Small steps, big leaps – be it working out, learning a new language or investing. That’s the inspiration behind Stash, a mobile investing platform that allows users to invest as little as $5 that announced $25 million in Series B funding this morning.
The round was led by Valar Ventures, one of Peter Thiel’s VC firms, and is the second round this year for the company. Since closing its Series A round – worth $9.25 million – in August, the company experienced ‘exponential’ growth, more than doubling its userbase, according to Brandon Krieg, CEO and co-founder of Stash. Stash currently has more than 300,000 users since its launch last year, with 10,000 users joining each week.
“We have our sights set on bringing Stash to over a million people in 2017 and empowering a new generation of investors,” Krieg told Bank Innovation. “We are going to continue investing heavily in the financial education components of Stash. We deeply believe in increasing the financial literacy of our customers.”
The financial literacy component may be what sets Stash apart in the Robinhood/Acorns-dominated world, according Krieg. “We are not a black-box investing service where clients provide financial information and are put into a target portfolio that they often don’t understand,” he said. Rather, users take ownership of their portfolios, by selecting investments based on their interests and beliefs, in addition to financial goals. Behind the curtains, the app calculates factors such as historical performance, expense ratio, risk profile and asset allocation. “Clients are engaged in the process of investing and this engagement is fueled by our educational content,” he added.
In the coming year, the startup is looking to add new account types, based on customer feedback. “Stash is their first experience with saving and investing and we are building a long-term relationship with them,” he said. “Our services and products will naturally evolve with our customers.”
Stash charges $1 per month for accounts under $5,000 and a 0.25% for anything higher. If stashing (pun intended) is on your resolution list, the app is free to download and try out for a month.