Crew Raises $2.5 Million Pre-Seed Investment
Today Crew announced the launch of their family focused banking experience and a $2.5 million pre-seed investment led by Kickstart Seed Fund (Salt Lake City). Pelion (Salt Lake City), Sepio (Alamo, CA), Signal Peak Ventures (Salt Lake City), Convoi Ventures (Orem, UT), Spacestation (Layton, UT), Influence Ventures (Salt Lake City), and a number of strategic angels also participated in the round.
Crew offers a simple signup flow for parents to set up their own checking and savings account. Users can also easily add accounts for their children. Crew's platform simplifies the process of keeping accounts organized and to move money back and forth between accounts. Parents are responsible for the accounts until the kids turn 18 when the kids have the option to split off on their own with Crew.
Crew accounts are all actual bank accounts at the company's banking partner, Bangor Savings Bank, an FDIC insured bank founded in 1852 and an experienced player in fintech. Crew accounts are FDIC insured up to applicable limits.
Crew Savings accounts currently earn 4.7% APY and checking accounts earn 1% APY.
“Families deserve a beautiful, functional banking experience that recognizes the unique financial needs of families,” says Gentry Davies, Crew’s CEO. “With Crew, parents can manage automated allowances, earn interest, and easily transfer money to and from their children. Crew’s mission is to build the best place for families to bank," Davies shared with TechBuzz News.
He went on to share why Crew partnered with Bangor Savings Bank:
"Bangor has been a phenomenal partner. We evaluated dozens of potential partner banks and are so happy with Bangor. They were the first bank to catch our vision and feel like kindred spirits. They are well organized which means they can move quickly while still giving adequate oversight, so we're confident that they'll be a stable partner for the long run."
The partner bank landscape is fascinating. Banks have been viewed by many fintech as commodities. Fintechs call it a 'rent a charter' model. However, we're learning there are real risks to fully abstracting away the bank relationship or partnering with banks that have unsound practices."
Kat Kennedy of Kickstart said, “While many fintechs have improved parts of the finance experience, Crew’s mission to reshape the entire banking experience for families is very compelling.”
Crew's Co-founder and CEO, Gentry Davies led Divvy's (now Bill.com's) product development team until November 2022 when he left to found Crew. He officially formed Crew in December, 2022. Steve Domino (Head of Engineering) and the rest of the team joined in March and April, 2023. The company now has eight full time employees and is based in Lehi, Utah.
Domino shared with TechBuzz some of the advantages of Crew.
"Every time I use a banking app, it’s painfully clear it was not designed for me or my family," said Domino. "It’s difficult to accomplish even simple things like opening and closing accounts, adding my spouse or kids to an account, moving money, or even seeing where my money is going without having to download and highlight statements or create a spreadsheet. Additionally, I have to rely on a handful of other services to fill the gaps, forcing me to juggle multiple apps just to manage my family’s finances."
Domino added that their aim with Crew is to "make family finances simple and enjoyable. We’re combining all the tools a family needs into one modern, user-friendly app. We have many exciting things planned, but I’m most excited about using a banking app built from the ground up with my family's needs in mind."
To join Crew's waitlist, go to trycrew.com and add an email and phone number. Davies said they will begin moving interested parties off the waitlist and give them full access to the product later this month.
Pictured above:
Top row
Britton Kowalk - Staff Engineer
Morgan Williams - Senior Product Designer
Steve Domino - Cofounder & Head of Engineering
Brant Johnson - Product Manager
Stephen Hogan - Senior Engineer
Bottom row
McKay Michaelis - Senior Mobile Engineer
Gentry Davies - Founder & CEO
Nick Hallstrom - Senior Engineer
