ImpactAlpha, November 26 – Bay Area-based Charlie is a personal finance service that aims to make it easier for people who are traditionally underserved by financial services to ask financial questions, budget, alleviate debt, and work towards savings goals. The company has raised a $9 million Series A financing round led by fintech venture firm Propel Venture Partners.
Charlie’s approach to supporting everyday spenders is unique from other fintech ventures in that it uses text- and messenger-based chat rather than an app. The chatbot—with an animated penguin named Charlie—links to users financial accounts and tracks account balances, spending and upcoming bills.
Since launching three years ago, Charlie has grown to more than 250,000 users, 80% of whom are women with an average age of 27.
“Affluent men have more than enough tools to help them optimize their finances,” said Stephanie Palmeri of Uncork Capital, a prior investor in Charlie. “We saw Charlie’s potential to really change the lives of young people, in particular young women.”
