1337 Ventures, through its 1337 Accelerator Fund I, announced its investment in Vircle, a pioneering Malaysian neo-banking platform focused on transforming financial literacy for children.
The fund, managed by 1337 Ventures, is dedicated to supporting innovative, high-growth startups that create lasting impact and deliver long-term value across diverse sectors.
Vircle, Malaysia’s first child-safe financial management and pocket money platform provides parents an app to manage all their child’s pocket money and financial learning skills at one place, both for in school and out of school spending.
For it’s school spending, Vircle Club provides children a prepaid Visa card , the 1st with parental controls and child safe protection. Designed to help children budget, save, and spend responsibly, the platform has set an ambitious target of banking one million children in Malaysia and expanding to three million across Southeast Asia within five years.
Vircle also partners with major private and international schools by providing class leading cashless school platforms and has recently partnered with U Mobile to pilot cashless payments in Malaysian public schools, further accelerating its mission to empower a generation of financially responsible individuals.
With Vircle’s innovative platform and over 100,000 families across 150 nationalities, many families are already benefiting from its secure, child-focused approach to family finance.
Bikesh Lakhmichand, CEO & Founding Partner of 1337 Ventures, said, “Vircle is at the forefront of reshaping financial responsibility for the younger generation. It’s not just about teaching children how to manage money, but about setting them up for a future of financial independence and literacy.
“As they expand across public schools and into the regional market, we are proud to continue backing their efforts through our funding”.
Vircle has already secured follow-on funding and gained significant traction in its mission to revolutionise financial education.
“Our core mission has always been to teach kids how to manage money wisely, and this investment enables us to scale our operations and expand our reach,” said Gokula Krishnan Subramaniam, Founder and CEO of Vircle.
“With the support of 1337 Ventures & strategic guidance, we’re poised to grow across Southeast Asia, helping millions of children develop critical financial skills.”
Launched in January 2022, the 1337 Accelerator Fund I addresses the critical gap in early stage funding for Malaysian startups. Managed by 1337 Ventures in collaboration with seasoned investors such as Asgari Stephens and Suresh Thiru (ex-COO of JobStreet), to provide early-stage startups with critical capital, mentorship, and strategic support.
The fund has supported numerous high-potential startups through its signature accelerator programme Alpha Startups™.
As part of its continued dedication to fostering innovative founders, 1337 Ventures introduced the 1337 Capital Fund 1 in 2024.
Startups seeking venture capital funding and strategic guidance are encouraged to secure a spot at 1337 Ventures’ flagship Pitch Tuesday session by visiting https://1337.ventures/pitch-tuesday.
