Wise raises $5.7 million
Wise, the California-based challenger bank designed for small businesses, has raised $5.7 million in a Seed round led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Abstract Ventures, Backend Capital, The Fund and Two Culture Capital.
Founded in 2018, the 17-person startup has attracted 1,000 businesses which on average employ between 2-10 employees. Wise offers a fully digital banking experience, allowing business owners to open accounts online and enjoy zero fees. Bank accounts are FDIC-insured up to $250.000 through the startup’s partnership with banking partner BBVA USA.
Instead of a direct-to-consumer approach, Wise is looking to partner with different platforms to onboard small businesses such as Shopify. “If you look at other [banking] options out there, they’re going direct to the customer; what we’ve learned is that it is better to partner. They’re signing up inside these ecosystems so we want to partner with these ecosystems,” Arjun Thyagarajan, Wise’s cofounder and CEO told TechCrunch.
The startup is also looking to expand beyond the traditional scope of banking features by offering functionality to power things like payroll and accounting.
