A $9 billion robo-adviser going all in on automation just landed $75 million
- Robo-adviser Wealthfront landed $75 million in a new fundraising round, the company announced Thursday.
- Tiger Global Management, the New York-based investing firm, is leading the fundraise.
- Wealthfront will use the cash to enhance its Path tool and continue to attract younger investors to its purely automated platform.
Tiger Global Management is making a big bet on a California investing startup.
Wealthfront, a robo-adviser with more than $9 billion under its management, announced Thursday that Tiger Global, the New York investment firm, would lead a $75 million fundraising round. The firm, which declined to share its valuation with Business Insider, was founded in 2011, counts Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, and Greylock Partners among its investors.
Wealthfront plans to use the new capital to enhance its Path platform, which allows users to view all of their financial accounts.
"Path's appeal to young people propelled our growth such that people under 45 now represent 85% of our clients," chief executive Andy Rachleff said in a statement. "We believe our success with this group is based on our unique ability to optimize and automate our clients' personal finances."
Wealthfront has adamantly held on to its belief that the future of financial advice is in automation. Unlike fellow robo-adviser Betterment and incumbent rivals such as Charles Schwab, Wealthfront has remained a pure robo without human advisers.
"A software only approach specifically appeals to a younger demographic, and we have embraced that," Rachleff told Business Insider during a recent visit to New York.
"Whereas the rest of the industry, as Wayne Gretzky would say, is skating to where the puck is, not where it is going to be," he added.
That laser focus was part of the appeal for Tiger Global.
"Wealthfront's exclusively software-based model gives the company a superior approach to capture the younger, fast-growing market of investors," said Lee Fixel, a partner at Tiger Global Management, in a press release. "We're excited to support continued growth of the business and help Wealthfront become to the Millennial generation what Charles Schwab is to Baby Boomers."