- LA-based financial tech company Albert announced recently that it raised $50 million in Series B funding from Alphabet’s CapitalG
LA-based financial tech company Albert announced recently that it raised $50 million in Series B funding from Alphabet’s CapitalG, which is a private equity firm that helps companies grow faster by advising them using the vast expertise and resources of Google. Portage Ventures, QED Investors, and American Express Ventures, and several others also joined the round.
What does Albert do? Albert created a platform that helps people improve their finances. For example, it is able to track your incoming deposits and help you budget and improve spending habits. Plus it can also help by lowering bills and send your alerts when it detects overspending issues. Plus Albert has a “Genius” feature that connects its paid subscribers to financial advisers.
There are more than 3 million Albert users. And with this round of funding, the company plans to expand its reach and acquire more customers. And Albert will be hiring more employees in a wide variety of roles including engineering, operations, and customer support.
Albert was founded by Andrzej Baraniak and Yinon Ravid in 2015. Ravid previously founded Openfolio and worked as a High Yield Trader at Oak Hill Advisors. And Baraniak worked in a number of strategic projects while working at BCG, Harvard Management Company, and JPMorgan.
“To date, our Geniuses have sent and received more than 10 million text messages tackling customer questions like, “Hey, can I afford to go out tonight?” and questions about lowering debt, insurance recommendations, and how to save for a vacation, school, or a new home. Our customers’ success is Albert’s success, so our Geniuses are of course incentivized to offer the best possible guidance,” wrote Ravid in a blog post. “A traditional financial advisor will hand you a pdf of financial chores that are tedious to do once — let alone every month. At Albert, we automate your financial life. Our software builds up your savings, invests your money, helps you avoid overdrafts, lowers your bills, and automates your budget. And yes, automation works: The Fed showed that 47% of Americans cannot afford an unexpected $400 expense. After 6 months of using Albert, Genius customers have an average of about $400 saved up.”
