FinTech Unicorn Stash Considers Ways To Go Public

Stash, a FinTech unicorn, is looking at options for a market listing, Bloomberg reported.

It could end up merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) or going for a traditional initial public offering (IPO), according to Bloomberg.

Stash CEO and Co-Founder Brandon Krieg said Goldman Sachs advises the company, which is always assessing the market to see what the best strategy might be, per Bloomberg. He didn’t elaborate on plans, though.

Stash works to help younger and less-wealthy Americans with banking, investment advice and other such services. Stash runs a subscription platform, works with over 5 million customers and has $2.5 billion under management, Bloomberg reported.

Krieg said the company’s new addition of a robo-advisory product, Smart Portfolios, along with other features have resulted in record growth, according to Bloomberg.

Krieg said the company is confident in its current funding, per Bloomberg. Stash ended a funding round for $125 million in February, which got backing from several firms, including Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, Owl Ventures and funds advised by T. Rowe Price Group.

PYMNTS reported at the time that Stash planned to use the funding to help provide more customers with regular, long-term, balanced investing opportunities as a way to build wealth.

Last year was a record growth year for Stash, Krieg said at the time. Account openings for the company were up more than 100 percent in 2020. That came from recurring deposits of $31 at a time. The company also saw a 50 percent increase in automated investments.

Stash Vice President of Fraud Caleb Callahan told PYMNTS in April that one key issue for the company is making sure customers are who they say they are. He said he expects machine learning (ML) and other automated technologies to play a deeper role in identity verification processes over the next few years as the importance of robust digital identification rises and the information that defines consumers’ virtual identities continues to evolve.