Investment giant BlackRock announced Friday that it has acquired a minority stake in venture-backed fintech startup Human Interest, leading a funding round.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Human Interest’s digital retirement benefits platform allows users to “start retirement planning in minutes and put it on autopilot.” It also advertises that it has eliminated all 401(k) transaction fees.. The startup previously told TechCrunch that it works with “all kinds of SMBs,” from tech startups to law firms, dentists to dog walkers, manufacturing companies to social justice nonprofits.
The San Francisco-based company has raised a total of $336.7 million since it was founded by Paul Sawaya and Roger Lee in 2015. Rise Fund, TPG’s global impact investing platform, led his $200 million round for Human Interest in August 2021. That propelled him to unicorn status. Other backers include SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Crosslink Capital, NewView Capital, Glynn Capital, US Venture Partners, Wing Venture Capital, Uncork Capital, Slow Capital and Susa Ventures. Since the initial closing of that round, Human Interest said in a blog post that customer numbers and revenue have grown by more than 400%. At the time of that funding, executives told TechCrunch that the company is aiming for a traditional IPO sometime in 2023, targeting “more than $200 million in pre-listing run-rate revenue.” By August 2021, according to executives, “we have tens of millions of run-rate revenues, with millions of new revenues added every month.
“BlackRock has an incredible team dedicated to providing quality retirement savings and investment options,” Human Interest CEO Jeff Schneble said in a written statement. I’m here.
“We look forward to helping Human Interest close the access gap,” said Anne Ackerley, head of BlackRock’s Retirement Group, in a statement.
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