MrBeast ventures into fintech — buys youth-focused financial services app

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast – the world's latest YouTuber by subscriber count – has purchased Step, a Gen Z-focused financial services application. This marks Beast Industries’ entry into fintech with a focus on serving younger users.

Step is advertised as an all-in-one money app for teens and young adults to manage money, build credit and access financial tools.

Announcing that his company has purchased Step, the 27-year-old influencer on Instagram said, “Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up. That’s exactly why we’re joining forces with Step.”

“I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had. Lots to share soon,” he added.

Beast Industries has not disclosed how much it paid for Step.

About Step

Founded in 2018 by fintech veterans CJ MacDonald and Alexey Kalinichenko, Step offers credit and debit cards and interest-bearing accounts. However, it is technically not a bank, but rather a financial services platform backed by fintech giant Stripe.

Step partnered with Evolve Bank & Trust, a consumer banking company, for banking services in 2022. The platform also includes a Step Visa Card, an account for saving, spending, sending money and investing, with no monthly fees.

"We're excited about how this acquisition is going to amplify our platform and bring more groundbreaking products to Step customers," Step CEO and founder CJ MacDonald said in a statement.

In a press release, Beast Industries said over 7 million users of Step, a technology platform and in-house fintech team, would complement its large digital audience and philanthropic initiatives.

“This acquisition positions us to meet our audiences where they are, with practical, technology-driven solutions that can transform their financial futures for the better,” Jeff Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, said in a statement.

The contestants on MrBeast's videos could perhaps benefit from Step's goal of teaching financial literacy.

About Beast Industries

MrBeast boasts more than 450 million YouTube subscribers -- the most in the world -- with his channel specialising in absurd contests and globe-trotting philanthropic ventures.

Videos can cost millions of dollars to produce, with a team of around 300 people.

He has spun that success into a television game show on Amazon Prime Video, as well as a pop-up amusement park in Saudi Arabia dubbed Beast Land.

His snack brand, Feastables, meanwhile, rakes in hundreds of millions in sales, rivalling the revenue from the YouTube videos that first made him famous.

Beast Industries has been fundraising over the past year, including a recent $200 million investment from Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency Ether and chaired by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.

(With agency)