Seattle-based fintech startup Copper was founded on the idea that teens are not too young to learn about finances. The startup offers online banking services and educational content for adolescents and teenagers 13 years and older. Now with new funding, Copper is expanding its platform to offer crypto investing for teens.
On Tuesday, Copper announced that it raised a $29 million Series A round led by Fiat Ventures. The latest round comes seven months after the company raised $13.3 million in seed funding and just two years after the company was founded.
Copper’s teen banking platform works by opening accounts that are attached to parents’ bank accounts. Parents can then deposit or transfer money to their teen’s account where they learn to manage and spend money using a debit card provided by Copper. Through Copper, users aren’t charged monthly, overdraft or maintenance fees.
With the proposed addition of cryptocurrencies to its platform, users will soon be able to use the money stored on their Copper bank account to purchase cryptocurrencies and possibly gain capital by holding on to coins and trading them at the right time. This feature is expected to come later this year, according to a company statement.
“Copper is building something bigger than banking for teens. The vision, team and growth model are built different, built to win and built to reshape the next generation’s financial future like never before,” Alex Harris, a general partner at Fiat Ventures, said in a statement.
Typically crypto investing has been age-restricted and only available for those over 18 years of age, including on platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood. However, as crypto has hit the mainstream, several other startups have popped up and been fueling the crypto for teens movement. Startups such as Stack and EarlyBird have been working on platforms that would let teens invest in crypto and each has its own features to attach youth investors.
With Copper soon offering crypto investing opportunities, it hopes to attract users by creating an environment where kids can experiment with investing while under the watchful eyes of their parents, according to Copper CEO Eddie Behringer.
“Teens are intensely curious about investing. They just don’t have experience weighing risks or balancing a portfolio,” Liz Frazier Peck, a financial advisor and Copper executive director of Financial Education, said in a statement. “That’s why it’s essential to get them comfortable with the different options early on — ideally in a space where they’re surrounded by good advice and can be supervised by their parents. Copper is like a driver’s permit. It gives teens experience ‘behind the wheel,’ but there’s always an adult in the passenger seat.”
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