Subscribe to the 附近上门 Daily

The round brings One鈥檚 total raised since its January 2019 inception to $26 million. The startup, which is based in San Francisco and Sacramento, previously raised $9 million from its chairman and co-founder .

We鈥檝e been covering the rise of neobanks globally. Just last week, for example, I wrote about , a New York-based digital bank aimed at small and medium businesses (SMBs), raising a $21 million Series A.

This news caught my attention for a couple of reasons. For one, One鈥檚 co-founders are serial entrepreneurs with deep industry experience. Former CEO and founding CEO serves as One鈥檚 chairman. who co-founded PushPoint (which was ), is CEO of One.

I鈥檓 also intrigued by the company鈥檚 emphasis on the middle class. To be clear, there are other digital banks focused on this demographic (, which neared unicorn status last year with a $100 million Series C, being a prime example). But there鈥檚 no doubt that as the country faces a potential recession fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, the middle class will be among the hardest hit.

The company told me: “We are focused on middle-income families across the US. This includes traditional families, but also single partners, people who support parents, kids and other family members; roommates and more.”

I also find it interesting that Obvious Ventures, an impact investor, put money in the round. One, which today said it is opening up early access to its private beta, also claims to be the first digital banking service to integrate credit with the goal of 鈥渕aking it seamless to save, spend and borrow money.鈥� The thought behind that is that in the current financial system, people鈥檚 money is broken up into siloes, according to Hamilton.

鈥淢ost people have a balance in their checking account that earns nothing and outstanding debt on their credit card that costs too much,鈥� he said in a written statement. 鈥淥ne is designed to maximize a family鈥檚 hard-earned paycheck by unifying saving, spending and borrowing into one account. When this money is being managed from one place, people save more, are charged less and gain control.鈥�

To Harris, One addresses a gap in the banking industry.

鈥淭raditional banks cater mostly to affluent customers and new digital banks target younger individuals with simpler financial needs,鈥� Harris said in a written statement. 鈥淢iddle-class American families are being left out.鈥�

One is planning for a public launch this summer, and its new capital will help it scale toward that goal. The company currently has 40 employees.

Illustration:

Mobile banking platform has raised聽a $100 million Series C funding round. The amount is more than double the $42 million raised in a just 18 months ago. MoneyLion would not go on the record about its valuation, but sources claim it’s 鈥渘ear unicorn status.鈥�

Subscribe to the 附近上门 Daily

MoneyLion has now raised since its inception in 2013. Investors in the latest round included a combination of strategic investors鈥擟apital One and MetaBank 鈥攁nd existing financial investors , , and .

Despite saying the company was seeing 鈥渉ypergrowth,鈥� CEO and co-founder declined to provide any metrics regarding the company鈥檚 revenue growth over time. The company does say it has 鈥渙ver 5 million members鈥� currently. That compares to over 4 million and last October. The startup also said its bank membership has grown 鈥渁t an annualized rate of greater than 1,000% with respect to both accounts and daily average transactions.鈥�

Describing itself as a 鈥淐ostco/Netflix鈥� of the financial industry, MoneyLion offers an array of services to its customers using a membership model: new mobile online鈥� 鈥媌anking鈥� 鈥媋nd managed鈥� 鈥媔nvestment鈥� 鈥媠ervices, a no-fee checking account, savings, credit-building, cash advances, and personal loans. Membership costs depends on the services used. MoneyLion says it uses AI and machine learning to 鈥渄eliver personalized money-saving recommendations鈥� and do things like help people improve their credit scores. Looking ahead, the company said it plans to launch a trading platform in Q4 of this year.

Its membership is concentrated in Texas and the South and the startup plans to use the new capital in part to expand it more broadly throughout the rest of the U.S. The company鈥檚 headquarters are in New York and it has offices in Salt Lake City, Utah, San Francisco, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It鈥檚 also 鈥渧ery selectively looking at international opportunities as well,鈥� according to Choubey. MoneyLion also plans to continue investing in its underlying technology and finding ways to further engage members over time.

, managing partner of Edison Partners, noted his firm led MoneyLion鈥檚 Series A and co-led its B and C rounds. Sugden said Edison has been impressed with the company鈥檚 ability to provide a 鈥渉olistic鈥� solution to customers.

鈥淢oneyLion provides everything you鈥檇 get it if you walked into a physical branch of a bank,鈥� he told 附近上门 News. 鈥淭hey offer a full suite of capabilities, which is pretty compelling from a consumer standpoint because you don鈥檛 want to have 4-5 apps to replace a bank.鈥�

Sugden also believes that while the digital bank space is getting a lot of buzz and attention, from an investor standpoint, 鈥渢he opportunity is still in the early innings.鈥�

鈥淎doption rates of these challenger banks is still low,鈥� he told 附近上门 News. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of room for growth. Overall, this is one of the more exciting stores I鈥檝e been around during my time investing over the last 17-18 years.鈥�

There鈥檚 clearly lots of investor interest in the space. Earlier today, mobile-first trading platform announced a $323 million Series E. With its new investment offering, MoneyLion will now directly compete with that company.

Illustration: