WealthKernel, a provider of digital investment services and infrastructure, today announces a Series A+ funding round, securing a further investment of US$7m. Already one of the leading embedded investing providers in the UK, WealthKernel will use the additional investment to support its integration of intraday trading and the expansion of its services into European markets.
The funding round was led by XTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of XTX Markets, with participation from Digital Horizon, Big Start Ventures, and WealthKernel’s existing lead investor, ETFS Capital.
The investment comes as younger and other non-traditional investment audiences have become more engaged with managing their finances and growing their wealth, causing a significant surge in the popularity of trading and wealth management apps. According to a study by App Radar, this now sees 6.4m people – approximately 12% of the UK adult population – using at least one investment app to manage their finances.
Seizing this trend, in the past year alone WealthKernel has enabled a number of diverse businesses – such as Claro Money, Wahed, and Wealth8 – to enter underserved areas of the wealth services market, covering areas from halal and ethical investment to ESG. This is driven by WealthKernel’s ambition to democratise access to wealth and investment services, and become the leading API wealth infrastructure provider in the UK and Europe.
Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO, WealthKernel, says: “I’m incredibly excited to take this next step in WealthKernel’s journey. Our investors’ backing will not only help us bring our product to a wider audience and expand our platform, but also achieve our goal of becoming the leading provider of API-based wealth and investment infrastructure across Europe.
Despite its challenges, the past year has seen our business and sector thrive, demonstrating the increasing demand for investment services from businesses and their customers alike, and the growing shift to digital wealth. Our core ambition is to lower the barriers of access to investment and wealth services for everyone.”
Martyn James, Managing Director, ETFS Capital says: “We continue to back Karan and the Wealthkernel team, as their success to date has earned them the opportunity to expand their services further and also into Europe. Democratising access to wealth and investment services is a purpose we understand and respect. Beyond good commercial sense, it is a game changer for the many investors denied access to such services till now.”
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