Jonathan Shieber at Techcrunch has filled this article with some solid data from the Crunchbase database. Big numbers are being thrown around - Personal finance and wealth management companies have already raised over half a billion dollars this year and the pace of investment seems to be holding steady.
n what’s sure to be the first shot in a salvo of big new rounds for these (no-longer) startups, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Wealthfront has raised roughly $70 million in a new round of financing, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. The new financing comes just six months after the company closed a $35 million round in April. There was no word on whether the new financing morphs Wealthfront into the mythical, billion-dollar “unicorn” status, but it should put the company in the “uni” range at least. The timing of the round is auspicious. The boomer behemoth of wealth management and financial services, Charles Schwab & Co., just announced that it was going to offer its own version of the robo-advisor called Intelligent Portfolios.