Embedded Finance Platform Ant Money Secures $20m in Series A Funding

Fazzaco learned that embedded finance platform Ant Money has secured $20 million in a Series A funding round, which was led by Franklin Templeton's Franklin Venture Partners, Ant Money co-founder Walter Cruttenden, RX3 Ventures, SteelBridge Laboratories and Steelpoint Capital Partners. Ant Money has also completed the acquisition of video game-focused savings app Blast via a stock-for-stock merger.

"Building an investment account early in life can help people on the road to financial success, but many people don't start because they lack the knowledge or funds," said Walter Cruttenden, Ant Money co-founder. "My hope is that Ant Money, which helps people generate small amounts of money to seed accounts, can foster new growing accounts and provide increased financial security for millions."

"Ant Money and Blast had similar visions for helping people enter the financial investment world as well as overlapping management, and as we began working together and embedding the Ant Money investment platform into the ATM app, and the Blast Gaming and Learn & Earn apps, it seemed like the logical next step was to merge the companies and build a larger one together," said Michael Gleason, CEO of Ant Money.

Ant Money was co-founded by Michael Gleason and Walter Cruttenden. Gleason previously founded, managed, and sold Consumer Brands and now serves as CEO of Ant Money. Cruttenden is a renowned entrepreneur, having founded several investment companies including Roth Capital and Acorns. Cruttenden will serve as Chairman of the Board.