We first talked to the Money Clouds team back in 2012, when it was a stealthy startup called Quemulus building a mobile payments app. Three years later, the company still isn’t saying a whole lot, but an SEC filing does reveal it’s still in fundraising mode.
The Bellevue, Wash. startup just raised $380,000, according to an SEC filing. That’s in addition to a total of $325,000 raised in 2012 and 2013. The company’s total funding now sits at $705,000. SEC filings show it is seeking a total of $1.2 million.
The company declined an interview for this story, but its website makes it look like the startup has made some serious strategic pivots.
In 2012, the company said it was building a mobile payments platform to rival the likes of PayPal. Its differentiator was going to be seamless integration with social media, to make it easier to share money with friends or businesses.
That’s a tough and increasingly crowded space, but the team seems to be working on something different now.
Today, the company’s website is all about Money Clouds, which it calls “the next generation of goal-based saving.”
It works just like using envelopes for saving money back in the day. You set up different Money Clouds for different things you want to save for — like a wedding, car or vacation. Then, you deposit money into the clouds as you work toward your goal.
You can also contribute to your friends’ clouds to make it easier to collect money for group projects.
The company’s website says the app is “coming soon to the U.S.,” but you can sign up now for an iPhone beta version.
