Finovate 2009 Video Archives >> Skill-Life (CentsCity)


Website: www.centscity.com
Blog:
www.skill-life.com/blog
HQ Location:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Company Founded: May 2008
Product Being Demoed: CentsCity
Product Launched: August 2009
Metrics: $315,000 raised; $30,000 in first month revenues




Presenter Profile How they describe themselves: CentsCity is a financial education platform that uses online games and real-world rewards to build tweens’ (ages 8-14) financial skills. Kids go on “quests” to landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Sphinx where interactive animations and games teach subjects including balancisng a checkbook, paying for college, and understanding savings accounts. Their achievements, which they also track in a physical “Passport,” earn them virtual currency that can be used to buy real-life rewards! Meanwhile, adults are able to follow and customize their kids’ experiences through a dynamic administrative interface.

What they think makes them better: CentsCity provides partners with a financial education and rewards product that achieves social impact, generates positive consideration, and attracts customers. With 81% of tweens playing online games (Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project) and 87% of parents “very interested” in teaching their kids financial responsibility (Source: Newry Corporation), CentsCity is at the nexus of an emerging opportunity. The platform incorporates persistent play, educational videos and quizzes, and customizable rewards in an engaging virtual setting. The result is a fun tool for building financial skills while linking online experiences to the real world.

Executives: Felix Brandon Lloyd (CEO), Todd Waits (VP of Product Development), Jordan Bookey (Co-Founder), Eugene Uzoukwu (Chief Strategist)

Investors: Jon Robert Holden, Innovation Works’ AlphaLab, Echoing Green, Ron Morris (Founder of Pittsburgh Business Radio), Idea Foundry, Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

Advisory Board Members: Eric Brown (ImpactGames), Dave Mawhinney (mSpoke, Inc.), William Thomason (Thomason Capital), Louis Piconi (ApangeaLearning), Cheryl Dorsey (Echoing Green)

Customers: CentsCity is currently being piloted by 2,500 youth in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, through the product’s first institutional customer, WYEP 91.3 FM.

Partnerships: ApangeaLearning, The Wall Street West Financial Literacy Fund, Propel Schools, Youth Places

Contacts: Biz Dev, Sales, Press: Felix Brandon Lloyd, 412-532-6267, felix@skill-life.com

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