Start ‘em young

• “We live today in a country where over 40% of the adult population have no savings at all and we live pretty much hand-to-mouth,” Vircle Founder & CEO Gokula Krishnan Subramaniam shared of Malaysia. “No one thinks enough about the importance of planning, thinking twice about that impulse purchase, or the need to save or invest.”  
• That’s why the 500-backed fintech app was set up, to foster good financial habits that will nip the problem in the bud. The Vircle app, a cashless payment solution, aims to teach kids safe and responsible spending.
• To facilitate their growth, the team raised a seed round co-led by Kumpulan Modal Perdana (KMP), a Malaysian tech-focused venture capital firm owned by the Ministry of Finance, and Gobi Partners.
• When the startup first launched in 2019, the team worked directly with schools to integrate Vircle’s cashless school cards, helping parents nurture healthy eating and purchasing habits in their children in schools.
• Today, the team’s child-safe Visa prepaid card empowers children to practice responsible saving outside of school. Their core mission is still to teach children financial literacy skills.
• Why do it via a credit card? Gokula explained that for many adults, the first “hard lesson in money” comes upon getting one’s first credit card and missing out on monthly payments. Vircle’s child-safe version seeks to provide a safe and early introduction into the cashless world, allowing children to be better-prepared and informed in adulthood.
• The fresh funds will be used to expand Vircle’s services, currently available in international and public schools across Malaysia. This will enable the team to offer their financial literacy solution to the masses.
• Their ultimate goal is to bank 1 million Malaysian children and 3 million children across Southeast Asia within the next five years.
• Congratulations to the Vircle team!
• Read the full story on Vulcan Post.