Beans Entertainment
Company for all things beans apps, games and books created by parents for kids.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
£300k | Seed | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
The Beans positions itself as a financial technology company focused on improving the financial well-being of what it terms "America's Caring Class"—individuals in mission-driven professions like education, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. The company's mission is to alleviate financial stress, identified as a primary source of pressure for these employees, thereby helping employers reduce staff turnover.
The firm was founded by CEO Melissa Pancoast and Co-Founder Alex Orozco. Pancoast's background as a teacher exposed her to the financial stress experienced by her colleagues and the families in her community. This experience motivated her to study financial behavior at the University of Oxford, where she developed an "Economic Strengthening" program designed to reduce financial stress for families. Recognizing the potential to scale this program through technology, she moved to San Francisco to establish The Beans. The company's name is a nod to the dried beans used in visual financial planning exercises during her research in South Africa.
The core of The Beans' offering is a mobile application that provides users with personalized, automated cash flow plans. By connecting to a user's bank accounts, the platform analyzes earning and spending patterns to generate a visual financial plan that updates automatically. This service aims to simplify financial management and provides proactive behavioral nudges to help users stay on track. The business model appears to be B2B2C, where employers offer The Beans as a financial wellness benefit to their employees. The service is free for users to download. The company has secured significant funding, including a $2 million round in June 2021 led by Precursor Ventures and a $17 million Series B round in October 2021.
Keywords: financial wellness, fintech, employee benefits, personal finance, cash flow planning, financial stress reduction, B2B2C, mobile application, financial planning, behavioral finance, automated financial plan, Caring Class, healthcare finance, educator finance, non-profit finance, Melissa Pancoast, Alex Orozco, Oxford University, evidence-based finance, financial technology