SoFi, a mobile-first personal finance firm, has secured $500m (£396m) investment in a financing round led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
Image: SoFi CEO Anthony Noto. Photo: Courtesy of Business Wire.
QIA has valued SoFi at $4.3bn (£3.4bn) on pre-money basis. SoFi said that it will use the funds to continue investing in innovation and growth, to help its members achieve financial independence.
With this round of investment, the company’s balance sheet to total capital has increased to $2.3bn (£1.8bn). Existing investors, including SoFi CEO Anthony Noto, have also invested in the startup.
Noto said: “Over the last year, we’ve worked aggressively to grow SoFi from a desktop lending business to a broad-based, mobile-first financial platform enabling members to borrow, save, spend, invest and protect their money.
“We’re thrilled to have QIA as a new investor and partner in our journey to help our members Get Their Money Right.”
The announcement follows several key product releases by the company since the beginning of 2019. These include Invest, an investment platform that includes active investing in stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), SoFi-branded ETFs and automated investing, and Money, which features checking and savings account in one new account with 2.25% annual percentage yield (APY) with no fees.
The firm has also launched an undergraduate loan business with Private Student Loans and relaunched its home loans earlier this year. Recently, the company announced that it has more than 700,000 members and 7.5 million registered users.
QIA CEO Mansoor Al-Mahmoud said: “We strongly believe in SoFi’s approach, and their dedication to build a transformational financial platform that is rapidly disrupting consumer finance. SoFi’s team have a clear long-term vision for their business, and we’re proud to be their partners and to support them on their journey as part of our broader strategic investments in technology.
“Today’s announcement underlines QIA’s growing focus investing in leading innovators in the TMT sector. QIA has ambitions to build strong partnerships with Technology companies in the US and beyond.”