Korean robot advisor Fount pockets $ 33.4 million to advance his AI-powered platform – TechCrunch

Source, a robo-advisor startup in South Korea, has raised a $ 33.4 million Series C funding round to bolster the development of its machine learning-based platform and hire staff.

The last round was led by Hana Financial Investment, with Nice Investment. Returning donors Smilegate Investment, KT Investment, Shinhan Capital and Korea Development Bank also participated.

Series C brings its total funding to around $ 58.5 million, and the company’s valuation is now estimated at $ 209 billion, CEO Youngbeen Kim told TechCrunch.

The company will continue to invest in its technological development over the next three years, about an additional $ 85 million (100 billion won), Kim added.

Founded in November 2015 by Kim, Fount launched its first beta robot-advisor service in February 2016. The following month Jim Rogers, a Fount advisor, invested in the company.

After obtaining regulatory approvals to advise investment in November 2017, Fount launched its mobile app in June 2018.

The pandemic has spurred the trend for people to set up an emergency fund or create an investment portfolio to grow wealth and save for retirement through contactless investment services such as robo-advisers. The three South Korean robot advisor startups, including Fount, surpassed a total of $ 1 billion in assets under management in January 2021, up 402.9% year-on-year, according to a local media report.

Fount surpassed $ 730 million in assets under management in March 2021. According to its press release, its primary market is made up of people between the ages of 20 and 49, of whom about 66.8% are millennials.

Its AI-powered platform invests on behalf of users using algorithms and data for people who know they need to invest money to grow their wealth but don’t know much about investing. .

Fount’s AI-powered BlueWhale product analyzes over 52,000 cases of global economic data and market indices and automatically delivers a personalized and diverse portfolio that it can then rebalance as needed.

The company offers its robo-advisor service to around 20 South Korea-based B2B clients, including lead investor Hana Financial Investment, Samsung Life Insurance, MetLife and Hyundai Motor Securities. The company is in talks with other financial companies to establish partnerships. It also claims to have 260,000 registered users as of June 2021.

Global robo-advisers’ assets under management are expected to grow to $ 2.8 trillion in 2025, from $ 1.37 trillion in 2021, according to his statement citing the Statista report. South Korean robo-advisers’ assets under management are expected to reach $ 25 billion in 2025, up from $ 8.36 billion in 2021.

When asked about overseas expansions, Kim said he is currently focusing on the domestic market and has no concrete plan for global penetration.