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The announcement of the raise comes about six weeks after the consumer fintech startup said it was shelving its plans for its $2.2 billion SPAC with Pioneer Merger Corp. in favor of an eventual traditional IPO. New York-based Acorns had last raised more than three years ago — a $105 million Series E round in January of 2019 at an $860 million valuation.CEO Noah Kerner told TechCrunch this week that the company felt it “wasn’t the right time to go public.”“As we go forward, we’re going to pursue a traditional IPO,” he said. While he declined to reveal revenue or income figures, Kerner said only that the company had “exceeded its public forecast” for 2021 and now has more than 4.6 million paid subscribers. Last year, when the company planned to go public via a SPAC, it had projected revenue of $126 million for the year, according to its deck, as analyzed by our own Alex Wilhelm. And the company anticipated that it could scale that figure to 77% in 2021. But since the company has abandoned its public plans — for now — we’ll have to wait to find out if it in fact did. The company also plans to continue building products that allow parents and their kids “to save and invest, and get educated together.” Since its 2012 inception, the company has evolved its offering to also include investment services, debt management and a product aimed at children, Acorns Early. Presently, Acorns has about 700 employees and will continue scaling up, particularly in product development, Kerner said. As for going public, the executive described the company’s process of going public via SPAC “as a dry run at going public.”“We developed that capability and muscle internally and we’re fully prepared to do it,” Kerner said. “So when the time is right, we are prepared to execute with extreme excellence.”TPG Partner John Flynn said his firm invested in Acorns a number of years ago “given the work the company was doing to advance financial inclusion and financial health for everyday Americans through accessible and easy-to-use technology.” Since then, he said, the company has grown its product suite “meaningfully” and has built “a trusted, mission-oriented brand and platform that is beloved by its customers.” He added: “Acorns has established itself as a leader in long-term investing through an innovative and robust set of retirement and savings-focused products. Additionally, the company enables financial education through its personalized, ‘gamified’ engagement model that helps customers develop and practice smart saving habits.” However, in January, the company decided not to move ahead with the deal and, last week, said it raised $82 million in a Series D round of funding. Acorns is not the only fintech to recently abandon its SPAC plans.
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