Blackbullion, the award winning edtech company transforming students’ lives through financial literacy, has secured second-round investment of £400K ($525K).
This second tranche of funding was led by Lord Stanley Fink, who will also join the start-up’s board, as Chairman. Additional investments came from MPA Education, Emerge Education and JISC, the membership organisation providing digital solutions for UK education and research. It brings the total raised by Blackbullion to £1m and will be directed towards new product development and expanding its existing suite of solutions for universities.
Founded by former wealth manager, Vivi Friedgut in 2014, Blackbullion has set the challenge to deliver a robust and empowering financial education to a million students within the next two years.
Friedgut said, “Money is the last great taboo and it’s our goal to ensure an engaging and effective financial education for young people.
“We’re seeing more universities look at making financial learning mandatory but there’s still a way to go. Working in partnership with universities means we can drive understanding, empower students with real-world money skills, and help build the confidence and tools they need to design the life they want beyond graduation.”
Blackbullion currently supports 500,000 students across the UK, Australia and New Zealand, through partner universities, including King’s College London, The University of Edinburgh, and the University of South Australia. The start-up has a strong track record in widening participation cohorts, especially for first-in-family students. Its platform is actively used as part of partner university student retention strategies.
Lord Fink said, “Forty years in the financial services world and I’m always surprised how young people lack understanding on the topic especially given how much we know about the impact of financial stress. I’m a huge fan of how Blackbullion’s thoughtful products have the potential to change students’ lives.”
Melody Lang, Advisor and Investor at MPA Education summarised their decision to invest in Blackbullion.
Lang said, “Very excited to be backing a company with such an important mission, but also one of the most impressive founders I ever met. Vivi’s creating a real legacy through her tech for good ethos and this platform.”
Jan Lynn-Matern, CEO and co-founder at Emerge Education said, “Financial education is one of the fundamental pillars of becoming a well-rounded adult. Despite its importance, it remains very underrepresented in today’s education systems, from schools to universities. We’re thrilled to support Blackbullion in its mission to bring this crucial life skill closer to universities and students and continue its exciting growth journey.”
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