Financial advisory app developer Albert Corp. has raised $15 million, according to Dec. 20 regulatory filings.
The firm, based in Hollywood, developed a mobile application that connects users with financial guidance from an artificial intelligence program nicknamed Albert Genius, which is built to offer suggestions on how to manage finances.
Portag3 Ventures, a tech-focused seed investor based in Toronto, led the funding round, which featured contributions from Palo Alto-based American Express Ventures and QED Investors, headquartered in Alexandria, Va.
“In America alone, we estimate that over 80 million twenty to forty year olds (sic) make less than $100k a year, have minimal net worth, and carry debt. This population needs and wants access to high quality, affordable financial advice,” Albert Chief Executive Yinon Ravid wrote in a Dec. 19 statement.
Albert will use the $15 million to continue developing A.I. chatbots that mimic human interaction that the company sees as a replacement for financial advisers, Ravid said.
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Portent.IO Acquired
Santa Monica-based Portent.IO Ltd. was bought by U.K. data analytics group YouGov Dec. 19 for an undisclosed sum.
Portent, formed in 2014, provides predictive analytics for the film and television industry and has raised $300,000 to date, according to industry tracker Crunchbase Inc. For now, Portent will remain located in Santa Monica but will report to YouGov’s London headquarters.
In a letter published Dec. 13, Portent’s Chief Executive Hamish Brocklebank announced the acquisition, noting the company would remain intact as part of YouGov.
“Myself and the team are not going anywhere, we’re all locked in for the next couple of years and plan to grow the team quite a bit,” Brocklebank’s post said. “We’re going to rebrand as ‘YouGov Signal’ which we feel sits quite well with YouGov’s broader product offerings as well as with Portent’s product ethos.”
Brocklebank noted the new resources will allow the company to expand its analytics offerings, including a new set of sports and brand-focused data. It will also begin to collect more data − adding Amazon.com Inc. and Yelp Inc. reviews, and news and blog insights to its cache of user behavior trackers.
“This will be extremely useful for YouGov’s existing brand clients to help them get a more 365 (degree) view of their customer and brand perception,” Brocklebank said. “This also means that our existing and future clients will have access to an even broader breadth of data.”
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BlackLine Hires Japan Director
Woodland Hills headquartered accounting software developer BlackLine Inc. hired Yoshiko Furuhama as its director of BlackLine K.K., the firm’s Tokyo-based subsidiary.
Furuhama’s appointment was announced and began Jan. 7.
Established in October 2018, the subsidiary was created as a joint venture between BlackLine and cloud computing software developer Japan Cloud to capitalize on the growing number of Japanese companies migrating work to the cloud.
“Japanese companies realize that improving productivity and efficiency by streamlining key finance and accounting processes is critical as they grow and expand globally,” Furuhama said. “I am thrilled to help BlackLine build its presence in Japan as I feel strongly that BlackLine will be the company to bring financial transformation to Japanese customers,” she added.
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Wavemaker Leads $5.2 Million Ed-tech Round
Wavemaker Partners, based in Santa Monica, led a $5.2 million Series A funding round for Titan School Solutions, an Irvine-based school nutrition software developer.
RezVen Partners, based in Newport Beach, and Springboard Ventures, based in Irvine, also contributed to the round.
Titan School Solutions was launched via incubator Cie Digital Labs in 2014, and reports its software, which is designed to help schools manage and procure food for cafeterias, serves more than 150 school districts and 1,300 schools nationwide.
“I’m excited to work with Cie Digital Labs once again to fund another one of their portfolio companies,” Wavemaker Partners’ Founder Eric Manlunas said in a statement. “Given CDL’s impressive track record of accelerating startups through a combination of hands-on strategic and operational expertise, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll see Titan’s market leadership skyrocket heading into next year.”
Titan School Solutions reports it expects year-over-year growth going into 2019 though it declined to share specifics.
Staff reporter Samson Amore can be
reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8335.
