Led by Obvious Ventures, investment supports expansion of Brightside’s proprietary Financial Care model to employers and their employees’ families amidst record inflation and increased economic hardship
Brightside, the leading financial care platform for employers, announced it has raised $33 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Trinity Ventures, as well as Clocktower Technology Ventures and Chestnut Street Ventures. Bringing the company’s total funding to over $75 million, this investment will support Brightside’s continued rapid growth and platform enhancements, including additional AI-driven capabilities to further elevate its best-in-class product experience.
Seven in 10 Americans live paycheck to paycheck1. In addition to the profound ways this impacts individuals and their families, employees’ financial health has a proven, significant impact on businesses’ performance. In fact, research has shown that financial stress impacts everything from mental and physical health to workplace retention and productivity: according to a recent study2, financially-stressed employees are reportedly twice as likely to look for a job elsewhere, and 76% say that financial worries have had a negative impact on their productivity, ultimately affecting employers’ bottom line in key areas.
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Brightside is on a mission to help employers improve the financial health of their workforce, thereby improving employee productivity and wellbeing and supporting businesses’ short and long-term growth. By providing a single destination for employees and their families to address any personal finance need with unbiased, individualized, hands-on support, Brightside is transforming the financial futures of the historically underserved majority of Americans. Currently supporting over 300,000 families, Brightside serves leading Fortune 500 employers with frontline workers in industries such as manufacturing, distribution, and healthcare. Households that work with Brightside save approximately $1,200 a year, on average, and employers see an 80% reduction in 401(k) non-contributors. Employees who engage with Brightside also reduce credit card debt by three times more than their non-engaged co-workers, see a 34% improvement in subprime credit scores, and leave their jobs 41% less than those who do not use the benefit.
“Traditional ‘financial wellness’ solutions have long fallen short for the frontline worker,” said Tom Spann, CEO and co-founder of Brightside. “Most employees aren’t looking for financial plans and budgeting products, and they don’t want a financial planner to tell them they are doing it wrong. They want to know what to do now in their moment of need. Real problems are more than arithmetic – they are about real life and require practical, personalized solutions from real people powered by sophisticated rules engines. At Brightside, we have added financial urgent care and financial primary care to wellness to meet people where they are to measurably improve the financial health of working families. With this funding, we’ll be able to expand our offering to more employers and families – something that’s desperately needed during this time of inflation and economic uncertainty.”
Leveraging proprietary behavioral science and financial models, Brightside combines a human approach to financial health – via dedicated Financial Assistants – with a technology platform to provide real solutions to alleviate employees’ financial stress. Brightside addresses urgent financial needs by finding community and government assistance programs, arranging payment plans, discussing debt consolidation options, creating savings plans and providing other practical, substantive support and tools that meet everyday Americans where they are to help them break out of the stressful cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.
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“Employee access to meaningful financial solutions and support is more important now than ever, and Brightside is leading the charge to make a real difference, particularly among underserved populations,” said Vishal Vasishth, co-founder and managing director at Obvious Ventures. “We are excited about this partnership and what’s in store for Brightside as the company continues to scale its growth and build a new front door to financial services for working families.”
Brightside grew its 2021 revenues by approximately 800% last year and is on track to grow nearly 10x in 2022. The company’s headcount has grown over 150% this year to more than 175 team members, and the company plans to hire 200 more employees in the coming year.
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