Your Source for Venture Capital and Private Equity Financings

Venture Capital News: Wealthfront Raises $64M

2014-10-28
PALO ALTO, CA, Largest automated investment service, today announced that the company has received $64 million in a round of financing.
Wealthfront, the largest automated investment service, today announced that the company has received $64 million in a round of financing led by Jeremy Philips of Spark Capital Growth. The financing also included new investor, Dragoneer Investment Group, as well as participation from existing investors including Index Ventures, DAG Ventures, Greylock Partners, Ribbit Capital and the Social+Capital Partnership. This new round of financing brings Wealthfront's cash reserves to over $100 million, allowing the company to continue to build out its service for the millennial generation.

'There are over 90 million millennials in the United States, and they are increasingly demanding a different type of investment service than Wall Street offers their parents,' said Adam Nash, CEO of Wealthfront. 'This round enables us to retain our independence and continue our focus on delivering financial services that have until now been reserved for only the wealthy.'

Wealthfront provides clients with a set it and forget it automated service to manage their long term investments using the most tax efficient and low cost portfolios. The company was the first to deliver products and services like daily tax loss harvesting, the Wealthfront 500, the single stock diversification service and their new program for employers known as Wealthfront for the Workplace. The industry was shocked earlier this year when Wealthfront grew to over $1 billion in client assets in just two and a half years. The company now manages over $1.5 billion, adding more than $1 billion in client assets in the first ten months of 2014.

'If we think historically about the great disruptive innovators in financial services, like Fidelity, Vanguard or Charles Schwab, there is an enviable track record of innovation. Large established players were slow to see the market opportunities which these more nimble players seized,' said Barry McCarthy, former CFO of Netflix and board member at Wealthfront. 'Much like Netflix, Wealthfront is one of the new innovators and is growing massively among its millennial audience thanks to the efforts of its talented team, which has executed flawlessly.'

The 90 million Americans in the millennial generation want a different type of investment service and Wealthfront has only scratched the surface of the types of financial products that can be offered through software. Wealthfront believes that over the next five to ten years, everyone will use some form of automated investment service.

'We share Wealthfront's long term vision to give everyone, not just the wealthy, access to sophisticated financial advice,' said Jeremy Philips, general partner at Spark Capital Growth. 'The company is the market leader in an important new category and has the team and product vision to build a valuable franchise.'

About Wealthfront

Wealthfront is the largest and fastest-growing automated investment service managing over $1.5 billion in client assets. The service combines world-class financial expertise and leading edge technology to provide sophisticated investment management at prices affordable for everyone. Wealthfront is free for clients with accounts under $10,000, and charges just 0.25% on assets above $10,000. Launched in December 2011, the company has raised over $129 million in funding to date from Spark Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Index Ventures, Greylock Partners, Benchmark Capital, Ribbit Capital, Social + Capital and DAG Ventures and is based in Palo Alto, CA. For more information please visit www.wealthfront.com.
(c) by Massinvestor, Inc. For contact info, please check out our about page.
>> Click here for in-depth research on 9,000+ startups and 5,000+ VC investors