Empower, a high-growth mobile banking app in the US challenger bank category, announced $20 million in Series A funding. New investors that took part in the funding round include Icon Ventures, Defy Ventures, and David Velez, Founder and CEO of Nubank, one of the most valuable financial technology startups in the world. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Initialized Capital also joined this round.
“Empower is democratizing access to financial experts and products that used to be available to only the top 1% wealthiest people,” said Warren Hogarth, Co-Founder and CEO of Empower. “There’s growing demand in the market for financial knowledge to be more practical – and that means actionable, personalized information in real time to create better outcomes. We combine human coaching with the latest technology, including AI, to continuously monitor our customers’ accounts and provide intelligent alerts, prompts, and analyses to improve their financial decision-making in the moment and build financial literacy. We’ve designed every product feature to make it dead-simple to save more and grow their wealth.”
Empower is investing in data science as well as a team of financial experts who are on standby to help customers navigate the more complex questions for their specific circumstances. These human coaches are Millennial and well-versed in money management across credit, loans, investments, and more. The objective is to deliver tangible, positive outcomes and give people greater agency and confidence as they navigate their financial life.
“Today’s generation needs and wants more from their bank,” said Tom Mawhinney, General Partner at Icon Ventures. “Most challenger banks are trying to tackle small parts of a more significant problem, like minimizing fees or early direct deposit or improving design. Empower has a broader mission to improve financial well-being and independence through personal impact – and that means giving people a complete toolset incorporating digital plus human mentorship to save more and make their money work harder. The company is unlocking possibilities on a whole different scale.”
“There is a considerable body of research that says Millennials are financially behind and actually worse off than preceding generations,” said Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Initialized Capital, and customer of Empower. “While we obviously need to address the systemic problems, Empower is designed to help this generation get smarter and savvier about their money. It’s pretty rare to find a consumer bank that offers high yield on all your money without the traditional deposit restrictions, plus on-demand financial coaching via both human and AI assistance. Empower is the practical all-in-one solution that’s been missing in the market.”
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