If you or anyone in your network might be interested in joining the remaining 40% of our $250k angel round, please let us know or feel free to forward our

company overview⁠

We’re looking for strategic advisors with expertise in credit operations, risk and compliance programs.

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📈 Why we’re excited to build Modern

We set out to build Modern to solve the underlying consumer problem that has been overlooked by the majority of fintechs focused on financial inclusion and the underserved. Accelerated by the convergence of macroeconomic conditions and heightened regulatory scrutiny, we’ve started to see the anticipated shakeout of several high profile fintechs.

Nirvana Money calls it quits one month after Money2020

What happened? Unsustainable unit economics and poor credit quality of acquired customers led them to shut down.

Our take: Credit for credit sake is not what consumers want. They want credit as a means to enable and/or improve their lifestyle. This is our approach to “embedded credit” (Modern Bill Protect) within their existing financial lives (e.g. paying bills)

Stilt (and Onbo) shuts down

What happened? Details are sparse but Stilt (loans for immigrations) and their B2B arm, Onbo, shut down.

Our take: Targeting specific affinity groups can certainly unlock better CAC and LTV, but not without providing actual, differentiated value. Stilt had a strong marketing position, but once the rate environment shifted, their model seems to have fallen apart without, presumably because they built no differentiation.

Dave sees little to no increase in customer base over previous year

What happened? Not unlike the vast majority of public fintechs, Dave continues to get crushed in the public markets. Making matters worse, despite meaningful growth capital, they’ve been unable to grow their customer base over the last year.

Our take: The cash advance product that Dave pioneered has several flaws. It doesn’t actually solve the underlying cashflow problem. It meets the consumer at their most distressed, which is great for CAC but detrimental to LTV. It’s a very transactional product and requires Dave to lean too heavily on generating revenue through tactics that borderline UDAAP violations (tipping, expedited funding fees).

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Company Overview

Feel free to forward this as you please!

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Company Overview⁠

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Zack Babin⁠

(xHead of Product @ Onward, PM @ Steady) and

Ben Gruber⁠

(xTech Lead @ Real Estate Big Data) founded

Modern⁠

and are on a mission to build the Financial OS for hard working Americans. Modern is backed by

25Madison⁠

and a team of industry advisors (xCOO of Marcus, CEO of Steady, BD @ Google Pay, Product @ Credit Sesame). After a successful six-month pilot program with ~500 members, Zack and Ben launched the Modern platform (iOS and Android) into public beta at the end of October. They’ve seen strong initial traction with >115 active members at <$18 CAC and WoW deposit and transaction growth. The company has grown to six total team members (

Soulaimane Saadi⁠

Nicole Varela⁠

David Silberstein⁠

Evan McCoy⁠

) and will be launching several new features before EOY, including a monthly subscription and our flagship feature, Modern Bill Protect.

Mission & Product:

Despite earning enough money to cover their essential bills, over 50% of Americans consistently struggle to pay on-time each month, leading to unnecessary stress, fees, and barriers to credit. This happens because their cash is spread across a complex, disconnected, and hidden network of banks, apps, and people, leaving them without the cash they need, when they need it most.

Modern is on a mission to build the Financial OS for hard-working Americans so they never miss another bill. Through an end-to-end bill pay platform, powered by Modern Bill Protect, Modern provides an intelligent card and instant access to affordable cash and support needed to pay bills on-time every month.

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