Fizz has announced it has raised a $14.4 million Series Seed round to provide young people with a debit card that helps them avoid overspending. The funding was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from SV Angel, Y-Combinator, New Era Ventures, and the founders and operators behind ten unicorns, including Handshake, Postmates, and Public.com.
Fizz’s debit card uniquely aids young adults in establishing credit without the burden of interest or fees. It is the first credit-building debit card for students with a proactive AI budgeting solution at the core. Fizz also offers engaging, gamified financial literacy courses presented in a fun and interactive quiz format.
Fizz helped students build credit at every Ivy League school and every top 25 US News & World Report school. And the Fizz card requires no credit history, cosigner, or security deposit to get started, making it accessible to nearly all young adults, including internationals.
Fizz plans to use the funding to scale its team, develop additional product lines, and invest in marketing and sales to increase awareness at more colleges and universities.
The funding is the latest milestone in a record-breaking year for Fizz. And in the last year, Fizz grew from 0 to over 300 colleges and universities, and this year will cross 9 figures in annual card volume. And millions of students graduate with credit card debt—Fizz’s first order of business is creating a way out of that vicious cycle for young adults, and growing into a household name in the personal finance ecosystem.
KEY QUOTES:
“The concept of credit can be so daunting and inaccessible for younger people that they delay building credit history until it’s too late. Traditional cards are hard to get approved for, and even if you do, high-interest debt can trap students for decades. After dropping out of Cornell and Harvard during COVID, we spent nearly two years working with regulators and banks to launch Fizz.”
- Carlo Köbe, Co-Founder and CEO at Fizz
“Our card and app provide a clear path for younger generations to build credit early, so they’re not caught off guard when they need it most—for renting apartments, refinancing student loans, or passing background checks for their first real jobs.”
- Scott Smith, President and Co-Founder
“Financial independence usually starts in college and getting it right is incredibly important, but most of the services have not changed in decades. Fizz has built the technology and partnerships to offer a suite of modern products that make it easy for college students to get on the right path and build their financial future. The impact these products are having on the ground is terrific.”
- Ilya Fushman, Partner, Kleiner Perkins
