58% of Gen Z buyers present a desire for debit playing cards over bank cards, indicating a development towards avoiding potential debt accumulation. Nonetheless, usually, debit card utilization doesn’t contribute to credit score constructing since such transactions usually are not reported to credit score bureaus. Enter Fizz, a monetary literacy platform coupled with a debit card, designed for school college students. It requires no prior credit score historical past, cosigners, or safety deposits. The platform incorporates AI-powered budgeting instruments that tailor spending limits and affords personalised suggestions, alongside gamified instructional programs. Distinctive to Fizz, it studies to credit score bureaus, enabling college students to determine a credit score historical past and likewise keep away from conventional bank cards. Moreover, it options an in depth rewards program. At present, Fizz is operational in over 300 faculties and is projected to surpass 9 figures in annual card quantity this yr.
AlleyWatch caught up with Fizz COO and Cofounder Scott Smith to be taught extra concerning the enterprise, the corporate’s strategic plans, latest spherical of funding, and far, far more…
Who have been your buyers and the way a lot did you elevate?
We raised a $14.4M seed spherical led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from SV Angel, Y-Combinator, New Period Ventures, and the founders and operators behind many family identify unicorns, like Postmates, Handshake, Public.com, and Airbnb.
Inform us concerning the services or products that Fizz affords.
Fizz makes a monetary literacy and budgeting app for school college students, and a debit card that builds credit score. With Fizz, college students get a holistic house for all issues monetary adulting, from constructing credit score historical past and monitoring their rating, to AI financial savings suggestions, a budgeting toolkit, and game-like monetary literacy programs.
What impressed the beginning of Fizz?
Carlo (cofounder) and I confronted the difficulties of economic adulting, lack of economic literacy, and constructing credit score historical past head on. As a freshman at Harvard, Carlo couldn’t get accepted for a bank card, and couldn’t begin constructing credit score historical past. Just a few states away at Cornell, I noticed that even my smartest associates weren’t effectively knowledgeable about their funds, and didn’t have good cash habits. We each dropped out to create Fizz and develop the merchandise that we and our associates desperately wanted in class.
How is Fizz totally different?
What units Fizz aside is that we create monetary merchandise completely for school college students and younger adults. This group is ignored as a result of they usually don’t but have credit score scores, or regular revenue streams, however that doesn’t imply they don’t want options that may present shopper and enterprise worth. By focusing solely on 18-24 yr olds, we will construct tailor-made options that tackle their distinctive wants, unlocking important untapped potential, and driving immense worth for customers.
What market does Fizz goal and the way massive is it?
Fizz targets faculty college students (>20M of them within the US, with 5M freshmen getting into every fall), and younger adults. Fizz is concentrating on essentially the most helpful and excessive LTV section in shopper finance and retail banking.
What’s what you are promoting mannequin?
Fizz makes cash primarily from subscriptions, interchange charges, and affiliate partnerships.
How are you making ready for a possible financial slowdown?
Fizz constructed and owns almost all of its personal ironclad software program infrastructure, driving important value synergies and permitting it to increase throughout the vertical sooner.
What was the funding course of like?
Fizz ran a standard fundraising course of bi-coastally, courting buyers in New York, and in Silicon Valley. We took 95% of Fizz’s fundraising conferences in particular person.
What are the largest challenges that you just confronted whereas elevating capital?
Demonstrating that there’s nonetheless immense and sturdy worth in shopper and in fintech, impartial of market cyclicality.
What components about what you are promoting led your buyers to jot down the examine?
Distinctive penetration into a really helpful section with one of many quickest monetary merchandise and platforms to achieve adoption amongst faculty college students since Venmo.
What are the milestones you propose to attain within the subsequent six months?
Carry Fizz to much more faculties and universities, and change into the go-to monetary useful resource for the incoming class of 2028.
What recommendation are you able to provide corporations in New York that do not need a contemporary injection of capital within the financial institution?
Staying lean and speaking to your customers isn’t essentially as trite because it might sound. Fizz constructed its infrastructure with an extremely small group, and with much less cash than the subsequent closest competitor. Speaking to customers obsessively can assist you identify the place the enterprise can drive near-term money flows in generally extremely stunning or surprising methods. This goes for each B2B and shopper.
Staying lean and speaking to your customers isn’t essentially as trite because it might sound. Fizz constructed its infrastructure with an extremely small group, and with much less cash than the subsequent closest competitor. Speaking to customers obsessively can assist you identify the place the enterprise can drive near-term money flows in generally extremely stunning or surprising methods. This goes for each B2B and shopper.
The place do you see the corporate going now over the near-term?
Fizz has a really bold product roadmap and is at present sprinting to launch two extra merchandise earlier than the 2024 fall back-to-school season.
What’s your favourite summer season vacation spot in and across the metropolis?
Prospect Park is nice for summer season weekends, and there’s nothing higher than a summer season workday in Soho, the place almost 90% of Fizz’s group works in particular person.