Kelsey Willock

Post-pitch story

Kelsey Willock spent time at Goldman Sachs before deciding that money apps were missing something: how people actually feel about money. Aura Finance is a financial wellness platform built on psychology, sold to employers as a benefit for their teams. Her episode, Season 13, Episode 6, aired in April 2025 under the title "Chasing the Ghost of Mint," a nod to the beloved budgeting app that shut down. The numbers she brought were eye-catching. Willock told the panel that 37% of invited employees activated Aura, compared with an industry norm of 2% to 5%, and that the company had about $830,000 in annual contracts with customers including LinkedIn, Figma and a Fortune 100 company. The show's video billed it as a pitch that "crushes it," and The Pitch's founder page now marks Aura as funded. Since then, Aura has added a Headspace case study to its website, along with claims that 55% of users reach a financial goal within 30 days and 98% say they feel calmer about money. All of those figures come from Aura itself, and we couldn't find a public announcement of the round that followed the show. Still, an employer benefit that people actually open is rare, and that's what Aura is betting on.