3rd December 2020: Junio, a kids-focused digital pocket money smart card that lets children make digital and physical purchases, has announced to raise $3 million in a seed round. The fundraising round will be backed by marquee institutional investors in participation from angel investors.
Junio is a first-of-its-kind digital pocket money smart card for children between classes 4th and 10th. Co-founded by former Paytm alumni Shankar Nath and Ankit Gera in September 2020, the idea is to digitize pocket money for children while nurturing financial knowledge and discipline in them at an early age. The startup is set to be launched in January 2021.
Speaking on the development, Ankit Gera , Co-founder at Junio said, “Junio enables instant transfer of pocket money from parents to their children. It acts as a smart card and allows kids to make physical and digital purchases. With the launch of Junio in January 2021, our aim is to create a community of financially smart and empowered young generation. The target is to deploy 2 lakh smart cards pan India by the end of 2021.”
In addition to instant pocket money transfer, the app also allows parents to keep a track of the spending made by children. It also lets parents create in-app daily tasks for their kids and tie them with perks. The app is integrated with features such as setting withdrawal limits for ATM and gives flexibility to parents to cancel the card at any moment using the app.
Adding further, Dib Chaudhuri, a Singapore-based serial entrepreneur, and angel investor said, “Kids-focused fintech is a new concept in India and a space that is unexplored. What’s most impressive is Junio’s approach to meet the needs of the millennials who are inclined towards the digital world, shopping online using their parent’s debit/credit card. The new-age fintech startup aims to nurture financial literacy among children and empowers them to grow into financially independent adults.”
The funds will be utilized to enhance the company’s product development and customer stomer acquisition initiatives.