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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.

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