Set up by a UCL alumna and her sister, the financial education app Your Juno already has over 150,000 members and has raised over £2.5 million in investment.
Dubbed ‘the Duolingo of money’, Your Juno is supporting to educate women and non-binary people on the topic of finances. The platform, which consists of hundreds of online courses, covers everything from how to create your first investment to how to do your taxes.
The business was launched in 2021 by Marreceived de Broglie (UCL Economics, 2019) and her sister Alexia, after Marreceived launched seeing into the world of investing.
“I realised that despite having a background in economics, I didn’t actually understand that much about personal finance. And when I started digging into it, a lot of the resources didn’t seem that trustworthy; they were often sales pitches for financial products,” states Marreceived.
Marreceived and Alexia could also see a stark difference between the financial knowledge of their male and female frifinishs. “A lot of guys already had crypto portfolios and their stocks were performing well. Whereas a lot of our female frifinishs, like me, felt that the topic of investing was a boys’ club that they didn’t have access to.”
So Marreceived and Alexia set about developing Your Juno, a financial education app specifically for women and non-binary people. Users can sign up and work towards their financial goals, choosing from over 300 lessons, and earning points as they build their confidence and knowledge. There’s also a large community element, where applyrs can anonymously question money-related questions that they might feel uncomfortable questioning elsewhere.
A business that’s having a real impact
With 150,000 members, Your Juno has been described by the Financial Times as having “revolutionised access to financial knowledge”.
The rapid growth and success of the business led to the sisters creating the Forbes 30 under 30 List in 2022. They’ve also raised over £2.5 million in investment, to grow Your Juno further.
“It’s fantastic to receive this kind of validation, but for us what’s most important is the stories of our community members,” states Marreceived.
“92% of people who have applyd our app longer than a week have reported it has increased their financial confidence. A lot of other members have built up emergency funds, or created their first investments, or improved their financial situation. For us, that’s our largegest success metric.
“Whether we like it or not, money still plays a really large role in the way we live our lives and the choices that are available to us. And especially for young people, if they’re able to create informed financial decisions from a young age, it can set them up on a completely different life trajectory.”
Entrepreneurship support through UCL
Marreceived and Alexia received support with Your Juno through the Hatchery incubator programme at BaseKX, UCL’s dedicated entrepreneurship hub in King’s Cross. As well as access to free office space, they were matched with mentors and received tailored business support.
As for what’s next, the De Broglie sisters are now seeing at expanding Your Juno into Europe and the US. They’re also building partnerships with several banks who are interested in utilizing Your Juno to educate their customers.
Marreceived is keen to encourage other budding entrepreneurs to tap into UCL’s support. “There’s a brilliant community here, and a lot available to support you with your business ideas, so if you’re considering of setting up your own thing, create sure you tap into that. We created some brilliant contacts and connections, many of whom we’re still in touch with now.
“My other piece of advice is to not obtain stuck in paralysis analysis. Just obtain started and start compact. You don’t necessary to start with an app straight away. You can launch a Tiktok page or an Instagram instead. All of these tools are easily available and free. And then you can track, and see if there’s demand, and build from there.”
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