Why two Gen Z college dropouts are combatting financial nihilism with a credit card startup

Are the kids alright? Covering fintech typically gives me a pretty bleak answer to the age-old question. From prediction markets to crypto to zero-day options, every new financial product targeted at Gen Z seems to fall under the category of “economic nihilism,” or the idea that everything is rigged, so you might as well try to get rich quick. 

Mine, a credit card and financial planning company founded by two Gen Z college dropouts, is attempting to buck the trend. Mine is announcing $14 million in fresh funding in a 359 Capital-led Series A, with participation from existing investor Kleiner Perkins. Cofounders Carlo Kobe and Scott Smith are confident they can convince their generation to stop spending their hard-earned money on betting whether the U.S. will invade Greenland or Eric Adams’s latest memecoin. “The same trend that makes people want to invest into crypto or gamble money in a prediction market…is a pretty big tailwind for us,” Kobe told me. “Young people are really longing for hope and increased certainty that they indeed can achieve financial independence.” 

Kobe and Smith started Mine (formerly known as Fizz, which they had to change due to another popular Gen Z app) out of Y Combinator back in the credit card fintech heyday of the early 2020s. Understanding the difficulty that most young folks have with opening their first credit cards, they designed their offering to function more as a debit card that can build credit. That includes features that encourage users not to spend beyond their linked checking accounts. (They bill the product as a debit card, even though it has a line of credit backing it, and is issued by the fintech-friendly Lead Bank.) 

According to Ilya Fushman, a partner at Kleiner Perkins, the card product was intended as a wedge to find spenders at the beginning of their financial journeys. Mine has been moving into other products, including an AI-powered app dubbed MoneyGPT that offers financial advice and analysis based on users’ linked accounts. Instead of making “wealthy people wealthier,” as Kobe put it, Mine’s goal is to “scale bespoke and actionable financial advice to the models.” 

Mine has around one million users, though Kobe declined to say how many are on the free tier, which includes basic budgeting and credit score monitoring, or a subscription tier, which includes the card and more advanced tracking. The company also makes money off of referral revenue, such as offering rewards incentives with Uber or Nike. Mine recently hit $10 million in annual recurring revenue, with 70% of its customer base younger than 30 years old. “There’s a huge opportunity just educating and leveling up our customer base with capabilities that allows them to take back a feeling of control,” 359 Capital’s David Hartwig told me. 

Brexit 2.0…Fintech Christmas came late this year with Thursday’s news that CapitalOne was acquiring Brex, spurring one of the most spirited days I’ve seen on X recently. There was analysis on liquidation preferences, petty tweets from rival investors and founders, and debates over whether $5 billion is a good exit. If you want to read about the great corporate credit card wars of 2017-2026, you can read my cover story on Ramp from September.

Leo Schwartz
X: @leomschwartz
Email: leo.schwartz@fortune.com

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com