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Personal Capital’s Growth Leads to Additional $25 Million in Funding

Personal Capital’s Growth Leads to Additional $25 Million in Funding

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Digital advisory service and wealth management firm Personal Capital is closing out 2016 by adding another $25 million to the $75 million in equity investment the company took home from IGM Financial in May. Today’s funding was part of a contingency from investor IGM Financial that stated Personal Capital had to reach a certain growth milestone by Q2 of 2017. Since the California-based company exceeded the specified growth target, the funds were distributed early, just in time for the new year. This closes Personal Capital’s Series E round and increases its 2016 funding to $100 million and boosts its total funding to just over $175 million.

“IGM Financial has been a great investor,” said Bill Harris, CEO of Personal Capital. “Over the past six months, we’ve been able to grow marketing, staffing, and offerings to our users and clients. With the final $25 million in investment secured, we look forward to seeing even more growth as we help more families manage their financial lives.” The company used the initial $75 million to increase its marketing efforts and hire new staff across its offices in San Carlos, San Francisco, and Denver.

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Personal Capital’s CEO Bill Harris and CPO Jim Del Favero demoed at FinovateSpring 2014.

The new investment lifts Personal Capital’s valuation to around $500 million. That’s double what the company’s valuation was after its Series D funding round closed in 2014—$200 million shy of competitors’ valuations. Betterment and Wealthfront (pure robo advisory plays), as well as SigFig (a hybrid robo advisor) each have valuations of $700 million.

In addition to the funding from IGM Financial, Personal Capital has received a $25 million line of credit from Silicon Valley Bank. With regard to the credit, Mike Armsby, CFO of Personal Capital, says it will help the company “spur rapid growth in the New Year.”

Personal Capital delivers financial planning and investment portfolio management services. The company blends high tech and high touch by combining unbiased, algorithmic investing approaches and conversations via video chat—with real, human advisers. Personal Capital has added $1.5 billion in AUM in 2016. This represents 80% growth in less than 12 months and brings the company’s total AUM to $3.4 billion. In addition, Personal Capital offers a free, account-aggregation tool to help its 1.3 million registered users view all of their accounts in one place.

Personal Capital most recently presented at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, where Ehsan Lavassani, the company’s founding engineer and chief engineering officer, talked about data-driven account opening. At FinovateSpring 2014, CEO Bill Harris and Chief Product Officer Jim Del Favero debuted One Click Investment Proposals.