Lifestyle-Focused Digital Bank Cogni Debuts With $23M Series A Funding

Cogni, a lifestyle-focused digital bank, received $23 million in Series A funding, rolling out what it called a new way to modernize personal finance options, according to a Tuesday (April 26) press release.

New York-based company said it will use the cash to build its core technology and infrastructure, attract users to the platform, expand products and hire more staff.

This strategic round was led by Hanwha Asset Management and CaplinFO, the release stated. There was also participation from Solana Ventures, FTX Ventures, Ship Capital, Thirty Five Ventures, ROK Capital, Bluewatch Ventures and Alsara Investment Group.

“When building Cogni, I wanted to create a platform that was relevant and relatable to the way people engaged with their lifestyle,” said Cogni CEO and Founder Archie Ravishankar in the release.

Cogni said it was built to provide simple, transparent and accessible digital banking and lifestyle services on one platform. Its goal is to craft plug-and-play access to Web2 and Web3 services in finance, cryptocurrency, gaming and the metaverse, under one hood.

In addition to offering no-cost banking services, Cogni said it provides customers with discounted digital gift cards and the ability to track carbon emissions based on their transactions.

Today, Cogni provides access to more than 1,500 brands including Adidas, Sephora and Carnival Cruise, according to the release.

Earlier this month, a PYMNTS survey revealed about half of consumers say their digital financial services accounts are “highly integrated,” meaning it’s easy in most cases to transact, make payments and see transaction histories across accounts and channels.

Read more: Study Shows Highly Integrated Digital Financial Services Accounts Go Long Way with Consumers

But if half of consumers are satisfied with their user experience, that means the other half aren’t. Consumers who frequently use multiple channels to access their accounts are more likely than the average consumer to want more integration from their providers, according to PYMNTS researchers.