Former Google Pay head raises $90 million for fintech
Arta Finance, a fintech co-founded by Google Pay ‘s former head Caesar Sengupta , raised $90 million in Series A funding, the company announced Wednesday.Why it matters: The hefty round is a strong endorsement for a company that aims to bring the same tools to the young and wealthy that a family office brings to the ultra wealthy.Details: Launched in August 2021, Arta raised from investors including Sequoia Capital India , Ribbit Capital, Coatue, Betsy Cohen, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt . The company did not disclose its valuation.
• The idea, says Sengupta, started while he and co-founders were at the search giant.
• They were wealthy enough that daily bills were no longer a concern, but not quite wealthy enough for a family office.Of note: “We were looking at the people who had made it like Larry (Page), Sergey (Brin), and Eric, and all these people had family offices . And it felt like these family offices were giving them them financial superpowers,” says Sengputa, who left Google in early 2021.
• The company is targeting, initially, those in tech who qualify as accredited investors in the U.S.Context: Creating a digital family office for the young and wealthy is not a new concept. But Arta’s attempt to bundle several different financial products onto one wealth management platform is what sets it apart.
• Companies like Vise and Ethic for example seek to automate investing , while businesses like SecFi lend to employees who are equity rich but cash poor. Other startups like Equi meanwhile bill themselves as a digital family office offering alternative investing .
• Arta plans to do all of that under one roof, having acquired a company called Money Mix earlier this year that will show user’s various investing and banking accounts in one dashboard.The big picture: Sengupta says the company raised more than it needed because of the uncertain macroeconomic environment. Conventional wisdom says startups raise for a year to two years of runway — Sengupta raised for six years.
Arta Finance, a fintech co-founded by Google Pay’s former head Caesar Sengupta, raised $90 million in Series A funding, the company announced Wednesday. Details: Launched in August 2021, Arta raised from investors including Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Coatue, Betsy Cohen, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Of note: “We were looking at the people who had made it like Larry (Page), Sergey (Brin), and Eric, and all these people had family offices.
