Former middle school teachers Abby Cole and Katie Gracey founded ClassBank (then called ClassEquity) in 2021 to create a financial literacy curriculum for kindergarten to high school students. The Los Angeles-based company partners with school districts including Orange County, New York City and Columbus Public Schools to teach more than 400,000 students how to earn, save and spend money.
ClassBank’s digital classroom platform is “helping students understand financial decisions before they face real-world challenges and ramifications,” said Michael Lapido of Ruthless for Good, the lead investor in the $1 million equity and grant round.
The New Orleans-based early stage venture firm backed ClassBank via its Ruthless for Good Fund that invests in companies targeting education, the future of work and access to resources for underserved communities, with a focus on women and founders of color.
Financial inclusion
The pre-seed financing “will empower us to extend our impact in underserved communities,” said ClassBank’s Abby Cole. The company has launched a digital savings account feature, in which students have deposited $11.7 million.
ClassBank, whose founders are Transcend Network edtech fellows, also secured investment from the Transcend Fund, an early-stage venture fund that invests in the future of learning and work solutions. Other backers include Brass Ring Ventures and The Yass Prize.
