Affirm Buys Personal Finance App Sweep

Affirm announced its acquisition of an app-based personal finance tool called Sweep on Wednesday (April 27).

TechCrunch reported that the online lending company’s efforts to broaden its business and services outside of lending will be helped by picking up Sweep, which enables users to plan their finances better by providing a future view of their cash flow.

The app collects and organizes financial activity into a single dashboard and, in many cases, can act as an alternative for consumers who want to do more than just check an account balance.

The timing of the news comes on the heels of reports that Affirm — a FinTech startup fronted by Max Levchin — picked up $100 million in Series D funding.

The funding round was rumored to have been led by Founders Fund.

According to research firm PitchBook Data, the latest injection of capital has the company skirting close to unicorn territory with a valuation of $800 million.

Affirm is a second act in the career of its founder, who was part of what is affectionately known as the PayPal mafia — the group of young entrepreneurs behind the product that went on to become PayPal. Fellow mafioso Peter Thiel actually made his own alt-financing news recently with his choice to invest in Even — the “anti-payday lending” payday lending company.

In a press release announcing the recent acquisition, Levchin, who started Affirm in 2012, said:

“Consumers deserve honest, trustworthy services and guidance that empowers them to advance their financial wellbeing. Our plan from the start has been to revolutionize the banking industry to be more accountable and accessible to consumers.”