(Reuters) – Wealthsimple said on Monday it raised C$750 million ($610.40 million) in its latest funding round, with participation from celebrities Drake, Michael Fox and Ryan Reynolds, more than doubling the Canadian fintech company’s valuation to C$5 billion ($4.07 billion).
The Toronto-based company that has helped make financial products like stock trading, peer-to-peer money transfers and tax filing easily accessible, said it will use the amount raised to further expand its market position, build out its product suite, and grow its team.
The latest funding round, led by venture capital firms Meritech and Greylock, also includes investments from iNovia, Sagard, TSV and Redpoint. It doubles Wealthsimple’s valuation, bigger than the C$114 million that the company raised in October last year, that gave it a valuation of C$1.5 billion.
Wealthsimple said it has seen rapid growth in the past 14 months as Canadians took an interest in stock trading during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this year, the company said it plans to grow revenues by adding premium features for more sophisticated clients.
($1 = 1.2288 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Eva Mathews and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
