founder of Goalsetter. “Despite an increasing buying power, our Black and Latino communities are trending towards negative worth. Now is the time to teach our children to become smart spenders instead of conspicuous consumers. Goalsetter does this by teaching them that financial education, saving, and investing are the building blocks for achieving generational wealth,” she added.
     A report published in 2017 by Prosperity Now and the Institute for Policy Studies found that Black people spend $1 Trillion every year in the U.S., but are projected to have a negative net worth by 2053, with Latino net worth predicted to zero out by 2073.
     The app’s ground-breaking features includes financial education elements such as “Learn to Earn,” which lets kids earn money for every financial quiz question they get right, and “Learn Before You Burn,” which lets parents automatically freeze teens’ and tweens’ debit cards if they haven’t taken their financial literacy quizzes for the week. In September 2020, Goalsetter was featured as the Apple App of the Day and also released its Cashola Card, a U.S.-based debit card that includes financial literacy tools for teens and tweens.
     “Astia invests in companies that include women leaders and we invested in Goalsetter because we see an extraordinary founder who has developed a uniquely creative, effective and scalable platform to increase financial literacy among youth and ultimately promote a more equitable world,” said Managing Director Victoria Pettibone. “Tanya Van Court is an exemplar of entrepreneurs we back, and we are excited to be on this journey with her,” she added.
     Pipeline Angels and ERA were original “friends and family” investors when the company was launched and returned for this initial seed round. This equity financing raise comes as Goalsetter scales to meet strong demand in the kids’ finance sector for its unique dual-tier product offering that includes both a next-generation banking app, and game-based financial literacy curriculum mapped to national financial literacy standards.
     “We are proud to support Goalsetter in their mission to increase financial literacy in Black and Brown communities. Financial education is fundamental to building wealth. We are excited for young people and families to have this tool as they take control of their financial future and become savvy investors and future entrepreneurs,” said Kevin Durant, co-founder @ Thirty-Five Ventures.
     Goalsetter’s Founder, Tanya Van Court, was formerly an executive at ESPN, where she launched ESPN3, and Nickelodeon, where she led NickJr.com and Noggin.com. Van Court’s experience in media and entertainment helped her hone her ability to create content that is both engaging and educational for kids and families. At Discovery Education, Van Court launched kids’ digital textbooks on multi-modal learning.


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