Building the Financial Education We Wish We Had

A conversation with Nina Martin, founder of Finny Challenge, about financial education, entrepreneurship and impact 

Tell us about your idea – what, how and why? 

Finny is a financial education brand that helps children aged four to ten build the knowledge, confidence and healthy habits they need to navigate money throughout their lives. For learning at home, Finny focuses on screen-free experiences that encourage children and adults to explore money together. 

Most people begin making financial decisions long before anyone properly teaches them how money works. By adulthood, they are expected to budget, save, invest, understand debt and taxes, and plan for the future, often while still trying to fill gaps in their own education. Finny exists because financial education should begin earlier, before money becomes a source of confusion or stress. 

We translate complex financial topics into playful, age-appropriate and practical learning experiences. Through stories, hands-on activities, games and real-life challenges, children do not simply memorise financial vocabulary: they practise making choices and connect what they learn to everyday life. Our resources also involve parents and other trusted adults, because many of a child’s earliest attitudes and habits around money are formed at home. 

Finny is being developed as a broader financial education ecosystem, with products and programmes for families, schools and partner organisations. The goal is to make high-quality financial education accessible, engaging and relevant to children’s lives across different learning environments. 

What motivated you to start your own company? 

I have always found the process of building something from scratch exciting: beginning with an idea, testing it, improving it and eventually seeing it become real. I particularly enjoy creating something tangible that people can interact with. 

For me, however, building a company becomes much more meaningful when the result has a positive impact on the people who interact with it. Finny brings those two motivations together. It allows me to be creative and entrepreneurial while working on a problem that affects almost everyone. If something I build can help a child feel more confident making financial decisions, or help a family begin conversations about money that they might otherwise avoid, that is a form of entrepreneurship I find genuinely worthwhile.

How did your impact journey begin? 

My impact journey began with the realisation that many adults, including myself, are expected to make important financial decisions without ever having received practical financial education as children. We are taught many things at school, but often enter adulthood without knowing how to budget, save, invest or evaluate financial choices. 

I wanted to understand whether this was simply my perception or a wider problem, so I began speaking with hundreds of parents, children and educators. Those conversations made it clear that parents want their children to develop healthy financial habits, but often lack suitable tools or do not feel sufficiently confident discussing money themselves. 

That was the starting point for Finny. What began as an idea developed through research, interviews and practical testing with families. The process taught me that impact does not begin with assuming you already have the answer. It begins with listening carefully to the people affected by the problem and building alongside them. 

What has excited you most about the SIA incubation process? 

What has excited me most about the SIA incubation process is the number of opportunities it creates around each project, not only to develop the idea itself, but also to increase its visibility and connect with people who can help move it forward. 

Building an early-stage venture can be isolating, particularly when many different decisions depend on one person. Through SIA, I have been able to connect with mentors and experts who are genuinely willing to share their experience, challenge my assumptions and support the development of Finny. I have also valued being surrounded by other founders who are working on very different projects but encountering many of the same questions and obstacles. 

The combination of practical support, visibility and community has been the most valuable part of the process so far. 

If you had all the resources in the world, what would you want to change? 

If I had all the resources in the world, I would work to ensure that every child has access to practical life-skills education, regardless of where they live, which school they attend or how much knowledge and time their family can provide. 

Too many essential skills are still learned through trial and error. Children grow up and are suddenly expected to understand money, health, politics and technology simply because they have reached adulthood. Access to this knowledge is also unequal: some children learn it at home, while others are left to figure it out alone.

I would want education to prepare children not only to pass examinations, but also to navigate everyday life with confidence and critical thinking. Financial education would be one important part of that change, but the broader goal would be to make practical, high-quality life-skills education a normal part of every childhood. 

What is your big vision? Where do you see Finny in ten years? 

My vision is for Finny to become part of childhood in households and schools around the world. 

Financial education is the starting point, but the long-term ambition is broader. I would like to apply Finny’s playful, practical and age-appropriate approach to other life skills that children will need as they grow, including health, civic understanding, digital literacy and critical thinking. 

In ten years, I see Finny as a trusted global learning brand that helps families and educators introduce complex real-world topics in ways children can understand and apply. Importantly, Finny should also create opportunities for adults to learn alongside their children, especially in areas they may never have been properly taught themselves. 

The goal is not to give children or adults every answer. It is to give them the confidence, curiosity and tools to approach unfamiliar parts of life without feeling overwhelmed. 

Your catchphrase? 

“It’s not hard, it’s just new.” 

We often interpret unfamiliar things as difficult, particularly when they involve money or other subjects we were never properly taught. This phrase is a reminder that not knowing something yet does not mean we are incapable of learning it. That idea applies equally to the children Finny supports, the adults learning alongside them and my own experience of building a company. 

Discover Finny 

Finny’s newest product, the Money Explorer Club, launched on 1 September 2026 and is now available. Designed specifically as a screen-free learning experience for families at home, it delivers a new adventure each month as part of a broader learning journey. Through stories, hands-on activities and real-life experiences, children gradually explore the world of money alongside the adults in their lives. 

Visit finnychallenge.com to learn more, or contact Nina at nina@finnychallenge.com to discuss collaborations, partnerships or bringing Finny to more children around the world.