What Banzai does

Banzai Inc. is a Provo, Utah-based financial literacy education company that operates a free, browser-based platform delivering gamified simulation courses to K-12 students and teachers across the United States. Founded in 2007, the company serves grades 3-12 with courses spanning Elementary Personal Finance (lemonade stand simulation), Middle School Personal Finance, High School Personal Finance (including a lifelike simulated credit score subsystem), Digital Citizenship, College and Careers, and Entrepreneurship (built in partnership with Intuit for Education). Core technology consists of JavaScript-based interactive simulations, iframe-embeddable widgets, and a Wellness Center content library of 150+ articles, 30+ calculators, and Coach sessions localized across 20 languages, all hosted on AWS infrastructure with student data stored exclusively within the United States.

Banzai is free for all teachers and students. The platform's primary funding mechanism is a sponsorship model in which over 2,500 local banks and credit unions sponsor access in their community schools as a community outreach and CRA-aligned initiative, accessing a Banzai Manager dashboard to track engagement, order workbooks, and request classroom presentations. The company has achieved SOC 2 Type II certification, HECVAT completion, and compliance with COPPA, FERPA, SOPPA, SOPIPA, ADA, and WCAG 2.1 Level AA, with class delivery supported through ClassLink, Clever, and Google SSO integrations.

The company operates two additional revenue streams beyond sponsorship: Banzai Direct, a premium white-label embedded version of the Wellness Center for bank and credit union partners (pricing not publicly disclosed), and Pendant, a sub-brand that provides employee benefits education to employers. Distribution reaches over 160,000 teachers and over 70% of U.S. public schools, and a March 2026 partnership with FICO will integrate FICO's Score A Better Future Fundamentals curriculum to reach an additional 150,000 teachers. The company is privately held, bootstrapped, and led by co-founder and CEO Morgan Vandagriff, with a workforce of 11-50 employees based at its 145 W 200 N, Suite 500 headquarters in Provo.

Name

Banzai

Legal name

Banzai Inc.

Website

https://banzai.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Banzai Inc. is a financial literacy education platform offering free gamified simulation courses for K-12 students across the United States, funded by 2,500+ bank and credit union sponsors and serving over 160,000 teachers in 70%+ of U.S. public schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Literacy Education

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Finance & Financial Literacy for Students (EDAMAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Financial Literacy, Budgeting & Personal Finance (EDAMAHAE)

Keywords

• Financial literacy education
• K-12 curriculum
• Educational simulations
• Personal finance courses
• Teacher resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Provo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Financial Institution Sponsorship (Primary): Local banks and credit unions sponsor Banzai for teachers and students in their communities at no cost. This is the primary revenue stream that funds the free platform for educational use. Sponsors receive a Banzai Manager dashboard to track school relationships, teacher engagement, and student usage. This enables financial institutions to fulfill community outreach and CRA obligations while building brand awareness with future customers.
2. Banzai Direct (Premium Embedded Platform): Bank and credit union partners can purchase Banzai Direct, a premium white-label/embedded version of the Wellness Center for placement on their own websites. This includes a library of 150+ embeddable articles, calculators, and Coach sessions with SEO syndication tools. Revenue is derived from licensing/subscription fees from financial institution partners who embed the content on their digital properties.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Banzai provides a free, gamified, browser-based financial literacy education platform for K-12 teachers and students, featuring interactive simulation courses (Elementary, Middle School, High School Personal Finance, Digital Citizenship, College and Careers, and Entrepreneurship). The core platform is funded by sponsorships from 2,500+ local banks and credit unions, while a premium white-label product (Banzai Direct) and an employee benefits product (Pendant) are sold to financial institutions and employers.

Product overview

Banzai is a free gamified financial literacy education platform offering interactive simulation courses across multiple age groups. The core product portfolio includes Elementary Personal Finance (lemonade stand simulation), Middle School Personal Finance (life scenarios), and High School Personal Finance (advanced budgeting for home buying), plus Digital Citizenship, College and Careers, and Entrepreneurship courses. The platform is delivered through three interconnected platforms: the core Banzai platform for schools, Banzai Manager for bank/credit union sponsors, and Banzai Direct for embedding content on partner websites. Additional offerings include the Wellness Center resource library with 150+ articles and calculators available in 20 languages, Printed Workbooks for classroom use, and Pendant for employee benefits. The platform is 100% free to schools thanks to local bank and credit union sponsorships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pendant: An employee benefits product that helps employees understand their workplace benefits.
• Banzai Direct

Products and services

• Elementary Personal Finance Gamified financial literacy course for grades 3-7 where students learn to count, borrow, and budget money by running a virtual lemonade stand, tracking revenue and expenses, paying back loans, and working toward a savings goal.
• Middle School Personal Finance
• High School Personal Finance
• Digital Citizenship
• College and Careers
• Entrepreneurship & Banking
• Wellness Center
• Banzai Manager
• Banzai Direct
• Pendant
• Printed Workbooks

Quantifiable outcome

• Research certifications confirm Banzai curriculum is grounded in best available educational research, with evaluation of implementation supports, assessment structure, and design rationale
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• FICOflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026FICO partnered with Banzai to deliver comprehensive credit education to millions of K-12 students across more than 70% of U.S. schools. The partnership integrates FICO's Score A Better Future Fundamentals program into Banzai's financial literacy platform. The enhanced curriculum will reach 150,000 teachers nationwide and launches in March 2026 as part of a broader movement where 30 states now require high schoolers to take personal finance courses before graduation.
• Intuit for EducationcoreTechnology or IntegrationIn partnership with Intuit for Education, Banzai's Entrepreneurship & Banking course includes tax simulations, starting a bank, and planning business expenses. This integration brings real-world business and financial tools into the curriculum.
• Local Banks and Credit Unions (2,500+)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor2,500+ local banks and credit unions sponsor Banzai for teachers and students in their communities at no cost. Sponsors provide workbooks, may conduct in-person or online classroom presentations, and enable Banzai to create timely content tailored to students' needs. Sponsors access a Banzai Manager dashboard to track teachers, view school reports, manage orders, and communicate with sponsored teachers.
• ClassLinkcoreTechnology or IntegrationBanzai integrates with ClassLink, enabling single sign-on (SSO) access for schools using ClassLink as their educational identity provider. This reduces friction for district-wide deployment.
• ClevercoreTechnology or IntegrationBanzai integrates with Clever library, enabling SSO access for schools using Clever as their educational app library and identity management platform. Sign Up with Clever is available on the teacher signup page.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationBanzai's live web applications and all associated user data are housed in secure data centers operated by Amazon Web Services (AWS). These data centers feature redundant power supplies and internet connectivity. Banzai overprovisions server resources beyond projected usage requirements.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Peers

• Zogo Finance:

Direct peers

• EVERFI: K-12 and adult financial literacy, wellness, and life skills platform sold primarily to financial institutions and employers. Same sponsor/enterprise customer base as Banzai, with overlapping product topics (budgeting, credit, banking).
• Junior Achievement USA: Nonprofit providing K-12 financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship education programs supported by corporate and bank sponsors. Competes with Banzai for the same teacher/district mindshare and FI sponsorship dollars.
• Next Gen Personal Finance: Nonprofit providing free K-12 personal finance curriculum to teachers and students, sponsored by financial institutions. Closest direct competitor to Banzai, with the same free-for-schools, sponsor-funded business model.
• Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance: K-12 personal finance curriculum (textbook, digital, and video) widely used in U.S. high schools. Competes for the same teacher adoption and, in some cases, FI-sponsorship-driven deployment.
• FoolProof Financial Education: Provides K-12 financial literacy curriculum and resources to schools, often sponsored by credit unions and banks. Direct competitor in the credit-union-funded K-12 financial education niche.
• SmartPath: Financial wellness and education platform sold to banks, credit unions, and employers for customer/employee financial literacy. Closely comparable in target buyer, content library, and embedded delivery model to Banzai Direct.

Emerging players

• Greenlight: Family debit card and financial education platform for kids and teens. Competes for family/parent adoption and includes financial literacy content, but pairs education with a core fintech product.
• Khan Academy (Personal Finance): Free, high-traffic personal finance courses widely used by high school students and teachers. Indirect competitor that may absorb demand for free personal finance content, especially in budget-constrained districts.

Others

• FDIC Money Smart: Free financial education curriculum published by the FDIC, widely adopted by banks and community organizations. A free public alternative that constrains paid/sponsored curriculum pricing in the same market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/teachbanzai
• Facebookfacebook.com/TeachBanzai
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/teach-banzai-
• Instagraminstagram.com/teachbanzai

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Banzai