Jay-Z invests $3M to help launch criminal justice reform app

Rapper and media mogul Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter has invested $3 million to help launch a mobile app aiming to improve the United States criminal justice system.

Carter's company Roc Nation teamed up with the organizers behind the Promise app to create a sustainable program that will reduce the number of people behind bars.

Prince's former manager Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins came up with the idea for the app, which will be made available to government officials and users on parole.

"We are increasingly alarmed by the injustice in our criminal justice system," a statement from Jay-Z reads. "Money, time and lives are wasted with the current policies. It's time for an innovative and progressive technology that offers sustainable solutions to tough problems."

The app launched on Tuesday, March 20.