Ant Money, the embedded finance platform, announced it has secured $20 million in a Series A financing that was led by Franklin Templeton’s Franklin Venture Partners.
The investment round was also led by Walter Cruttenden, RX3 Ventures, SteelBridge Laboratories, and Steelpoint Capital Partners. In conjunction with the merger, Ant Money also completed the acquisition of Blast through a stock-for-stock merger. The move “increases the number of apps under the Ant Money umbrella, from one to three, all of which allow users to earn money that goes to build investment accounts,” according to a release.
Walter Cruttenden, Ant Money co-founder stated:
“Building an investment account early in life can help people on the road to financial success, but many people don’t start because they lack the knowledge or funds. My hope is that Ant Money, which helps people generate small amounts of money to seed accounts, can foster new growing accounts and provide increased financial security for millions.”
The merger brings three different applications – ATM, Blast, and Learn & Earn – into the Ant Money family, the update noted.
The announcement also mentioned that the ATM app is designed to “help users generate micro-income that is then invested in the stock market through Ant Money Advisors, a wholly owned, SEC-registered investment advisor and robo-advisor, embedded into the app.”
ATM has formed key partnerships with major companies to allow users to “earn cash for participating in brand matching and providing consumer insights,” the announcement explained.
Users remain anonymous in the ATM app and the firm “never shares or sells their personal information.”
Blast, via its Learn & Earn™ app, developed in collaboration with Junior Achievement USA, also helps people “earn money for learning new skills,” the update noted.
Likewise, these funds are “automatically invested in the market, enabling the user to learn how the markets work while building their very first investment account,” the announcement added.
Michael Gleason, CEO of Ant Money, remarked:
“Ant Money and Blast had similar visions for helping people enter the financial investment world as well as overlapping management, and as we began working together and embedding the Ant Money investment platform into the ATM app, and the Blast Gaming and Learn & Earn apps, it seemed like the logical next step was to merge the companies and build a larger one together.”
James Cross, MD at Franklin Templeton’s Franklin Venture Partners, said:
“Embedding investment functionality into apps that already pay users rewards or other incentives is a fantastic way to help young investors get started, and an innovative way for Ant Money to build a large customer base with relatively low customer acquisition costs.”
Ant Money has been co-founded by Michael Gleason and Walter Cruttenden. Gleason previously “founded, managed, and sold Consumer Brands and now serves as CEO of Ant Money,” the update noted.
Cruttenden is an experienced entrepreneur, “having founded several investment companies including Roth Capital and Acorns.” Cruttenden will “serve as Chairman of the Board,” the announcement revealed.