Comcast Ventures & NBCUniversal Invest in Acorns

NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures announced an equity investment in Acorns , along with a strategic partnership with Comcast-owned CNBC to produce original content and events with the startup. The investment was part of Acorns’ latest $105m Series E, which puts its valuation at $860 million. BlackRock, Bain Capital Ventures, TPG’s Rise Fund, DST and Michael Dell’s MSD Capital also took participated in the round.

With a joint focus on the importance of educating current and future investors, CNBC will hire a dedicated team to create financial literacy and personal finance content for Acorns. In addition, CNBC will produce features for a cross-company financial wellness initiative “Invest in You: Ready. Set. Grow.” that will run across CNBC, NBCUniversal and Comcast platforms. Content production will begin immediately and continue to expand in the weeks ahead.

“This partnership with Acorns builds on CNBC’s 30-year commitment to democratizing the financial markets, helping generations invest for their future. We are excited to bring together two brands with this shared social purpose to drive value to our viewers, users and customers.” – Chairman of CNBC, Mark Hoffman.

“We aim to put the tools of wealth making in everyone’s hands and this includes helping all Americans grow their money knowledge. Collaborating with the powerhouse that is CNBC will take these efforts to entirely new heights for our customers.” – CEO of Acorns, Noah Kerner.

Founded in 2012, the average Acorns customer is around 32 years old with an income between $50,000 and $60,000. The startup recently launched Acorns Later – a retirement account services that attracted over 350k investors who have invested $40m to date.

Bottom Line: From small screens big things grow .