The company’s proprietary platform provides personalized guidance for long-term recovery, at no cost for affected individuals in more than one third of the nation.

MoneyStack Secures Funding to Help Individuals and Families in Financial Distress Due to Sports Betting Addiction

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Jason Vancura
Marketbridge for Richard King Mellon Foundation
RKMF@marketbridge.com

MoneyStack, the financial counseling platform for behavioral health care, today announced a $250,000 pre-seed investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The company will use the funds to accelerate growth of its proprietary service for gambling addiction, GamFin, throughout the U.S., and to expand partnerships with state agencies, non-profits, and other organizations across Pennsylvania.

According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, approximately 9M adults in the United States suffer from gambling addiction. The American Psychiatric Association recognizes gambling disorder as a mental health diagnosis. This emerging public health crisis is fueled by the rapid growth of online sports betting. Since a federal ban was repealed in 2018, sports betting has become legal in 38 states. With easy access to online betting platforms and the normalization of gambling in our society through media and advertising, the industry has experienced a dramatic 45% increase in revenue from 2022 to 2023.

GamFin, powered by MoneyStack, addresses the acute financial challenges stemming from gambling addiction and provides quick and affordable access to financial counseling, at no cost for affected individuals and families in more than one-third of the nation.

“A surge in online sports betting addiction is tearing families apart, causing financial devastation, shame, and desperation,” said Alex De Marco, founder and CEO, MoneyStack. “What often starts as a seemingly harmless form of entertainment can quickly escalate into a mental health and financial crisis for many. MoneyStack helps mental health treatment providers, who often lack the necessary financial expertise, to effectively address their client’s sense of financial distress. What’s more, payers benefit from lower costs and risks.”

MoneyStack is the first-of-its-kind, HIPAA-compliant platform that mental health treatment providers can use to meet and collaborate virtually with financial counselors to support clients struggling with financial difficulties caused by problem gambling. Treatment providers can work with MoneyStack’s financial professionals to integrate financial counseling into treatment plans. MoneyStack also provides financial training for treatment providers, designed to help clients develop a healthier relationship with money.

“GamFin has been an incredible enhancement to our gambling counseling program," said Elizabeth Thielen, Senior Director of Substance Abuse Treatment Services. "The financial counselors are skillful and compassionate, and once our clients begin working with the counselors, our clients regain a sense of hope to address the long-term financial impact of their gambling."

Today, MoneyStack has partnerships with state gaming commissions, state departments and agencies, non-profits, private clinics, and other behavioral health organizations. The company is actively working to expand partnerships nationwide and to serve behavioral health organizations specializing in treating other conditions.

For more information on MoneyStack, visit https://www.moneystack.com/. And to learn more about GamFin, visit https://www.gamfin.org/.

About MoneyStack
MoneyStack is the financial counseling platform for behavioral health care. By incorporating financial counseling into behavioral health care treatment, individuals experiencing an emotional crisis from financial issues recover faster, and payers’ lower overall health care costs and risks. MoneyStack is a member of the Techstars Economic Mobility Accelerator class of 2023. Investors include RKMF, The Fintech Fund, Sidecut Ventures, and angel investors. For more information on MoneyStack, visit https://www.moneystack.com/.

About Richard King Mellon Foundation
Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and one of the 50 largest in the world. The Foundation’s 2023 year-end net assets were $2.9 billion, and its Trustees in 2023 disbursed more than $176 million in grants and program-related investments. The Foundation focuses its funding on six primary program areas, delineated in its 2021-2030 Strategic Plan.

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