Brightside raises $33 million
San Francisco-based financial care platform for employers Brightside announced it has raised $33 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Trinity Ventures, as well as Clocktower Technology Ventures and Chestnut Street Ventures. To date, the company raised over $75 million.
Founded in 2017, Brightside helps employers improve the financial health of their workforce by providing a single destination for employees to address any personal finance need. Brightside combines a human-approach to financial health via dedicated Financial Assistants, available to all employee families with advanced rules engines and unique products linked to paychecks in a way that provides real solutions to employees’ financial stress. On average, Brightside puts ~$1,200 back in the pockets of the families they serve, according to the company.
“Traditional ‘financial wellness’ solutions have long fallen short for the frontline worker. Most employees aren’t looking for financial plans and budgeting products, and they don’t want a financial planner to tell them they are doing it wrong. They want to know what to do now in their moment of need. Real problems are more than arithmetic – they are about real life and require practical, personalized solutions from real people powered by sophisticated rules engines. At Brightside, we have added financial urgent care and financial primary care to wellness to meet people where they are to measurably improve the financial health of working families. With this funding, we’ll be able to expand our offering to more employers and families – something that’s desperately needed during this time of inflation and economic uncertainty.” – Tom Spann, CEO and co-founder of Brightside.
“Employee access to meaningful financial solutions and support is more important now than ever, and Brightside is leading the charge to make a real difference, particularly among underserved populations. We are excited about this partnership and what’s in store for Brightside as the company continues to scale its growth and build a new front door to financial services for working families.” – Vishal Vasishth, co-founder and managing director at Obvious Ventures.
According to the press release, Brightside grew its 2021 revenues by approximately 800% last year and is on track to grow nearly 10x in 2022. The company’s headcount has grown over 150% this year to more than 175 team members, and the company plans to hire 200 more employees in the coming year.
