The Beans Raises $2 Million for Financial Wellness and Behavior App Designed for ‘Caring Class’

By Thomas Price | Thursday, 03 June 2021 | Startup, Finance, Tech

Financial stress can follow people for the rest of their lives without proper budgeting and peace of mind savings. Especially for those in high-stress jobs interacting with others every day, the need for better financial tools has grown significantly. The Beans is a fintech startup that has created a financial wellness and behavior app designed for the so-called “Caring Class,” which is made up of teachers, nurses, and social workers. The company recently raised new funding to help expand business operations and improve its product.

What The Beans Does and Early Growth

Fintech startup The Beans has built and launched an app on Android and iOS meant to help those with steady incomes to properly budget their finances and track spending. The Beans app works through a simple process. After securely connecting their bank accounts, users then fill out a questionnaire about their lifestyle and financial goals. From there, the company designs a personalized plan based on the answers to these questions to improve the financial wellness of the user. Users then simply have to follow the plan and provide updates if their financial situation changes over time.

The fintech startup follows several evidence-based solutions when formulating these plans. The business also utilizes custom machine learning models to help users make genuine behavioral changes with their money.

The company currently offers a free version of The Beans app as well as a premium version that costs $30 a year. Major benefits that the premium version of The Beans app offers include a personalized visual cash flow plan and unlimited access to the support team.

Business is rapidly growing for the fintech startup as well. In an effort to target nurses, social workers, and teachers, along with other members of the “Caring Class,” the company has partnered with over 80 different distribution networks, including the Boys & Girls Club of America, YMCA, and certain regions of Teach for America.

Funding for The Beans and Future Plans

In the most recent funding round for the business, The Beans raised $2 million in capital. The funding round was led by Precursor Ventures with participation from Relay Ventures, One Planet VC, Swing Ventures, and Oxford Angel Fund, as well as a series of angel investors.

The new funding will help the fintech startup further expand its distribution network and reach a larger user base. The money will also be used to hire new talent, expand business operations, and reinvest in the technology of The Bean app.

The fintech startup predicts that there are anywhere between 40 million and 100 million people within the “Caring Class,” depending on the definition. As a result, the company believes it is nowhere near its full business potential yet, and new outreach efforts will make a significant difference.

When commenting on the app and new funding for the company, founder and CEO of The Beans, Melissa Pancoast, said, “We are excited to put the money to work to grow the team and the technology to extend the reach of the product to new markets. When people are stressed out about their money, they do things to make themselves feel better. We are in the position to be in their headspace and then be like the Nike training club to train them on how to get there.”

About the Author

Thomas Price

Tom Price is a writer focusing on entertainment and sports features. He has a degree from NYU in English with a minor in Creative Writing. He has been previously published for Washington Square News, Dignitas, CBR, and Numbers on the Boards.