With an average starting salary of €23,500/year and house prices in cities across Western Europe soaring to an average of €305,000, is society sufficiently guiding the youth in their financial journeys?
Prague, 2 May 2024: Birdwingo, a New York and Prague-based fintech, does not think so: it wants to get young Europeans aged 11-17 to learn to invest and get them started. Therefore, the company is launching the first investing app designed specifically for young Europeans. Founded by two brothers who wish they had such a tool when they were growing up, Birdwingo’s app is a first-of-its-kind platform in the EU that allows underage teenagers to invest. It offers access to popular stocks and ETFs, including Apple, Nvidia, and the S&P 500, among over 12,000 additional options. To teach teens how to work with these assets, Birdwingo created a "Duolingo for finance" academy. It is designed to capture the imagination of current teens by resembling formats of Duolingo, Instagram and TikTok rather than a corporate finance textbook. This groundbreaking initiative is supported by a substantial €1.2 million investment from a New York-based VC fund Bienville Capital, other company founders, and bank executives.
In the US, companies like Greenlight, Copper, Bloom, and Fidelity started empowering teens with investing opportunities and financial education with great success. However, such offerings are currently unavailable in Europe, where parents typically resort to traditional savings methods at banks or brokers without involving their teenagers directly. “Investing is becoming mainstream, so why should European teens be excluded when time is their greatest asset?” comments Andrej Hano, Birdwingo's co-founder.
"Birdwingo addresses the gap in financial education, which is not adequately covered by schools, and is often left to questionable financial influencers or scammers online. We step in to enable teenagers to actively invest under full parental supervision, combining high-quality theoretical knowledge with real-world practice", adds Adam Hano, Birdwingo’s co-founder.
A New Era for the next generation of investors in Europe
Birdwingo has developed a gamified learning experience akin to the popular language learning app, Duolingo. This engaging academy teaches essential financial skills such as investing, budgeting, and scam awareness through interactive lessons and real-life investing scenarios, all under the watchful oversight of parents. Additionally, Birdwingo motivates teens with cash rewards for learning through its 'learn to earn' feature. Crafted by graduates of top-notch business schools, including the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, the academy was tested in high schools in Europe.
Designed with the safety and education of young investors in mind, Birdwingo provides a fully controlled environment where parents can set investment restrictions, manually or automatically approve trades, and contribute to their children's financial future through regular account deposits. They can also track their children's learning progress and even learn a thing or two themselves, enhancing their own financial knowledge.
A Vision Supported by Results
Statistics from the platform's beta testing phase reveal great results: 94% of teens completing the Academy reported increased confidence in managing their money, 79% started saving and investing money for the long-term, and 84% of parents believe their kids' financial literacy improved significantly.
With a user base already surpassing 20,000, Birdwingo is a testament to the demand for innovative financial education solutions. The app is regulated within the EU, ensuring a safe and credible platform for users across the continent. The platform is also planning to partner with high schools and non-profits to broaden its reach and impact. The app is already available on both the App Store and Google Play.
Media Contact:
Tove Berkhout - tove@prlab.co
Please feel free to reach out to Andrej Hano directly if you have any additional questions - andrej.hano@birdwingo.com
Andrej Hano - Co-Founder & CEO:
Andrej Hano has worked as a management consultant in London, Germany, and the Netherlands. He specialized in advising corporate clients on sustainability strategy, cost optimization, and restructuring, and is currently based in Prague. Certified in portfolio management & investment banking in London, Andrej is a Graduate of King’s College London and Utrecht University. Andrej founded Birdwingo alongside his brother Adam Hano, and has been CEO since its conception in 2021.
Adam Hano - Co-Founder & CTO:
CTO and Co-founder of Birdwingo, Adam Hano, has worked in engineering and product roles in startups in Boston and San Francisco. During his time in these roles, he developed AI trading algorithms for a major US bank alongside being a certified penetration tester. He studied Cognitive and Computer Science at University of Pennsylvania. Currently based in New York, Adam runs Birdwingo alongside his brother Andrej Hano.
About Birdwingo:
Founded by two brothers Adam Hano & Andrej Hano based in New York and Prague, Birdwingo is an easy-to-use financial education and investment platform that encourages responsible investing in teens and their parents. Founded in 2021, it is the first platform in the EU that allows people under 18 to start legally investing into real stocks and ETFs under the supervision of their parents. To teach finance in a responsible but engaging way, the Birdwingo team has developed a gamified academy, akin to the popular app Duolingo to educate and guide. The app is available in both the App Store and Google Play.