Launch NY marks 100th portfolio company with pre-seed investment into Nudge Money

Rochester-based startup has an AI-driven financial wellness platform for credit unions and their members

 

Following milestone investment, Launch NY remains committed to a diverse and thriving innovation economy in Upstate NY

 

Buffalo, N.Y. – Launch NY is pleased to announce a $100,000 investment into Nudge Money, a Rochester-based startup that partners with credit unions to drive financial wellness among their membership.

 

It’s $100,000 total from Launch NY. Of that amount, $25k is the founders go big fund. We do not have anything confirmed from NY Ventures as of yet.

 

This marks the 100th portfolio company for Launch NY since it started investing in 2016. Since that time, Launch NY has been a crucial source of early-stage capital in Upstate New York, ensuring that talented founders have resources to build early versions of their product, connect with their initial customers and raise larger rounds of funding.

 

Launch NY’s resolve to enable a robust, diverse, accessible innovation economy in our backyard has only increased over the years. Investments are currently being made from a new for-profit seed fund, a longstanding nonprofit seed fund and the Launch NY Investor Network, a syndicate with more than 325 accredited investors. After several smaller deals that yielded returns to investors, Launch NY saw its first significant exit in 2023 and numerous portfolio companies are scaling and raising larger rounds of capital.

 

“When we were a startup venture development organization in 2012, it would have been a dream to imagine such a rich and diverse portfolio of determined founders, talented teams and high-quality business ideas,” said Marnie LaVigne, Ph.D., president and CEO of Launch NY. “We’re more committed than we’ve ever been to this work and creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds to drive our region’s economic renaissance.”

 

Regarding the Nudge investment, LaVigne said, “Nudge Money is backed by an extremely talented team building a high-demand product that will use AI to support individuals, particularly those from low-income communities, achieve a financially sustainable future. Nudge has exciting traction and a major market opportunity on the horizon.”

 

The Launch NY investments into Nudge included $50,000 from its nonprofit seed fund and $50,000 from its for-profit LaunchNY Seed Fund II. Nudge participates in Launch NY’s Founders Go Big program, which is designed to enhance the engagement of underrepresented, underserved founders in creating high-growth potential businesses.

 

Nudge Money was founded in 2022 by Reagan Bonlie, Hasib Khan, and Adam Habona. Bonlie, the company’s CEO, previously spent 12 years in wealth management at JPMorgan Chase, including a role as executive director of wealth management for its Rochester, New York, office. Khan is an experienced full stack software and AI engineer who has led large and diverse technology teams. Habona is an innovative marketing professional who has guided multiple startups and nonprofits through their go-to-market strategies.

 

Nudge Money partners with credit unions to drive financial wellness among its members. The company’s AI-driven platform leverages analytics and behavioral science, enabling credit unions to anticipate the needs among its membership and deliver personalized guidance at scale.

 

The company is primarily serving small- to mid-sized credit unions in low-income census tracts, enabling them to better serve their members, deepen relationships and create powerful messages that will resonate with their members’ unique behaviors. The team believes that these cutting-edge financial wellness tools can lead to informed decision-making and financial security, while improving the balance sheet of the credit union.

 

Nudge Money launched in 2023 with a handful of early adopters and expects to quickly ramp up its customer base through 2024 and 2025. The current round will allow the company to invest in sales, customer success and engineering.

 

“Nudge transforms raw customer data into powerful insights that directly enhance the financial well-being of credit union members,” Bonlie said. “By seamlessly integrating consumer behavior with advanced analytics, our cutting-edge platform is not just improving how credit unions serve their members—it’s setting a new standard for personalized financial wellness. We’re incredibly excited to work with Launch NY in this next phase of our journey. This new round of funding will be instrumental in securing key partnerships, accelerating our growth, and scaling our pipeline to bring even greater impact to the credit unions and communities we serve.”

 

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About Launch NY: Launch NY is the only nonprofit venture development organization and U.S. Treasury-designated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that serves and directly funds startups in Upstate New York. The core mission of Launch NY is to identify, support and invest in high‐growth, high‐impact companies and to catalyze the entrepreneurial culture of Upstate New York on behalf of job and wealth creation. Since its inception in 2012, Launch NY has served more than 1,650 companies which have gone on to raise more than $1.4 billion, generate more than $250 million in annual revenue and support more than 5,200 jobs.

 

Launch NY delivers its mission via mentorship and capital access programs, starting with pro bono mentoring through its Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, Founders Go Big program for underrepresented and underserved founders, and Emerging Cleantech Opportunity (ECO) Incubator. These programs prepare entrepreneurs for investment capital from multiple sources, including Launch NY’s InvestLocal Financing Programs comprised of nonprofit and for-profit investment funds, and the Investor Network deals marketplace that features hundreds of accredited investors. Through these vehicles, Launch NY is the most active seed investor in New York state and has been ranked among the top 5 nonprofit seed funds in the country. Women- and/or BIPOC-led companies have consistently comprised over 40% of Launch NY’s mentored companies and have received over 50% of Launch NY’s investment capital.

 

For more information about Launch NY, its programs, and other entrepreneurial opportunities, visit www.launchny.org, and follow Launch NY on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

It’s $100,000 total from Launch NY. Of that amount, $25k is the founders go big fund. We do not have anything confirmed from NY Ventures as of yet.