Fizz Debit Card Debuts with Focus on Credit Building and Financial Literacy
- Carlo Kobe and Scott Smith founded Fizz to create a debit card for Gen Z that promotes credit accumulation and financial literacy.
- Fizz built its infrastructure from scratch and partnered directly with Lead Bank before launching its debit card in the first half of 2023.
- Fizz secured $14.4 million in seed funding from Kleiner Perkins, SV Angel, Y Combinator, New Era Ventures, and others.
Fizz built a debit card for Gen Z college students
Carlo Kobe and Scott Smith started Fizz in 2021 after dropping out of Harvard at 19 and Cornell at 21. They founded the company to create a debit card for Gen Z.
Their product vision extended beyond a debit card. They intended to use it for credit accumulation, financial literacy, and financial self-sufficiency.
Fizz’s target market is college students between 18 and 24 years old.
Fizz debit card combines budgeting and financial education
Fizz made an artificial intelligence budgeting feature the main element of its product. The company also presented financial literacy courses as entertaining and engaging quizzes.
Fizz built its infrastructure from scratch
Fizz did not use various fintech software-as-a-service vendors while developing its infrastructure from scratch.
The company also did not cooperate with an indirect partner, as most banking-as-a-service startups have done. During its first two years, Fizz developed its technology infrastructure and cultivated a partnership with Lead Bank.
Newsletter
The corridor, every morning.
Funding rounds and cross-border capital moves, one email, five minutes.
Lead Bank is based in Kansas City. Jacqueline Reses, a former Block executive, purchased the bank in 2022. Fizz introduced its debit card to the market in the first half of 2023.
Fizz raised $14.4 million in seed funding
Fizz stated that it had secured $14.4 million in seed funding. The round was managed by Kleiner Perkins, SV Angel, Y Combinator, New Era Ventures, and the founders of Handshake, Postmates, and Public.com.
Fizz was one of the companies in Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 batch.
Fizz’s team and competitors
The Fizz team includes 11 senior engineers and designers from Meta, Microsoft, and Amex.
Its competitors include traditional banks such as Discover, Capital One, and Bank of America, as well as personal finance and budgeting tools such as Rocket Money and Credit Karma.
Edited By Annette George
More in Startup News
