OneVest, the startup that offers what it calls a wealth-as-a-service platform, has raised $17 million CAD in Series A funding.
OMERS Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Luge Capital, Panache Ventures, AAF Management, FJ Labs, and new investors Fin Capital, Pivot Investment Partners, and Deloitte Ventures.
This latest raise places total investment to date in OneVest at $24 million CAD. The raise closed in early June.
The Calgary and Toronto-based startup intends to use the funds to accelerate the company’s growth, expand into the United States market, and for other general corporate purposes. OneVest will be expanding its team across multiple departments, including enterprise sales, business operations, product, and engineering. Currently, the startup has 35 employees, but said it expects to double in size by the end of 2023.
The startup plans to announce new enterprise partnerships soon with Schedule 1 Canadian banks and large wealth-management firms.
OneVest’s model is to offer a “wealth-as-a-service” platform to a range of different customers, including consumer FinTech companies, credit unions, traditional banks, and wealth management firms. It partners with companies and operates as the back end for various FinTech services and claims it helps companies launch those products more easily and quickly.
Founded in 2021 by Amar Ahluwalia, Jakob Pizzera, and Nathan Di Lucca, OneVest claims that using its platform, financial institutions can seamlessly integrate and configure various components of wealth-management offerings for their customers, based on their specific needs and requirements. It also allows enterprises to automate and streamline administrative and office functions, which currently rely heavily on manual processes.
Ahluwalia told BetaKit that the entry into the US could take place within the next year.
“The expansion would be a continuation of our strategy, providing financial institutions with a leading wealth-management technology platform that enables them to expand their product capabilities, enhance distribution, and streamline front, middle, and back-office operations while extending innovative investor and advisor experiences,” he said.
Ahluwalia claimed US enterprises were already showing a strong interest in OneVest and its services.
RELATED: Onevest secures $5 million to help companies like Neo Financial launch wealth management products
Laura Lenz, a partner with OMERS Ventures, said the fund believes the market has been primed for a new infrastructure player in the wealth management and FinTech space to emerge for some time. She noted that having had a two-year investment relationship with the startup’s founders and their team, Lenz said that OMERS knows they are “best in class.”
“And the data reinforces our view,” she said. “They have consistently been able to sign new customers at an accelerating pace. It is clear there is a need in the market, and they are meeting it.”
According to Ahluwalia, OneVest has dozens of enterprise clients, including a number of financial institutions. He said over the coming weeks, the startup will announce new enterprise partnerships with Schedule 1 Canadian banks and large wealth-management firms.
OneVest began forging partnerships in 2022, teaming up with Neo Financial to help manage that startup’s investment portfolios, and joining forces with corporate-credit startup Caary and FinTech Nuula to launch what the latter called it super app in Canada. Nuula has since been acquired by US-based Nav Technologies following the collapse of its Series A round this past January.
RELATED: Nuula sold to Nav Technologies following collapse of Series A round
Nuula claims its app helps small business owners track their cash flow in real time, aids them in monitoring financial and commercial metrics, and allows them to track customer sentiment, including online ratings and reviews.
Caary’s corporate credit card is offered in the Nuula app to Canadian customers, while OneVest is providing personalized investment portfolios within the app.
Nuula said it would move ahead with the super app combining Nuula’s technology with Caary and OneVest.
