MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

Torch

One-line solution summary.

A Financial Gamification Platform to help reduce the Generational Wealth Gap.

Elevator pitch

What is your solution?

Torch uses gamification to teach kids wealth building strategies to reduce generational wealth gap. It teaches concepts like Roth IRA, Building good credit scores, Investing in real estate etc.

We developed the app in Flutter, latest cross platform technology from Google. This allowed us to develop both for Android and iOS using a single codebase.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

We are trying to solve the problem of Generational Wealth Gap in Fairfield County, CT USA. While Fairfield County is one of the richest county in the United States, it is also one of the most unequal counties when it comes to income.

82,300 people in Fairfield County live in poverty where top 1% of earners make 62 times as much as the bottom 99%.

Wealthy families are not just passing down their assets but the financial knowledge to develop more wealth. This results in a generational wealth gap and the income inequality will keep growing forever.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

We are targeting the low income population in Fairfield County. We found that kids from these families don't have the resources to learn wealth building strategies. The schools never teach these concepts and when they grow in to adults, they never employ the strategies to build wealth.

Torch will use gamification to engage and teach these kids wealth building strategies early in their life so when they grow in to adults, they can use these strategies to build wealth and finally reduce the income inequality.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

We have done research by analyzing various reports on wealth gap and the causes of it. We just completed the initial prototype and plan to engage with the potential users using this prototype. We will then use the feedback to refine and enhance our solution.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Improving financial and economic opportunities for all (Economic Prosperity)

Our solution's stage of development:

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?

So far here is what we accomplished

We did extensive market research on the topic of income inequality and generational wealth gap.
We developed our initial app using Flutter. It is currently available in Google Play Store and in the review process with Apple Store. We anticipate this to be completed soon.
Torch Inc. has been incorporated in the state of CT as a non-profit organization.

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

Greenwich, CT, USA

Team Lead:

Ashton Reddy