Sallie Krawcheck / Photo Credit: Ellevest
Ellevest, a New York-based digital investment platform built by women, for women, has raised $33 million in funding led by Rethink Impact and PSP Growth. New investors include Pivotal Ventures (investment company founded by Melinda Gates), PayPal, Elaine Wynn (Wynn Resorts co-founder), Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO), Valerie Jarrett, Gingerbread Capital (venture firm founded by Linnea Roberts), and Mastercard. Returning investors include Aspect Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Morningstar, Astia Angels, Creditease Fintech Investment Fund, and Ulu Ventures.
“Today, we bring in a group of rock star investors deeply aligned with our mission. And it’s no coincidence that many of them are unparalleled changemakers and advocates for women who understand that being under-invested can cost women a fortune over their lives,” said Ellevest co-founder and CEO Sallie Krawcheck in a statement. “And it can be life-changing money. Retire-like-an-Instagram-influencer money. Get-your-hand-off-my-leg money.”
Krawcheck previously worked as the CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and US Trust, the CEO of Citi Wealth Management, CFO at Citi, CEO at Smith Barney, and CEO at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
Charlie Kroll also works as the co-founder of Ellevest. Prior to launching Ellevest, Kroll founded a company called Andera in 2000 and sold it to Bottomline Technologies in 2014.
This round of funding arrives at a time where Ellevest saw rapid growth in a number of new product areas including Ellevest Private Wealth Management — which was designed for high net worth clients. Ellevest Private Wealth Management recently hit $100 million in assets under management. And Ellevest’s Premium services gives women access to a team of Executive Coaches and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER pros in order to take their careers and money goals to the next level. Ellevest’s services are now able to serve women across their stages of life.
“When the status quo isn’t meeting women’s needs, it deserves to be disrupted, and that’s what this platform created by women for women aims to do,” added Melinda Gates. “Women’s lives and realities are different than men’s, and I think we’ll see more and more of a demand for products designed to reflect that. This is an important market opportunity that Ellevest is well-positioned to tap into.”
Ellevest plans to use the funding to accelerate growth including investments in its technology and expand into new product categories. Plus the company is also working with women to make financial education more entertaining. And Ellevest is going to double down on building its community.
“Since we invested in Ellevest’s last round nearly two years ago, Sallie and her team have achieved exponential growth and helped countless women to take hold of their financial futures. We’re thrilled to co-lead this round, and look forward to continuing to partner with the company and its stellar community of investors,” added Rethink Impact founder and managing partner Jenny Abramson.
Ellevest now has clients in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The ages of its clients are 18-85 with an average age of 34. In terms of diversity, Ellevest’s team is identified as 74% female and 43% people of color. The engineering staff is 50% female and 41% are people of color.
“I’m so pleased to support Ellevest as it leads the way to help women become financially stronger and meet their money goals,” explained United State of Women co-chair Valerie Jarrett. “When women are stronger financially, that means a stronger economy and a stronger society. We need this change right now.”
In 2018 and 2019, Ellevest was named in NerdWallet’s Best Robo-Advisors. And Ellevest has four main goals: 1.) Women are investing for with Ellevest: Build Wealth 2.) Retirement 3.) Emergency fund and 4.) Buying a home
Ellevest’s platform uses a gender-smart investing algorithm for digital-only customers to bespoke portfolios for private wealth clients. And Ellevest also provides the option to invest for impact and in other women. Since women generally have longer lifespans and are typically paid less than men, old approaches have not worked for everyone.
“Ensuring that all women have robust financial tools to improve financial health and seize more opportunities is a societal imperative,” noted PayPal CEO and president Dan Schulman. “We are proud to support Sallie and her team at Ellevest who are helping to level the playing field by pioneering investment solutions tailored to women. The growth in Ellevest demonstrates that, even in a crowded market, there is always opportunity for customer-focused solutions to win.”
