The much talked-about US-based share trading app developer Robinhood, which counts internet technology group Alphabet and entertainment agency Roc Nation among its backers, upped its series G round to $660m.
The round was initially backed by D1 Capital Partners, that had supplied a first $200m tranche in August. Venture firms Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, Ribbit Capital and 9Yards Capital provided the $460m extension.
Started in 2013, Robinhood runs a commission-free trading app called Robinhood Financial on which users can buy and sell exchange-traded funds, options and stocks, including fractional shares. In addition, it operates a cryptocurrency trading platform dubbed Robinhood Crypto.
US-based online insurance platform Next Insurance raised $250m in series D round, led by CapitalG, the growth equity arm of Alphabet and which also featured reinsurance provider Munich Re. Launched in 2016, Next Insurance sells insurance policies for small businesses and the self-employed, employing an artificial intelligence-powered online portal that enables customers to purchase coverage in 10 minutes. The company offers policies across areas such as general and professional liability, business insurance, commercial auto insurance and worker’s compensation insurance. It has grown to more than 100,000 customers in all 50 US states.
NextCapital, a US-based financial advice planning platform backed by corporates Manulife Financial, AllianceBernstein and Transamerica, secured $30m in growth financing from investors led by FP Credit, the debt arm of investment firm Francisco Partners.
Founded in 2014, NextCapital offers wealth management advice to individual investors planning for their retirement, underpinned by a digital platform marketed through its investment banking partners.
The company claims that it has created a user interface capable of attracting high-net-worth investors as well as customers hoping to kickstart their savings.
These three companies are part of the broader fintech space, which has seen a lot of interest from corporate venture investors.
In the latter part of the last decade, both the number of corporate-backed rounds and the total estimated dollars in those rounds registered enviable growth, with deal count rising from 181 in 2015 to 467 by the end of last year, while total dollars grew from $6.69bn to $14.64bn over the same period.
