CNBC, Acorns Announce Partnership And Investment

CNBC and Acorns, the FinTech that makes a mobile investing and savings app, announced on Monday (Jan. 28) a strategic partnership to create editorial content and events.

In a press release, CNBC owner NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures, the venture capital arm of Comcast Corp., will make an equity investment in Acorns. NBCUniversal will get a seat on the board, which will be filled by CNBC Chairman Mark Hoffman. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.

“This partnership with Acorns builds on CNBC’s 30-year commitment to democratizing the financial markets, helping generations invest for their future,” said Hoffman in the press release. “We are excited to bring together two brands with this shared social purpose to drive value to our viewers, users and customers.”

According to the companies, CNBC and Acorns will work together to develop educational content for current and future investors, and will hire a team to create financial literacy and personal finance content for Acorns platforms. CNBC will produce features for a cross-company financial wellness initiative that will run across the CNBC, NBCUniversal and Comcast platforms. Content production is kicking off immediately and will expand in the weeks ahead.

“We aim to put the tools of wealth-making in everyone’s hands, and this includes helping all Americans grow their money knowledge,” said Noah Kerner, CEO at Acorns, in the same press release. “Collaborating with the powerhouse that is CNBC will take these efforts to entirely new heights for our customers.”

According to the companies, in addition to helping the younger generations automatically invest spare change from everyday purchases, it helps those customers grow their personal finance knowledge, earn extra money and save for retirement with its recent launch of Acorns Later. The company says that Acorns Later is its first automated retirement account, which has close to 350,000 customers and $40 million invested to date.