London startup Osper wants to make kids better at managing money
Osper, a London-based startup that teaches kids to manage their money online, has launched with £6m backing from Index and Horizons Ventures.
The mobile app lets kids aged between eight and 18 years old take responsibility for their money and make purchases online using a prepaid card, but allows parents to oversee spending at the same time.
Created by Alick Varma who trained as a maths teacher and worked for Spotify and mobile payment platform M-Pesa, Osper aims to teach kids good money management skills for later in life.
Varma hopes the app will better prepare young people for taking on their student loan or first paycheck:
“Parents currently spend an average of £10,000 a year on their children but young people are only accountable for around 5 per cent of that. This leads to far too many young adults leaving home without experience of budgeting and unprepared to manage the financial responsibilities ahead of them. Osper gives young people the freedom and control needed to ‘learn by doing’ within the framework of a safe and secure family environment.”
The year-old startup secured funding from Index Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Travelex CEO Peter Jackson, former Sainsbury’s Bank chairman Darren Shapland and others.
Index’s Robin Klein said of the venture: “Its smart and simple mobile approach will no doubt generate huge interest from young people and their parents and give them the tools to have an open dialogue about financial responsibility.”