By Moriah Costa on Friday 21 July 2017
The biggest robo-adviser in the world is getting even bigger.
The biggest robo-adviser in the world is getting even bigger.
Robo-advice giant Betterment continues to grow. The platform raised a $70m (£54m) funding round, an extension of last year's Series E.
“The additional funding will allow us to fulfill our mission and continue to build products that put even more money back in our customers' pockets,” said Jon Stein, Founder and CEO of Betterment.
The firm has raised nearly $300m in total since it was founded in 2008, as some question the business model of robo-advisers. The company was valued at $700m in 2016.
The funding round was led by Swedish investment company Kinnevik and included investments from Bassemer Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures and Francisco Partners.
Chris Bischoff, senior investment director of Kinnevik AB said: "Betterment has continued to impress us with its strong growth, customer-centric focus, cutting-edge technology and talented team. After a year of investment, we saw additional opportunities for growth and proposed the financing to Betterment.”
The U.S.-based platform has grown substantially over the last 15 months and is one of the largest robo-advisers in the world. It went from managing $4bn to nearly $10bn in assets for more than 270,000 customers.
The platform also announced this week that it would allow users to invest in funds that are ethically conscious.
The platform allows users to invest in exchange traded funds and receive personalised financial advice. Investors can also get access to licensed experts on the phone, receive tax tools, personalised portfolios, among other things. There is no minimum investment and fees range from 0.25 per cent to 0.50 per cent, depending on the type of service and amount invested.