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David and Natalia Bernal are the founders of Fort Worth-based YoorKids, a social gifting app focused on building an investment bank for kids through personalized gifts and contributions from family and friends.
YoorKids is currently a client of TechFW, a nonprofit organization that helps Fort Worth entrepreneurs start and grow new technology companies.
Contact information:
Website: https://www.yoorkids.com/
phone: 469-515-5134
Instagram: @YoorKids
Facebook: @YoorKids
David and Natalia Bernal submitted a piece to the Fort Worth Report about YoorKids’ history, business model, and why it was founded. This piece has been edited for clarity, grammar, and length.
Fort Worth Report: Tell us about your company and how it came about.
David and Natalia Bernal: The idea for YoorKids was born shortly after the birth of our first child, when we lived far away from our family. For birthdays, holidays and important events, our family and friends would kindly send us toys so that we could not only celebrate these events but also build a bond with our child. As our little child opened one gift after another, she played with some, but the boxes they came in were always her favorite gifts.
During this time, we opened a children’s savings account, but we were the only ones contributing to it. We realized this was because the deposits were a cumbersome process. There was no emotional connection at all as it came via bank transfer – our child had no idea about it.
Then we realized we could solve both problems by giving people a monetary donation as an alternative to toys and other gifts – but we needed the right concept.
Our concept was born when a close friend gave a silver duck money box to our older daughter, who had just turned 2 years old. She soon started putting coins in her duck money box and taking it to the ice cream machine to get her favorite chocolate vanilla bar. We realized that if we could digitize this concept, we could make the digital coin the immediate gift and a deposit into the child’s account the actual gift. In 2023, David left his position in senior management of international sales and Natalia joined him. YoorKids is self-funded.
Fort Worth Report: What makes your work unique or different from the work of other organizations?
David and Natalia Bernal: We all know that there are other ways to send money, be it by bank transfer, bank deposit or cash. While all of these ways serve their purpose, they do not feel personal and often the child does not even know who sent the money. YoorKids offers a way to send money while creating a connection between the child and the giver through our digital coins.
Gifters can choose the amount they want to give and create a coin that includes photos, videos and personal messages. The child receives the coin in our app and the parent decides which bank account the money should be transferred to. This can be a 529 plan (college savings plan), a custodial account, a regular checking or savings account.
Fort Worth Report: What is the most important lesson you have learned since starting your own business?
David and Natalia Bernal: The most important lesson we learned is about transition. Going from a comfortable life to an entrepreneurial life with uncertain income; from a specific departmental role to a constantly changing job; and turning an idea into a functioning business.
Any transition is incredibly challenging. It involves managing numerous components and requires constant adaptation and learning. This journey has taught us resilience and the importance of staying focused on our mission to make a difference in children’s financial futures.
Fort Worth Report: What do you like most about your job?
David and Natalia Bernal: We truly believe that if we do it well, we can make children’s dreams come true. The most joy we get from building this company is meeting people who understand how valuable this app can be to that special child in their life.
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