M1 Finance, which provides a fintech “super app,” including automated investing, borrowing and banking products, announced raising a $150 million Series E funding round led by Softbank’s Vision Fund 2, according to a press release.
The company’s platform, M1 Invest, gives access to a wide range of financial services, including investments, traditional banking products, and promises to help users build long-term wealth, meet financial needs and manage spending.
M1 says it will use the funding to continue building new features and products for their “super app”, innovate within the platform and continue building its team, which has already grown from 40 employees to 265 since the beginning of 2020. It plans to hit 300 by the end of the year and 500 by the end of 2022, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
“We always want to be the ones pushing for change, just as we have by moving away from the manual input of every trade or one-size-fits-all portfolios,” founder and CEO Brian Barnes told TechCrunch. “Our plan is to continue to innovate across Invest, Borrow and Spend, finding ways to make complex processes seamless.”
The round includes participation from previous investors Coatue Management, Left Lane Capital, Jump Capital and Clocktower Technology Ventures, and marks M1 Finance’s valuation at $1.45 billion, according to TechCrunch. The company has now raised four funding rounds in just over a year, with over $320 million raised since its founding in 2015.
M1 has been very successful in the past year, reaching $3.5 billion in assets under management, with that figure and user base doubling since July 2020. While the app has been free since its launch in late 2016, charging no management fees or commissions, it generates revenue from interest on lending securities, margin loans, and use of their card.
Services provided by M1 include its Smart Transfers service, which allows premium users to automate financial goals, and Send Check, which gives clients the option to send physical checks from their Spend Plus checking accounts.
Additionally, their Custodial Accounts service allows parents and guardians the ability to build investment portfolios for younger family members.