OpenInvest Secures $3.25 Million in Seed Funding To Make Investing a Force for Corporate Engagement and Social Change; Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz
OpenInvest Empowers Consumers to Directly Align their Investments with their Values and Engage Companies Without Sacrificing Returns
SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OpenInvest (www.openinvest.co), a social impact investing platform for retail investors, announced today that it raised $3.25 million in seed funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Abstract Ventures, Wireframe Ventures and SV2. OpenInvest is an accessible online financial advisor that empowers investors to fully align their investments with their values, and then take action to more meaningfully engage companies and drive social change.
According to a recent Morgan Stanley survey, 84 percent of millennials want the companies they invest in to align with their values. OpenInvest meets this opportunity with an innovative platform that allows consumers to invest with their hearts, without having to compromise financial returns. The company's investment screens include climate change, fossil fuels, weapons manufacturers, gender equality, LGBTQ workplace treatment, deforestation, tobacco, companies funding the Dakota Access Pipeline, and companies supporting President Trump, which can be freely mixed and matched to construct a personalized portfolio. Investors can further customize by including or excluding individual companies, while their portfolio auto-rebalances to maintain diversification and broad tracking of the market.
"We launched OpenInvest last September and experienced explosive growth in the wake of the presidential election and increased social activism," said Conor Murray, chief executive officer of OpenInvest. "We are building a new class of 'activist-passive' investors, who can use OpenInvest's proprietary tools to easily divest-invest based on their passions and values, while portfolios auto-rebalance to stay broadly tracking the performance of the market."
"OpenInvest is democratizing a movement that has already captured a significant percentage of institutional dollars, but in a much more powerful, granular, and approachable way," said Alex Rampell, general partner, Andreessen Horowitz. "We're thrilled to become part of OpenInvest, as we see a strong team that uniquely balances financial pedigree and social activism, with a laser-focused mission to fundamentally transform how consumers can drive social action through smart investing."
OpenInvest is the culmination of decades of experience in building financial products and in non-profits. Murray met CTO, Phillip Wei, while working together at Bridgewater Associates, as they spearheaded key technology systems that helped fuel its growth into the world's largest hedge fund over the past decade. Wei then went on to co-found Deliveroo, a consumer-tech unicorn based in the UK. Looking to make a difference for everyday investors and the world, they left their positions to team up with Josh Levin, an impact investing specialist who most recently managed the Sustainable Finance Program at the World Wildlife Fund.
OpenInvest plans to use the funding to fuel hiring, continue to develop the product, and accelerate customer growth.
To get started, visit openinvest.co and sign up for a new account. Follow OpenInvest on Facebook and Twitter.
About OpenInvest
OpenInvest is the future of investing – one that is honest, personalized, and empowering. The company was founded by a unique a combination of finance and nonprofit leaders who want to make the world a better place. They realized that when it comes to investing, most people are forced to finance corporate practices with which they may strongly disagree (e.g. climate change denial, weapons production, discrimination, and deforestation, to name a few), while actually overpaying in fees! OpenInvest changes all this. We're a Public Benefit Corporation, committed to total transparency, incubated in Y Combinator, and backed by some of the most powerful names in Silicon Valley. We use proprietary technology to empower your values, and let you take action, while your investments stay diversified and broadly tracking the performance of the market.
About Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz backs bold entrepreneurs who move fast, think big, and are committed to building the next major franchises in technology. Founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the firm provides entrepreneurs with access to expertise and insights in innovation, executive and technical talent, market intelligence, policy and regulatory affairs, business development, and marketing and brand-building.
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OpenInvest is an investment adviser registered with the SEC. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Please see our website at openinvest.co for more information about the merits and risks of investing with OpenInvest.
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