Acorns has acquired Frich, a peer-led financial education community for young Americans with 1.6 million members and an organic creator network.
Frich co-founders Katrin Kaurov and Aleksandra Medina have joined Acorns as Co-Leads of Education & Community. The acquisition expands Acorns’ ability to reach younger consumers through peer conversations and creator-led financial education, including people who may not yet have decided to begin investing.
Founded in 2021, Frich was built around the idea that young adults often learn about money through conversations with peers, social communities, and creators rather than through traditional financial education. The platform encourages members to discuss financial experiences openly and includes a peer-benchmarking feature that lets users compare their financial habits with others’.
Acorns plans to pair Frich’s community-driven approach with its existing saving and investing products. The acquisition gives the company another way to engage consumers earlier in their financial lives, particularly as they develop habits and learn about saving, investing, and managing money.
Existing Frich community members will be welcomed to Acorns. The company said the acquisition also creates opportunities to reach specific communities more deeply through conversations already happening among its members.
Since its founding in 2014, Acorns has developed financial wellness products for children, teenagers, young adults, parents, and families. The company said it has served more than 16 million people and helped customers save and invest more than $33 billion, including through small-dollar and spare-change investing.
KEY QUOTES:
“Investing is intimidating. Doing it with others can help people get past that. Katrin and Aleksandra helped a lot of people say ‘I don’t know’ out loud, and that’s a good place to start. We keep betting on builders like them.”
Noah Kerner, CEO Of Acorns
“We spent five years getting people to talk openly about money. Acorns is the natural next step, because it lets us pair that conversation with investing and saving.”
Katrin Kaurov, Co-Founder Of Frich And Co-Lead Of Education & Community At Acorns
“Money feels like culture when it’s honest, relatable, and social. That’s what we built at Frich. It’s what we get to keep building at Acorns.”
Aleksandra Medina, Co-Founder Of Frich And Co-Lead Of Education & Community At Acorns
