Wingo Technologies secured $1.7M additional seed financing led by Panache Ventures

Photo of author

By CPE News

CPE News (5/19/2021) – Wingo Technologies (Wingocard) has raised $1.7 million in additional seed funding led by Panache Ventures, with participation from private investors including Cherif Habib (co-founder and CEO of Dialogue) and Francois Arbour (founder of PremiumBeat, acquired by Shutterstock), as well as previous participation from Diagram Ventures.

Wingocard is a mobile banking app and debit card made to reward teens for being smart with their money.

Wingocard intends to use this latest round of funding to accelerate growth and expand its product offering with new features and gamified financial literacy tools to provide a simple, impactful personal finance resource for teens.

Wingo Technologies previously announced closing of $2 million seed financing led by Diagram Ventures in July 2020.

photo credit: Wingocard

News Release

Wingocard launches alongside $3M seed funding to-date to help teens establish a foundation of personal finance knowledge through gamification

Empowering teens with financial autonomy, Wingocard is the new debit account designed to keep things simple and help the next generation build a foundation of personal finance knowledge.

NEW YORK (PRWEB) May 19, 2021

Wingocard, the mobile banking app and debit card made to reward teens for being smart with their money, today announced its official launch, alongside $1.7M in funding in addition to a previous $1.3M, totaling $3M in seed funding to date. The most recent round was led by Panache Ventures, with participation from select angel investors including Cherif Habib (Co-Founder and CEO of leading Canadian telehealth provider, Dialogue) and Francois Arbour (Founder of PremiumBeat, acquired by Shutterstock), as well as previous participation from Diagram Ventures. Wingocard intends to use this latest round of funding to accelerate growth and expand its product offering with new features and gamified financial literacy tools to provide a simple, impactful personal finance resource for teens.

“As parents, we can all relate to one thing: kids constantly asking for a credit card to make purchases online,” said Sebastien Brault, CEO and Co-Founder of Wingocard. “More than ever, teens need a digital way to manage their money and Wingocard is a unique opportunity to provide them with fun and easy-to-use tools that will help them become financially independent. Traditional banks are stuck in the past and need to invest huge amounts of money to make baby steps towards a better user experience. My teens inspired me to launch Wingocard to better the lives of a whole new generation now—not in 20 years.”

Designed to help teens learn how to save, budget and understand their money, Wingocard aims to instill financial literacy from a young age. The Wingocard mobile app is free to sign up for and use and the account guarantees no overdraft fees in order to provide parents with peace of mind. Built for teens ages 13 and older who link their account to a parent’s account, Wingocard allows them to seamlessly request money from parents, manage their finances in the app and make purchases with their Wingocard Visa debit card. Teens can receive an allowance and learn to manage their finances while gaining a sense of financial independence.Through Wingocard’s simplified banking experience, teens can build better financial habits early on, and parents experience the convenience of sending money in seconds.

“At Panache, we seek out seed-stage companies that will go on to impact the entire foundation of an industry,” said Nicolas Jacques-Bouchard, Principal at Panache Ventures. “Wingocard marries technology and a few things teenagers love: their phone, games and freedom. By creating a platform that provides ease of use for both parents and teens, parents can reward their children while simultaneously encouraging them to manage a financial account.”

Wingocard has driven immense demand with over 75 thousand teens on the waitlist and over 65 percent of teens who register then go on to share the app with their friends*. Today on launch day, Wingocard will begin to grant access to the app from the waitlist in cohort groups. After being accepted and receiving parent sponsorship and consent through an email request, it takes less than five minutes for a teen to set up their account on the app. Wingocard currently offers a digital card, which can be used for online and in-store shopping, and a physical Visa Debit Card.

Wingocard is a participant in Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program, a global program designed to help fintechs speed up the process of integrating with Visa and enabling them to more easily leverage the reach, capabilities, and security that Visa offers. Learn more about Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program at https://partner.visa.com.

The Wingocard Prepaid Visa Card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank (Member FDIC) pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

For more information about Wingocard, please visit https://wingocard.com
To access the media kit, including visual assets, please click here.

ABOUT WINGOCARD
The Wingocard team is on a mission to help teens access the cashless economy with the world’s best banking experience. We want to empower and inspire teens to learn about money and take control of their personal finance as early as possible in their lives. The Wingocard App is a mobile banking tool designed for teens and their parents. The app allows parents to instantly transfer money to their teens and keep an eye on how they spend it. https://wingocard.com

ABOUT DIAGRAM VENTURES
Diagram is a venture builder that conceives and launches technology companies in the financial services, insurance, and health industries. Working alongside world-class founders, Diagram combines access to venture capital investment, hands-on support, and a deep ecosystem of partners and incumbents – into a unique platform to launch and scale a business. Since 2016, Diagram has raised $145M and launched 11 new companies across North America. https://diagram.ca/

ABOUT PANACHE VENTURES
Panache Ventures is Canada’s most active seed stage venture capital fund and the only national pre-seed platform. The firm is led by a team of experienced operators, with a strong angel investor track record, years of institutional VC experience and a strong network in Canada, in Silicon Valley and worldwide. The fund has a founders-first philosophy, a commitment to diversity and strategically co-invests with smart angel investors and seed stage funds.