Investment supports an integrated model of care that addresses the financial instability that can complicate treatment and recovery.
Cistern Capital leads round with participation from the American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds and other investors
PITTSBURGH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#BehavioralHealth—MoneyStack, the financial counseling platform built for behavioral healthcare, today announced it has raised $1,000,000 in new funding led by Cistern Capital, with participation from the American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds, O’Shaughnessy Ventures, Sidecut Ventures, Gaingels and angel investors. The round brings MoneyStack’s total funding to date to nearly $2 million.
MoneyStack integrates dedicated financial counselors into behavioral healthcare programs to help individuals and families stabilize acute financial distress that can complicate treatment and recovery.
“MoneyStack started with a gap I experienced firsthand between the financial support people need and what they’re often offered,” said Alex De Marco, founder and CEO of MoneyStack. “That gap becomes even more consequential when a financial crisis is tied to a behavioral health condition like gambling addiction. Clinical teams treat the disorder. Nobody addresses the debt, the tax issues, and a broken relationship with money — the factors that pull people back to gambling and sports betting. This funding lets us put financial counselors inside more programs.”
Why financial counseling is an essential part of behavioral healthcare treatment
- Financial distress and mental health can fuel each other. 86% of people with lived experience of mental health problems said their finances made their mental health worse, while 72% said their mental health problems worsened their finances.
- Financial care is largely missing from behavioral health treatment. Clinical teams may address the condition while patients and families are left to navigate the resulting financial crisis on their own.
- The need extends across behavioral health. Financial harm can intersect with mental health conditions, substance use, addictions and impulse-control disorders.
- Financial strain can also affect physical health. A 2025 study of more than 280,000 adults found financial strain and food insecurity were among the strongest social determinants associated with accelerated cardiac aging, with financial strain also associated with increased mortality risk.
- In gambling disorder, money is part of the behavior itself. Financial struggles were cited in 73% of conversations with the National Problem Gambling Helpline in 2025, making it the top reported reason for reaching out.
- Millions of Americans experience gambling-related harm. An estimated 2.5 million U.S. adults have a severe gambling problem, with another 5 to 8 million experiencing mild or moderate problems.
- The stakes can be life-threatening. People with gambling disorder died by suicide at about five times the rate of the general population according to a 2024 study.
“Rates of gambling are increasing rapidly, driven by widespread legalization and mobile betting. The resulting financial stress can lead to depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions, all of which increase risk of developing cardiovascular disease,” said Lisa Suennen, managing partner of American Heart Association Ventures. “MoneyStack’s approach to addressing financial health alongside behavioral health strongly aligns with the Social Impact Funds focus on moving upstream to improve health and opportunity.”
MoneyStack will use the funding to continue building technology purpose-built for financial counseling within behavioral healthcare, including GamFin for gambling addiction. The company will also translate years of hands-on counseling experience and client data into tools that can extend and scale its model such as using financial transaction data to identify early signs of financial harm, allowing counselors and clients to plan ahead rather than respond after a crisis.
“MoneyStack was the first investment in Cistern Wellness Ventures II for a reason: it attacks a root cause that our healthcare system largely ignores,” said Nate Kline, Founder and Managing General Partner of Cistern Capital. “You cannot fully treat gambling addiction while leaving someone buried in debt, tax problems and financial instability. MoneyStack brings financial care directly into the recovery process, addressing financial and emotional wellness together. That is exactly the kind of preventive, holistic innovation we believe will help move healthcare from treating symptoms to creating better, more durable outcomes.”
MoneyStack contracts with behavioral health providers, state agencies and other third-party payers to integrate specialized financial counseling into existing care programs. For more information on MoneyStack, visit https://www.moneystack.com/.
About MoneyStack
MoneyStack is the financial counseling platform for behavioral healthcare. Its platform is purpose-built to support clients navigating financial distress alongside behavioral health challenges, starting with gambling addiction. GamFin, its proprietary suite of products and services for gambling addiction, runs on the platform. By incorporating financial counseling into behavioral healthcare treatment, individuals experiencing an emotional crisis from financial issues recover faster, and payers’ lower overall healthcare costs and risks. MoneyStack is a member of the Techstars Economic Mobility Accelerator class of 2023. Investors include Cistern Capital, the American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds, Sidecut Ventures, O’Shaughnessy Ventures, Gaingels, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Fintech Fund, Techstars, and angel investors. For more information on MoneyStack, visit https://www.moneystack.com/.
About Cistern Capital
Cistern Capital, “The Wellness VC,” backs early-stage companies redefining healthcare by helping reverse chronic disease, extend healthspan, and improve human wellbeing. Across its funds, Cistern has made 30+ pre-seed and seed-stage investments spanning eight targeted wellness dimensions: physical, financial, social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, and environmental. Cistern is led by Nate Kline, the solo GP, 5x founder, and Inc. 5000 honoree with prior experience at Fortress Investment Group and Merrill Lynch. Nate invests behind the inevitable shift from sick care to proactive, consumer-driven health and the companies helping more people live 100+ healthy years. Learn more at cistern-capital.com.
About the American Heart Association Social Impact Funds
The American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds support for-profit and nonprofit organizations that know their community best and whose ideas accelerate innovation to address local community and national health challenges. With a focus on driving equitable health and expanding access to capital, the Funds focus on overcoming barriers to healthcare access and quality, food security and economic vitality — social factors that have a direct correlation to cardiovascular risk, health outcomes and longevity. The Social Impact Funds are part of American Heart Association Ventures, the venture capital platform of the American Heart Association. Learn more at heart.org/socialimpactfunds.
Contacts
For Media Inquiries
Samantha Baker
MoneyStack
[email protected]
724-961-0212
