Kindling

A calmer way for households to plan money.

Someone using an app on a phone
Pre-seed

Stage at our first check

2023

Year we invested

Lisbon

Headquarters

12 people

Team today

What they do

Founded by Sofia Marques.

Kindling is a planning app built for two people sharing a financial life rather than one person optimizing a budget. It handles the awkward parts: uneven incomes, separate accounts, and the conversation about what happens next month.

Most personal finance products either gamify spending or sell a loan. Kindling charges a subscription and shows no offers, which is a harder business and a better one.

Why we invested
We looked at nine budgeting apps that year and passed on all of them. Sofia was the only founder who talked about the relationship rather than the ledger, and her early users were unusually loud about how much they needed it.

Wen Li Chang, Principal

Timeline

How it has gone so far.

Pre-seed check, three months after launch.

Reaches 40,000 paying households.

Profitable on a monthly basis without raising again.

Next step

Building something like Kindling?

We write first checks at pre-seed and seed, and we answer within two business days.