Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo talks Olympics, Adidas names former WNBA player Candace Parker president of women’s basketball business, and a new fintech platform wants to make it easier for couples to combine finances and put more women in place guide. Have a thoughtful Thursday!

– Financial project. When Emily Luk and Channing Allen started talking about getting engaged, they took the first steps towards combining their finances. They asked each other questions about a list of topics to discuss with their partner before getting married. The couple, who met while working at fintech startup Even, later acquired by Walmart, went from sending Venmo requests to split the costs of big trips to figuring out how they would buy a house or raise children.

Throughout the process, they realized that combining finances for people in their demographic (millennials getting married in their 30s) wasn’t easy. Everyone they knew would get married after at least a decade in the workforce and were used to managing their money independently. And their friends relied on a long list of apps, from budgeting apps to investment roboadvisors to their regular bank. These apps were designed for one user; While many platforms allow a secondary user to view accounts, most do not allow two users to deposit and withdraw funds. “Existing institutions took for granted this very patriarchal assumption that only one person in the relationship is actually involved in managing money,” Luk says.

The experience planted the seeds of Plenty, Luk and Allen’s platform to help couples manage their money. Luk, a Stripe alumnus, is now the CEO of the company, which launched in 2022; Allen is its chief technology officer. The platform debuts today, with $5 million in initial funding, Fortune is first to report. Its investors include Inovia Capital, Garage Capital, Otherwise Fund and Interplay. Meena Harris’ Phenomenal Ventures and Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures were among its pre-seed investors.

Channing Allen and Emily Luk, the married co-founders of Plenty, a money management platform for couples.

Courtesy of Plenty

The founders designed their platform for couples to manage their finances with a “yours, mine and ours” strategy. Both members of a couple can have accounts that belong only to them along with joint accounts on the shared platform and even private accounts that the other person can’t see – something Luk says those who cautiously combine finances for first time want. They have protocols in place for breakups; users keep what was only theirs on the platform and can later add a new partner to their account.

The eight-person startup combines tools from traditional financial planners, budgeting apps and roboadvisors. Plenty costs $100 per person per year and offers financial products including cash management, investments, budgeting and forecasting. The goal is to add more products, such as a couple’s first joint credit card.

Luk spent time reflecting on women’s approach to money in relationships. 74% of widows and divorcees interviewed by UBS they discovered “negative financial surprises” after losing a spouse or ending their relationship, sometimes examining emails and accounts to figure out what they had; 76% said they would like to be more involved in long-term financial decisions. She hopes that making it easier for couples to see everything in one place will put fewer women in that position. “Our goal is to become the primary place for a couple to manage their money,” he says.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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EVEN IN THE TITLES

– Start of game. In a new interview with Time magazine, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says “a woman was needed” to bring the 2024 Olympics to the French city in its fourth attempt to host the games. Hidalgo sees hosting the Olympics as an opportunity to promote the environmental policies and infrastructure that she considers her legacy. Time

– Brand building. Adidas has named recently retired WNBA star Candace Parker president of its women’s basketball business. Parker was the first woman to design a signature shoe for Adidas in 2010, and now she will help the company fill product gaps that previously left women without viable choices. Fast company

– Club fair. London’s famous Garrick Club has voted to accept women into its exclusive pool of famous and politically powerful members despite criticism of its centuries-old men-only policy. Actress Judy Dench and scholar Mary Beard were among the women club members said they would quickly nominate as members. New York Times

– Protection pin. A male contraceptive that founder Kevin Eisenfrats compares to an IUD is currently undergoing clinical trials in Australia and is aiming for FDA approval. The contraceptive called ADAM, developed by Eisenfrats’ startup Contraline, is an injectable gel that blocks sperm. TechCrunch

– Ghost votes. Nikki Haley won more than 21% of the vote in Indiana’s presidential primary Tuesday, in the latest show of support for the former Republican presidential nominee. Haley, who dropped out of the race in March, also won 17% of the vote in Pennsylvania’s race two weeks ago. AP

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Instagram promoted vice president of finance Emily Reuter to the financial director.

ON MY RADAR

So body positivity was “all a big lie”? Cutting

Drake and Kendrick Lamar don’t care about misogyny Vox

Stormy Daniels’ testimony highlights Trump’s misogyny The Atlantic

WORDS OF PARTICIPATION

“What if I told you that your company increased revenue by $140 million in five years… and is now valued at over $1 billion alone? You would jump for joy.”

– WNBA player and ESPN host Chiney Ogwumike the growth of the championship

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