“Financial education and encouraging young people to prioritize it has always been important and I have a unique opportunity and responsibility to use my platform to push that life-changing message to everyone.”
LA-based investing platform Scout has raised $2.6 million in a seed round led by Chingona Ventures, having now emerged from its private beta program to become available in the Apple App Store.
The fintech focused on bringing portfolio customization and diversification to the college crowd and its private beta program saw Scout onboarding thousands of students at more than 17 college campuses. Now live in the Apple App Store, the firm is set on rapidly scaling across the country.
Scout raised from many including NBA’s Chris Paul and NFL’s Vernon Davis
Other investors include BDMI, OnDeck, OneTeam Partners, Reach Capital, Gaingels, Hustle Fund, Alive VC, and Broadhaven Ventures alongside several high-profile co-investors such as Phoenix Suns guard and 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul, NFL Legend and Super Bowl Champion Vernon Davis, early-stage investors Tim Fong, Jay Kapoor, and athletes Jimmer Fredette, and Kyle Hines.
Scout currently offers 15 differentiated investment options that may align with personal interests, ranging from themes like: I Love College (companies from the US food and beverage sector with a focus on fast food, alcohol, and other guilty pleasures); Love of the Game (companies that develop or publish video games, facilitate streaming or downloading of gaming/esports content, or produce hardware used in video games and esports); So Glamorous (companies across apparel, luxury goods and other consumer retail products like handbags, shoes, jewelry and more); The Secret Fund of Pets (companies that support pet ownership, health and the general trends in how we care for our pets) and The Open Road (companies involved in the development of self-driving cars, EVs and EV components and materials).
Michael Haddix, Jr., founder and CEO of Scout, said: “Gen Z investors are participating in the markets at higher rates than ever but they’re either being left behind or led astray by their current investment platforms. They’re either underwhelmed and confused by the boring rigidity of financial advisors, and ultimately lose interest in the life-changing opportunity to begin and maintain their investing journey at a young age. Or they’re overwhelmed by the bright lights and excitement of low-guidance, single-stock ‘casino/day-trading’ brokers and can potentially lose a significant amount of money…before losing interest in the markets. Scout makes investing appealing to each person based upon their interest and experiences while still automatically risk-balancing their portfolio to promote long-term wealth building opportunities, teaching them the process of it all along the way.”
Samara Mejia Hernandez, Founding Partner of Chingona Ventures, said: “Chingona Ventures prioritizes investing in founders from non-traditional backgrounds who bring unique perspectives on a customer base that will give them a competitive edge. Michael’s relentless passion to build Scout into an engine to motivate and mobilize the next generation of responsible investors exemplifies the very type of founder we love to back.”
Chris Paul, said: “Financial education and encouraging young people to prioritize it has always been important and I have a unique opportunity and responsibility to use my platform to push that life-changing message to everyone. Mike has been a trusted advisor to young athletes for a long time—but what really motivates him and his reason for launching Scout—is an underlying drive to motivate the next generation of kids from all backgrounds not only to succeed, but to take ownership and active participation in saving and investing for their future.”
In addition to its relationship with Chris Paul and the other athletes included in this seed round, Scout has also partnered with a host of influential professional athletes from Travis Kelce, Ali Krieger, Elena Delle Donne and CJ McCollum to promote the investing platform on social media and provide personalized advice on entrepreneurship and investing.
