Bono’s investment startup, The Rise Fund, is set to make its first investment in fintech through the US micro investing app Acorns. Other notable investors in the platform include actor Ashton Kutcher and basketball player Kevin Durant, who both hold equity positions in the firm.
Acorns now supports over 2.7m user accounts, having integrated with payments giant PayPal in November last year to allow PayPal users to round up their purchases and invest the change in ETF portfolios via the Acorns platform, setting up either one-time or recurring investments funded from their PayPal account. Acorns also recently acquired pensions fintech Vaults to back its newest retirement savings product, Acorns Later, which is due to go live early this year.
“I believe in the American Dream; in the idea that no matter where you start, anyone can grow wealth,” said Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns.
“This investment and support from TPG’s Rise Fund, which has brought together some of the world’s most influential thought leaders committed to driving social change, will help us further deliver the tools, knowledge and inspiration to champion that idea.”
According to media reports, The Rise Fund has raised a total of $2bn to invest in sustainable projects with a positive impact on society. The startup is backed by private equity investment platform TPG Growth, which has more than $13bn assets under management.
“We’re very excited to partner with Acorns. Financial services is one of the seven key sectors we are targeting for The Rise Fund,” said John Flynn, Principal at TPG.
“Acorns is exactly the type of company we’re looking to support. They have achieved extraordinary business success characterized by rapid growth while also helping to make it easy, efficient and transparent for Americans to generate savings and build their futures.”
The Rise Fund’s investment is set to support Acorns’ growth, and fund the expansion of its cash forward rewards program Acorns Found Money program, as well as Acorns Later.
