Aspiration, a fintech startup promoting banking with a cause, raised $47 million in its Series B funding round as it seeks to provide alternatives to big bank products to ever-more customers.
The Marina del Rey, Calif. startup, which offers banking, investing, a robo-adviser and retirement products, said it will use the funds to accelerate its growth in customers and new products. Aspiration launched in 2015, and says it is adding thousands of customers every week.
"We had our fair share of doubters when we first started Aspiration, but we've shown that profit and purpose can go hand-in-hand,” said Andrei Cherny, chief executive of Aspiration in a press release.
“Aspiration is growing fast because we have found innovative ways to put both our customers’ interests and their values first. I'm so excited about our ability to do so for many more people in many more ways in the months and years ahead.”
Rather than charge set fees, the fintech company offers customers
Today, the firm says its customers transact more than $2 billion a year on its platform and that more than 20,000 customers have joined Aspiration from Wells Fargo since the San Francisco bank’s account scandal broke. To offer online deposit accounts, Aspiration partners with
All told, the California startup has raised $67 million. Social Impact Finance led Aspiration’s latest round.
Other Aspiration investors include Allen and Company, Omidyar Network, Alpha Edison, AGO Partners, Reyl & Cie and Capricorn Investments in addition to individual investors such as the Citigroup’s former chief operations and technology officer Deborah Hopkins, actor Orlando Bloom and others.
