Medean
closedPersonal finance app that simplifies budgeting and helps users make smarter financial decisions through insights and habit-building tools.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | $850k | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Medean was a Chicago-based financial technology company established in 2014 by co-founders Erik Skjodt and Matt Karazin. The firm operated in the personal finance sector, targeting individuals seeking to better understand and manage their financial health. The company ceased operations, with its status now listed as deadpooled.
The business centered around a personal financial management application for the iOS platform. CEO and co-founder Erik Skjodt was motivated by the lack of actionable guidance in existing budgeting apps, which often just presented past spending data. This led to the creation of Medean's core offering, the "Medean Score," a proprietary metric designed to provide a clear picture of a user's financial standing. This score was calculated based on four main factors: spending, saving, debt, and planning. A key feature of the app was the ability for users to anonymously compare their financial data and Medean Score with peers of a similar age, income, and location, leveraging social comparison and gamification to encourage positive financial habits.
The application provided tools for users to track income and expenses, but its primary differentiator was its focus on actionable improvement. It implemented the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, allocating 50% of income to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and debt repayment, to guide users' spending. In 2019, the company introduced the "Journey" feature, which integrated the Medean Score with "Achievements"—specific tasks designed to improve financial literacy and behaviors, such as reducing dining-out expenses. The company's long-term vision included disrupting the traditional credit score model by using the Medean Score as a basis for lending to individuals who might be negatively impacted by conventional credit assessments. Medean secured $500,000 in a seed funding round on February 24, 2017, and reported revenues of $50,000 for the 2018 fiscal year.
Keywords: personal finance app, budgeting app, Medean Score, financial health, expense tracker, savings goal, debt management, peer comparison finance, gamified finance, financial literacy, iOS finance app, Chicago fintech, Erik Skjodt, Matt Karazin, 50/30/20 rule, financial wellness, money management, deadpooled startup, seed funding, personal budget