Akudo, a learning-first neobank for teenagers in India, has raised an undisclosed amount in its Pre-Seed funding round led by Y-Combinator, Incubate Fund India, and other Indian angels investors.
Akudo is a digital bank for teenagers in India. Crafted with the vision of raising generations of money-smart young Indians, the word ‘akudo’ (pronounced aku-doe) comes from Igbo and means ‘peaceful wealth’.
Started in August 2020 by IIT Roorkee and BITS Pilani alumni Lavika Aggarwal, Sajal Khanna, and Jagveer Gandhi, the Bengaluru-based startup provides personalized debit cards that can be used by teenagers independently, with the aim to help them save money, and gives them exciting rewards under a gamified set up when they’re good at their personal finance.
According to Co-founder Lavika Aggarwal, Akudo is crafting the concept of “learning-first banking” where financial learning is seamlessly integrated right where and when you bank.
Akudo, which was officially launched nine weeks ago, claims to have 60,000+ registered customers and has issued 12,000+ cards and transactions through its platform, growing at 98% week on week. The startup also claims that its cards have been delivered to 350+ cities across India.
Commenting on the funding, Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner of Incubate Fund India said,
“Teenagers have been ignored from the fintech revolution in India. Akudo’s financial literacy and neo banking approach fulfills requirements of both teenagers and parents so we believe it will grow very fast by creating a new economy around that.”
The startup offers a one-stop technology solution to the three dimensions of learning about money management viz awareness, practice, and habit building. Its mission is to empower India’s teenagers with financial knowledge and independence.
The company said it’s incredibly easy for teenagers to save through auto-save and round-up-your-spends features that tangibly promote the value of savings as a habit. It has also integrated lots of bite-sized videos explaining important financial concepts within the banking experience for teenagers.
With Akudo, teenagers can start banking under parental oversight in under 2 minutes. They can also learn the golden principles of wealth through bite-sized videos and curated resources. Minors can get into the habit of saving money through a host of mindfully designed micro-features that nudge and reward children for saving more and achieve tasks/goals to earn pocket money and rewards.
An Akudo account has dual partitions, one for saving and one for spending, as all top personal finance authors advise. It has partnered with VISA and RBL Bank to facilitate banking for teenagers.
