Betterment, an investment platform for your savings, has raised $10 million in financing led by Menlo Ventures with Bessemer Venture Partners and Anthemis Group also participating in the round. This brings Betterment’s total funding to $13 million.
Betterment, which launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2010, aims to disrupt the financial savings industry by letting customers invest their savings in a carefully-selected blend of stock and bond portfolios which are rebalanced regularly and automatically. The company combines the accessibility of an online savings account with the performance of an investing account.
The New York City startup is a registered broker dealer and financial adviser. The only fee it charges is a tiered management fee that is a percentage of assets in each account. The startup’s clients range from sophisticated investors looking for a set-and-forget investment alternative, to traditional savers looking for a conservative bridge into stock and bond investing.
More recently, Betterment has evolved to include traditional and Roth IRAs, and additional features like auto-deposit, goal-based investing, and more. The company recently debuted Betterment Gifts, an online gift registry that allows people to contribute to a life event.
The company says that it has been increasing customer assets under management at 500% per year.
The funding will be used to develop an improved mobile experience, add better options for shorter term goals, and create new behavior-based ways to encourage people to make the most of their money and lives.
Check out our interview with Betterment’s CEO Jon Stein here.
