PrizePool Receives $4.25 Million for Product Development

PrizePool's unique referral program lets people save together with friends and family. When a PrizePool user refers a friend, there are shared benefits, inspiring each other to save more, and increase their chances of winning together.

FREMONT, CA: PrizePool, a San Francisco, CA-based fintech startup, raised $4.25m in seed funding. Backers included Accomplice, Bling Capital, Coatue, SciFi VC, and World Innovation Lab and others.

"Now more than ever, Americans need to be saving money to protect their future," said Frank Chien, co-founder, and CEO of PrizePool. "But we know that saving can be hard to prioritize, and our goal is to reduce the barrier to saving money by making it fun in two unique ways. First, we guarantee a total of $50,000 in real cash prizes every month, and second, our referral program makes saving a social activity -- so that you can save and win together." Chien and his co-founder, Joe Woo, sold their first company, LearnSprout, to Apple in 2015.

PrizePool gives customers a way to save and win real cash prizes guaranteed to a total of $50,000 every month. The company pays out a $25,000 Grand Prize each month, along with thousands of smaller prizes. All deposits are FDIC insured, by Evolve Bank & Trust, and there are no fees and no minimums to participate. It intends to use the funds to invest in product development, drive user acquisition, boost marketing initiatives, and build its team with new hires.

"When I met Frank and Joe, the founders, and saw their track record in tech and education, I knew they were serious about looking to build a business with the goal of getting people to focus on their financial lives in a unique and engaging way," said Andy Chen, Partner, Coatue. "We believe this experience combined with the commitments to both guarantee monthly prizes and create a social, referral model sets PrizePool apart from others in the market."

PrizePool's unique referral program is designed to transform saving money from a solitary act to a shared, social, and even more rewarding experience. The program lets people save together with friends and family. When a PrizePool user refers a friend, they both win a 10 percent bonus when the friend wins a prize, the friend receives an extra 10 percent boost for using the first customer's referral code, and the original user gets a bonus of 10 percent of their friend's winnings too. These bonus prizes are incentives to save and play together.