Fruitful, the world's first financial wellness membership, today announced $43 million in pre-launch capital anchored by an $8 million seed round led by Emigrant Bank, one of America's largest privately held banks, and a $25 million Series A round led by 8VC with participation from Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and Elad Gil, along with the founders of Brex, Gemini and Tagomi.
NEW YORK, June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Fruitful, the world's first financial wellness membership, today announced $43 million in pre-launch capital anchored by an $8 million seed round led by Emigrant Bank, one of America's largest privately held banks, and a $25 million Series A round led by 8VC with participation from Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and Elad Gil, along with the founders of Brex, Gemini and Tagomi. Notable investors also include Kal Vepuri (Founder and CEO of Hero Health), Diogo Monica (Co-Founder of Anchorage), Andrew Rubin (Co-Founder and CEO of Illumio), Company Ventures, Third Prime, and Bienville Capital. An additional $10 million in funds were generated through a convertible note and domain sale. The capital is being used to fuel the company's development of its proprietary financial wellness platform, scale its team, and drive member adoption.
More than two years after the pandemic began, 65% of Americans cite finances as a leading source of stress in their lives, the highest figure in recent history, and nearly 50% said greater financial understanding would have meaningfully helped them manage their money better. Even among those earning more than $100,000, nearly 50% are living paycheck to paycheck. A staggering 59% of Americans want financial advice but are unsure of where to turn, and this profound lack of financial understanding is estimated to have cost Americans a total of more than $352 billion in 2021 alone. Designed to address these troubling dynamics, Fruitful's new membership model is making expert financial guidance more accessible to Americans.
Fruitful provides members with a dedicated Certified Financial Planner®, known as a Fruitful Guide, who gives ongoing personalized advice and works closely with members to chart their individual path toward prosperity and peace of mind. This tailored service is facilitated by Fruitful's mobile app, where members can live chat anytime, book video calls with Fruitful Guides, and access exclusive content on relevant financial topics. Fruitful's reimagining of personal finance will be offered on a flat, affordable membership model at $98 / month—roughly half of what is charged by traditional financial advisory firms.
Guides have joined Fruitful from some of the world's top financial advisory firms including Morgan Stanley, UBS, Fidelity, and Schwab with a desire to broaden access to expert financial advice and help members navigate all financial matters—from budgeting to establishing savings, investments, 401(k)s, buying a home, funds for kids' college, taxes, and any other topic tied to financial wellbeing. Unlike traditional financial advisory firms, Fruitful does not sell proprietary or third-party products to its members and does not charge passive management fees for taking custody of members' investment funds. Fruitful's membership model represents a truly customer-aligned reimagining of the personal finance industry.
"Amidst the economic uncertainty over the last two years, there is a critical need to address the wealthcare crisis in America as evidenced by high financial illiteracy and high financial insecurity across incomes and backgrounds," said Josh McManus, Co-Founder and CEO, Fruitful. "After working for 20 years to transform post-industrial places and help companies like Rocket Mortgage and Ford recognize their potential as purpose-driven organizations, I co-founded Fruitful to help people access greater financial understanding and a more secure financial future through a transparent, educational, consumer-focused approach to personal finance. Our financial guidance offering is only the beginning of our journey to crafting a transformative financial wellness platform."
"Fruitful's cofounders are building a truly consumer-aligned financial services platform." said Elad Gil, prominent technology investor and advisor. "Their talented leadership team, ambitious vision, and unique partnership with Emigrant Bank provide a strong foundation toward succeeding in this commendable mission of rebuilding personal finance as a service in the best interest of the customer."
"Building scalable, high quality and affordable financial guidance is as much a technology problem as it is a talent and organizational problem. The Fruitful team is uniquely suited to make a new level of financial understanding and security accessible to people across the country—at a time when both are needed," said Brandon Reeves, Lux Capital.
"Historically, access to financial advisors has been mostly restricted to high net worth individuals that meet minimum account requirements for investment funds," said Kimmy Scotti, 8VC. "We see a clear moral and market need for Fruitful, which not only has a massively compelling thesis, but also a founding team that can execute on that idea and grow to become a market leader."
Fruitful is led by CEO Josh McManus, previously COO of Rock Ventures, the holding company of Rocket Mortgage (America's largest residential mortgage lender), as well as the Cleveland Cavaliers, StockX and many other entities. Fruitful was also launched in partnership with Emigrant Bank, one of America's oldest and largest privately held banks, providing unique advantages like access to bedrock operational, technical and regulatory infrastructure.
For more information, please visit https://www.fruitful.co/.
About Fruitful: Fruitful is the world's first financial wellness membership.
Media contact:
Tanya Hayre Gillogley
[email protected]
Media Contact
Tanya Hayre Gillogley, Fruitful, 1 646-397-2557, [email protected]
SOURCE Fruitful
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