Digital banking platform Good Money just raised $30 million in a Series A funding round to continue developing its app.
Led by Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital (via its Galaxy EOS VC Fund), participants in the funding round included Breyer Capital, Blocktower Capital, Boost VC, Ken Howery, BlockChange Ventures, Cross Culture Capital, Troy Carter, Mitch Kapor, Peter Diamandis Blake Mycoskie and Justin Rosenstein, among others.
The startup aims to act as a bank through which every customer owns some amount of equity, with incentives baked in for those who install the app, refer friends and set up direct deposits.
As part of its traditional banking services, Good Money says it will offer free ATMs nationwide, no overdraft fees, low consumer loan rates and a 2 percent Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Savings rate. The company intends to release its full app sometime in 2019.
The platform works through its app, a mobile digital wallet with a number of other features. Users can also direct 50 percent of the startup’s profits to their charity or philanthropic project of choice.
Good Money founder and CEO Gunnar Lovelace said in a statement that his firm seeks to take on traditional banking practices, which “is a primary driver” of a number of issues including institutional racism, environmental destruction and political corruption.
“We founded Good Money to help consumers take their money out of a system that’s both destroying the planet and extracting wealth from the most vulnerable and put it into a new system focused solely on benefiting people and planet,” he added.
Piggy bank image via Shutterstock