New York and Prague-based fintech, Birdwingo, argues that society is failing the young when it comes to financial literacy. It is on a mission to get young Europeans aged 11-17 suitably informed so that they might be able to start investing from an early age.
Specifically, it is launching the first investing app designed for young Europeans. It has been founded by two brothers who wish they had such a tool when they were growing up.
Birdwingo: first-of-its-kind platform in EU
The Birdwingo app represents a first-of-its-kind platform in the EU that allows underage teenagers to invest.
It offers access to popular stocks and ETFs, including Apple, NVIDIA, and the S&P 500, among over 12,000 additional options. To teach teens how to work with these assets, Birdwingo created a “Duolingo for finance” academy. It is designed to capture the imagination of current teens by resembling formats of Duolingo, Instagram and TikTok rather than a corporate finance textbook.
The initiative is supported by a €1.2m investment from US-based VC fund Bienville Capital, other company founders, and bank executives.
In the US, companies like Greenlight, Copper, Bloom, and Fidelity started empowering teens with investing opportunities and financial education with great success. However, such offerings are currently unavailable in Europe. “Investing is becoming mainstream, so why should European teens be excluded when time is their greatest asset?” said Andrej Hano, Birdwingo’s co-founder.
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Adam Hano, co-founder, added: “Birdwingo addresses the gap in financial education. This is not adequately covered by schools and is often left to questionable financial influencers or scammers online. We step in to enable teenagers to actively invest under full parental supervision, combining high-quality theoretical knowledge with real-world practice.”
A new era for the next generation of investors in Europe
Birdwingo has developed a gamified learning experience akin to the popular language learning app, Duolingo. This engaging academy teaches essential financial skills such as investing, budgeting, and scam awareness through interactive lessons and real-life investing scenarios, all under the watchful oversight of parents. Additionally, Birdwingo motivates teens with cash rewards for learning through its ‘learn to earn’ feature.
Designed with the safety and education of young investors in mind, Birdwingo provides a fully controlled environment. Parents can set investment restrictions, manually or automatically approve trades. In addition, they can contribute to their children’s financial future through regular account deposits. They can also track their children’s learning progress and even learn a thing or two themselves, enhancing their own financial knowledge.
A vision supported by results
Statistics from the platform’s beta testing phase reveal positive results. 94% of teens completing the Academy reported increased confidence in managing their money. 79% started saving and investing money for the long-term, and 84% of parents believe their kids’ financial literacy improved significantly.
The Birdwingo user base has grown to over 20,000, Birdwingo The platform now plans to partner with high schools and non-profits to broaden its reach and impact. The app is already available on both the App Store and Google Play.
