Wealthsimple has successfully spent the last six years helping Canadians, and especially younger Canadians, obtain simpler ways to manage their finances. Since the company’s founding in 2014, Wealthsimple has managed to convince many Canadians that simpler, more affordable financial products and services are available over traditional banking. Today, over 1.5 million Canadians use the fintech’s products and Wealthsimple is only just ramping up.
Last week, Wealthsimple announced that it had closed an exciting funding round that has afforded it unicorn status. The round raised CAD $114 million, leading to a valuation of $1.4 billion. Leading the investment round was TCV, the leading growth equity firm focused on tech. Joining in on the investment was Greylock, Meritech, Two Sigma Ventures, and existing investor Allianz X. Following the funding, David Yuan, General Partner at TCV, will join Wealthsimple’s Board of Directors.
Speaking on the investment, Yuan said, “TCV is focused on businesses that have the potential to transform industries; we are thrilled to work with Mike and the Wealthsimple team to build a leader in financial services and an important consumer platform.” Mike Katchen, CEO of Wealthsimple added, “Achieving a unicorn valuation from some of the world’s most respected investors is not only an exciting moment for us, but an exciting thing for the Canadian technology scene.”
Wealthsimple has seen growth across the board this year, with Katchen claiming that the company fell just behind TD bank in terms of new accounts opened. The company also wasted no time expanding to develop services in crypto assets and saving and spending. Since its acquisition of tax preparation app SimpleTax last year, Wealthsimple enabled over 1 million Canadians to file their taxes this year with its simplified offering.
Katchen also shed light on the fact that the company would most likely funnel its new capital into fleshing out current products, as well as creating and innovating new products to enhance its competition with traditional banking.
While customers already benefit from the slew of products that offer ease and efficiency across automated investing, commission-free trading, savings, and client-centric approach to service, it will be interesting to see what innovations Wealthsimple will offer following this cash injection.
