Innovation & Job News

FamilyMint turns SPARK membership into GLEQ competition win

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

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Ann Arbor

It's been a year since FamilyMint began teaching kids the value of money, but it wasn't until three months ago, when the start-up joined Ann Arbor SPARK's incubator in downtown Ann Arbor, that it really started to take off.

"The Ann Arbor office has everything we need," says Bob Masterson, president of FamilyMint. "Ann Arbor is very technologically oriented and we are a web-based firm."

FamilyMint provides an online money-management system for kids, with parents serving as the bank. With this system, children figure out what to do with their money and then go to mom and dad to make withdrawals. Masterson and his partner Jeff Eusebio came up with the idea when trying to teach the value of money to their own young children.

The business got its website up and running by the end of January. It just launched a premium version and expects to really start growing its user base this year. The company will add two positions later this year and possibly more later on.

FamilyMint recently won the New Business Idea competition at the Great Lakes Entrepreneurship Quest event earlier this year. That means $5,000 and the pride inherent in knowing it bested 80 other entrants.

Source: Bob Masterson, president of FamilyMint
Writer: Jon Zemke