NerdWallet Secures $64 Million in Series A Funding to Transform Personal Finance

Free platform delivers an objective voice on critical banking, insurance and investment decisions

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May 12, 2015, 09:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- NerdWallet today announced a $64 million Series A funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) with participation from RRE Ventures, iGlobe Partners and additional angel investors. This is the first venture capital round for NerdWallet, a profitable fintech startup that brings clarity to consumer finance decisions. By balancing personal finance in favor of the consumer, the company aims to provide economic well-being for everyone.

When combined with existing cash reserves and a $33 million flexible loan facility from Silicon Valley Bank, the funding gives NerdWallet more than $100 million to transform one of the few industries yet to be disrupted by the Internet — personal finance.

"Consumers don't have a source of truth when making critical financial decisions," said Tim Chen, CEO and founder of NerdWallet. "They are either turning to friends and family who aren't experts or to advisors who want to sell them something. NerdWallet intends to bridge this gap by being an informed and trusted data-driven partner for consumers."

Whether it's selecting the best insurance provider, planning for retirement or starting a small business, consumers are faced with dozens of crucial personal finance decisions at every stage of their lives. NerdWallet helps consumers navigate these complex choices and provides transparency around all of their financial options.

"NerdWallet is the best kept secret in the financial technology market. With its explosive growth, strong profitability and strategic long-term vision, NerdWallet is positioned to win the multibillion dollar personal finance market," said Jules Maltz, General Partner at IVP. "We're proud to lead NerdWallet's first ever funding round and believe its vision of bringing clarity and transparency to all financial decisions is going to have huge social impact."

According to Tom Loverro, who led the investment on behalf of RRE Ventures, "Traditional banking and financial services are under attack. The industry landscape will look dramatically different 10 years from today, with new technologies and startups changing the way consumers handle their finances. RRE is at the forefront of this upheaval, investing in companies transforming the last major category ripe for disruption."

Performance to Date
In 2014, nearly 30 million consumers came to NerdWallet for accessible tools, research and expert advice to guide their financial decisions. The company's user base is growing by more than 150% year over year, while its revenues tripled.

From selecting banking, credit card or insurance products to navigating medical bills and student loans, NerdWallet takes the fear out of finance for individuals and small businesses. The company also connects consumers with a robust community of independent, vetted financial experts and medical billing specialists for personalized advice.

NerdWallet was founded in 2009 and is profitable with strong cash reserves. The company has forged partnerships with eight of the largest banking and credit card companies in the world, and more than a dozen insurance providers. Headquartered in San Francisco, NerdWallet has more than 200 employees and boasts an impressive leadership team from Box, JPMorgan, LinkedIn, Trulia, Visa and Zynga.

Jules Maltz and Tom Loverro will join Tim Chen on NerdWallet's board of directors. Soo Boon Koh, founder and managing partner of iGlobe, will become a board observer. James D. Robinson III, former CEO of American Express; Vikram Pandit, former CEO of Citigroup; and David Henke, former senior vice president of Engineering and Operations at LinkedIn and Yahoo, will serve as board advisors.

Additional investors in the round include Arjan Schutte of Core Innovation Capital, Aaron Lee, Brian Lee, Dharmesh Thakker, Emilie Choi, Eric Bahn, Josh Tonderys, Mike Grishaver, Parker Barrile, Raymie Stata, Richard Jun, Ryan Roslansky, Scott Roberts, Shirshanka Das and Sumir Meghani.

About NerdWallet
NerdWallet gives consumers clarity around key financial decisions at every stage of their lives. When it comes to credit cards, bank accounts, mortgages, insurance, loans or expenses like hospital costs and medical bills, consumers make almost all their decisions in the dark. NerdWallet is changing that, helping guide consumers' decisions with free, accessible tools, research and expert advice that can't be found anywhere else. We call it putting knowledge in your wallet.

About Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)
With $5.4 billion of committed capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) is one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms in the United States. Founded in 1980, IVP has invested in over 300 companies and 101 have gone public. IVP is one of the top-performing firms in the industry and has a 34-year IRR of 43.2%. IVP specializes in venture growth investments, industry rollups, founder liquidity transactions and select public market investments. IVP investments include such notable companies as AppDynamics, ArcSight (HPQ), Buddy Media (CRM), ComScore, Datalogix (ORCL), Domo, Dropbox, Dropcam (GOOG), Fleetmatics (FLTX), HomeAway (AWAY), Kayak (PCLN), LegalZoom, LifeLock (LOCK), Marketo (MKTO), MySQL (ORCL), Netflix (NFLX), Omniture (ADBE), OnDeck (ONDK), Prosper, Pure Storage, RetailMeNot (SALE), Shazam, Slack, Snapchat, SoundCloud, Supercell, Synchronoss (SNCR), The Honest Company, Twitter (TWTR), Zenefits, and Zynga (ZNGA). For more information, visit http://www.ivp.com or follow IVP on Twitter: @ivp.

About RRE Ventures
RRE Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in New York City. Since our founding in late 1994 we have sought out and partnered with extraordinary entrepreneurs who seek to disrupt and transform industries. For more information, please visit www.rre.com.

About iGlobe Partners
iGlobe Partners is a leading Asia Pacific venture capital firm whose multicultural team bridges Western and Asian understanding and practices. Headquartered in Singapore, with presence in Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Auckland, New Zealand, iGlobe has long established networks and relationships within the international venture community, with major corporate and industry players, entrepreneurs and government organizations. With decades of technology investment experience and deep cross-border expertise, iGlobe is in a unique position to organize international investment syndicates, having guided portfolio companies over multiple business cycles to scale their business globally to successful exits. Red Herring selected iGlobe Partners in 2009/10 as a Top 100 Global VC. For more information, go to: http://www.iglobepartners.com.

About Silicon Valley Bank
For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Forbes named SVB one of America's best banks (2015) and one of America's best-managed companies (2014). Learn more at svb.com. Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank subsidiary and commercial banking operation of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB), and a member of the FDIC. Silicon Valley Bank and SVB Financial Group are members of the Federal Reserve System.

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Nicole Colwell
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SOURCE NerdWallet