- Fintech company Happy Money announced it closed $70 million in Series D funding led by CMFG Ventures — which is the venture capital entity of CUNA Mutual Group
Happy Money — a fintech company that enables people to “break up with their credit cards” — announced it closed $70 million in Series D funding led by CMFG Ventures (the venture capital entity of CUNA Mutual Group). This investment will accelerate Happy Money’s continued growth, further enables partnerships with credit unions and other ethos-aligned financial institutions, and fuels its broader mission of helping borrowers become savers.
“This successful fundraise is a direct validation of the Happy Money movement and ultimately strengthens our position against what we call ‘Sad Money.’ Mindful capitalism is the future, and we’re leading the charge,” said Happy Money CEO and founder Scott Saunders. “We’re committed to helping our members build a happier relationship with their money through our Happy Money ecosystem, which connects lending, spending, and savings products. We’re excited to add CMFG Ventures to our list of strategic investors who believe in eliminating ‘Sad Money’ on a national scale.”
Happy Money’s product ecosystem helps members pay off debt, save money and evaluate their “happy” and “sad” spending patterns. And Happy Money has also developed Happy Score — which is an innovative approach to better measure financial well being using cash flow, savings, behavioral, and psychometric data.
“We were drawn to Happy Money because of their innovative approach to providing financial tools and services focused on human happiness, as well as their shared ethos with credit unions to serve members and communities,” added Brian Kaas, the CUNA Mutual Group Vice President, Corporate Development and President and Managing Director of CMFG Ventures, LLC. “We are confident in Happy Money’s experienced leadership team and are excited to help accelerate their ability to forge partnerships with and bring innovative lending and savings offerings to credit unions and other mission-aligned organizations.”
Along with the investment, Happy Money has formed a strategic partnership with CUNA Mutual’s national sales force, which has a product relationship with over 95% of all credit unions in the United States. With credit unions playing a critical role in the company’s long-term vision, this collaboration expands Happy Money’s relationships with existing financial partners and will bring more into the Happy Money Movement.
This round of funding comes on the heels of the company hitting a number of milestones. In July 2018, Happy Money signed three strategic credit union alliances with Alliant, First Tech, and Technology Credit Union to deliver debt elimination loans. As a result, the company crossed $1 billion in aggregate debt elimination loans. And this milestone was achieved with a total investment of $70 million of equity capital — which validates Happy Money’s capital efficiency. Ever since Happy Money launched in 2009, the company has raised over $140 million from investors such as Anthemis Group, CMFG Ventures LLC, and Toba Capital.
