Acorns, an app that automatically invests the change from debit and credit card purchases into stocks and bonds, has raised $30 million from PayPal, with participation from the Rakuten Fund.
Established by father and son duo Walter and Jeff Cruttenden, Acorns claims 850,000 active investment accounts. Customers accumulate fractional shares and automatically invest and save into a portfolio constructed by Nobel Laureate economist Dr. Harry Markowitz.
Users must hand over their card details, which are then synched to a mobile app, with spare change from purhases diverted into an ETF.
Launched in 2014, the investment by Paypal brings the firm's total funding to $62 million. The company says it will use the new funding to drive global expansion and to create a new desktop version of its mobile app.