What is Kiddie Kredit? An education technology chore-tracking app dedicated to teaching kids about credit.
What problems can it solve? Parents and teachers can use the app as a tool to teach children about the risks of credit.
Who runs the company? Founder Evan Leaphart
Where is it based? Miami
Evan Leaphart first learned the harsh realities of building credit as a teen. It spurred him to self-fund the launch of Kiddie Kredit. His goal: to create an interactive way for kids, who otherwise would not be exposed to the long-term effects their credit scores can have on their financial futures, to learn about credit. In its beta phase, the Kiddie Kredit concept is centered on in-app chores. Each missed chore is like a missed payment.
Leaphart seeks to monetize the app with a marketplace in which parents can purchase Bamboo Bucks for children when they have accomplished certain chores. The Bamboo Bucks can be exchanged for age-appropriate products from Kiddie Kredit’s partners. Kiddie Kredit could also secure revenue through Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act-compliant ads and recommendations for other financial literacy products for children.
Leaphart recently secured a partnership with the Equifax Foundation and landed a deal to craft the curriculum for nine locations of South Florida’s Playing the Game of Life afterschool program. The startup has launched a crowdfunding campaign on MicroVentures and aims to raise $250,000.
Deal of the Week: Insightec earns Medicare coverage nationwide
Insightec earned Medicare coverage in all 50 states for its focused ultrasound technology after positive coverage decisions in two final jurisdictions.
The company, based in Miami and Israel, announced the milestone this week after working with seven Medicare Administrative Contractors over 18 months to secure countrywide coverage for its incisionless surgery treatment for medication-resistant essential tremor.
“This is the critical next step in our mission to make focused ultrasound a standard of care to improve the lives of people living with a challenging condition,” Insightec Chairman and CEO Dr. Maurice Ferré said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Insightec’s magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound technology in 2016 to treat essential tremor, a movement disorder that affects 10 million Americans. There are 22 centers nationwide offering the treatment. In addition to Medicare, 22 independent Blue Cross Blue Shield Association plans offer Insightec’s treatment as a covered benefit.
By the Numbers
South Florida companies led the state in securing venture capital during the second quarter, with local startups nabbing the largest funding deals across the Sunshine State, according to a report from PitchBook.
Magic Leap raised the largest amount statewide in the second quarter, with a $350 million late-stage funding round, followed by Dania Beach-based OrthoSensor’s $42 million raise and North Miami Beach hospitality tech Tabit’s $35 million raise.
Highlights from the report:
$522.77 million
Raised by startups in South Florida in Q2, down 5%, year-over-year
31 deals
Q2 VC deals closed by South Florida startups, down 20.5%, year-over-year
$607.31 million
Raised by Florida startups in Q2, up 0.2%, year-over-year
58 deals
Q2 VC deals closed by startups in Florida, down 23%, year-over-year
Top South Florida venture capital deals in the second quarter:
$350 million
Magic Leap
$42 million
OrthoSensor
$35 million
Tabit
$12 million
Nymbus
$12 million
DermaSensor
$10 million
Bidtellect
$8 million
Cast AI
$8 million
Adfone
$5 million
Aegle Therapeutics
$5 million
Kaycha Group
Source: PitchBook
He Said It
"There is no better place to be than Miami. The bilingual market and vibrant community are very important for a tech company. You want people who are open to innovation, and I think South Florida is the greatest location for [travel technology and health care technology] startups."
— Nadav Solomon, co-founder and president of Tabit. The Israeli company relocated its U.S. operations to North Miami Beach earlier this year.
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