A German app for family financial management, launched by a “fintech wunderkind,” has acquired another German app focused on financial education for teenagers and adults. The Berlin-based app, Bling, established in 2021, assists parents with financial planning for their children. It offers digital educational solutions in payment, investment, and mobile communications, positioning itself as a family-friendly fintech. Users receive a prepaid card, and the app claims 250,000 active family users alongside over a million downloads. It also provides “child-friendly” mobile phone plans and practical tools like shopping lists, family calendars, and tutoring services to simplify family life.
Bling, having raised over $15 million, is supported by investors like La Famiglia, PEAK, Angel Invest, and Commerzbank Group’s VC, Neosfer. The founder, Nils Feigenwinter, a young entrepreneur known in German media as a “fintech wunderkind,” previously launched three youth-centric startups, including a Swiss student magazine and a consultancy for young adults. Bling has acquired Hamburg-based Finstep, a financial learning app for teenagers and young adults, offering “interactive missions” on topics such as inflation, investing, and taxes. With fewer than 10 employees, Finstep focuses on the B2B market, serving around 30,000 users and partnering with banks. Bling considers Finstep a “perfect strategic fit” for its mission to enhance financial literacy among young people. Financial terms of the acquisition remain undisclosed.
Managing director Nils Feigenwinter remarked that the acquisition would enhance their app by incorporating financial content suitable for teaching children and young people how to manage money effectively. Christian Binder, founder and managing director of Finstep, expressed that the integration would continue their mission to strengthen financial literacy among young people, boosted by Bling’s platform and reach.