Ourly Rebrands as Wallit with $2.6M in Funding and New Team
Rewards-based savings app for families, banks, brands and retailers
PORTLAND, Maine, Sept. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wallit, a rewards-based savings app for families with teens that rewards users when they save and spend money, today announced its rebrand. Founded as Ourly in 2016 as one of the first mobile banking apps for teens, Wallit's comprehensive rebrand includes a new platform, a new team and fresh venture capital funding to continue its growth path.
The company has raised $2.6 million in seed round funding led by early-stage FinTech investors BlueIO, Mendoza Ventures and BoxOne Ventures, and unnamed private investors with participation from the Maine Technology Institute. The investment will be used to expand its core product, drive the company's sales and marketing initiatives and increase channel partnerships given the rapidly growing demand from regional and community banks and credit unions.
The first reward-based savings solution for parents and teens, Wallit combines key features and benefits of checking, savings, and debit cards into one easy-to-use account. The app connects to any bank or credit union in the United States and includes a bank-issued spending card from its banking partners, which enables users to send and receive money instantly, shop online or in-store, and to receive moment-based cash rewards when achieving savings and spending goals.
The company partners with banks, credit unions and other financial service organizations that are looking for solutions to help them reach Millennial and Gen Z customers with more targeted user engagement to increase deposits and spending while building closer connections and loyalty to new and existing consumers.
Wallit is led by former Fidelity Investments executive, Mike Vien, who has recruited a new management team, bringing on Chief Technology Officer Chris Williams, Vice President of Product Ani Malkani, and Vice President of Operations Allyson Ray. With 25 years of experience as a successful financial executive and entrepreneur, Vien's previous roles include CEO of Vetr, an early stage social networking service and crowdsourced prediction platform for the stock market; SVP at Fidelity Investments; COO of multi-billion dollar private asset management company, Shepherd Kaplan; and Global Managing Director, Head of Business Advisory Services at Wipro Technologies.
Chris Williams, a successful technology entrepreneur founding, managing, and selling technology companies in cloud service infrastructure, digital media, financial analytics, high performance networking and software development over the last 35 years, joins the startup from Vetr where he worked alongside Vien as CTO and oversaw engineering and product development. Williams has also co-founded several internet startups, including Airex Market, Waypoint Software, Nexaweb Technologies, and Valent Software, an early internet company that helped pioneer online social networking. Williams graduated from MIT with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Malkani most recently served as a director of product management at VISA and was a founding member of TrialPay, which was acquired by VISA. Allyson Ray is an experienced investor and board member, having served in roles for DAVO Technologies, Rainmaker Springs and Maine Standards Company. Ray is also a co-owner of an investment firm, Cutler Lending.
By offering clients a secure, SaaS-delivered consumer engagement platform and savings app that makes it easy for families with teens to manage money and earn cash rewards for everyday saving and spending, Wallit aligns the interests of consumers, banks and credit unions, brands and retailers by linking moments of real world achievement with real rewards.
"Wallit is fundamentally transforming the way the world connects to save, spend, and send money," said Wallit CEO Mike Vien. "Our recent success driving deposits for our banking partners demonstrates that rewarding consumer engagement programs can have a dramatic impact on revenues and growth. Not only does Wallit allow banks and credit unions to drive deposits directly, but it also allows them to drive purchases and increase loyalty. Wallit builds loyalty through enhanced mobile engagement and also allows marketing professionals to drive and measure saving and spending at the household level."
The company currently has more than 20,000 monthly active users (MAUs). Unlike traditional consumer finance solutions, Wallit is free to all users.
About Wallit
Wallit is a free rewards-based savings app for families that empowers teens and their parents to manage money better with an easy way to earn cash rewards on their everyday saving and spending. Wallit partners with leading banks, credit unions and other financial service organizations that are looking to reach Millennial and Gen Z customers by offering rewards for real-world achievements, such as completing savings goals or items on a to-do list. Headquartered in Portland, Maine with offices in Boston, Wallit is backed by leading Boston-based venture capital firms BlueIO, Mendoza Ventures and BoxOne Ventures, with financing through a partnership with the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) and the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME). For more information, visit wallit.app or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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