US-based digital investment advisory service provider Betterment secured $160m of debt and equity financing yesterday in a series F round featuring financial services firm Citi and insurer Aflac.
Venture capital firm Treasury led the $60m equity part of the round, as did Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), Francisco Partners, Menlo Ventures, Anthemis Group, Globespan Capital Partners, Kinnevik, The Private Shares Fund and ID8 Investments.
Citi and Aflac were represented by their dedicated investment vehicles, Citi Ventures and Aflac Ventures, and the round was supplemented by a $100m credit facility from financial services firm Orix Corporation USA’s Growth Capital division and Runway Growth Capital.
Betterment is a digital investment adviser and the operator of a mobile-based app for savings, investment and retirement services. It has $32bn of assets under management and serves just under 700,000 clients.
Sarah Levy, chief executive of Betterment, said: “We are thrilled to have the support of new and existing investors who believe in our business model and are excited by the opportunity to support our growth.
“We are using these funds to further cement our category leadership with rapid innovation on top of our already differentiated product suite and unique, multi-pronged distribution model that serves retail investors, advisors and small businesses.”
The round valued the business at nearly $1.3bn and increased its total funding to at least $435m. It closed its series E round at $170m in 2017, adding $70m in an extension led by Kinnevik and backed by BVP, Menlo Ventures and Francisco Partners. All four had joined Anthemis in the $100m first tranche.
The company had already received $60m in a 2015 series D round led by Francisco Partners that also featurined Northwestern Mutual Capital, the venture capital arm of insurance firm Northwestern Mutual Life, as well as BVP and Menlo Ventures.
Northwestern Mutual Capital and Citi Ventures had contributed to a $32m round for Betterment in 2014 alongside Globespan Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures and existing backers BVP and Anthemis. Its earlier investors include Reinmkr Capital.