Amount — One of the Fastest Growing FinTech Players in the US — Reaches $1B Unicorn Status

With a major shift in consumer behavior and new FinTechs popping up weekly, it has become evident that the financial services industry is in the early innings of a digital transformation. 

Amount recognized this transformation years ago as they created the technology platform that powered Avant’s lending business. As a result, Amount developed an industry-leading technology platform that enables financial institutions to power digital transformation for their business. It’s what drew me to join the team at Amount after twenty-plus years in banking.

We’re very excited to announce yet another exciting milestone for our company: unicorn status.

A Unicorn is born 

Amount closed its most recent equity capital investment with the announcement of our nearly $100 million Series D capital raise co-led by WestCap and Hanaco, resulting in a $1B valuation only 16 months after the formal spin-off from Avant. 

WestCap is a growth equity firm founded by Laurence Tosi, the former CFO of Airbnb, CFO of Blackstone and COO of Merrill Lynch. Co-Leading the latest round is Hanaco Ventures, an existing investor that participated in Amount’s Series B and C capital raises.

Amount has raised $243 million since becoming an independent company in January 2020. This is a tremendous accomplishment for the Amount team and further solidifies investor recognition of the tremendous market opportunity associated with the ongoing digital transformation. 

Amount is joining three local companies that have also reached the $1B+ valuation mark in 2021 — Cameo, ActiveCampaign and Relativity — together we prove that Chicago is a leading hub for technological innovation and progress.

Onward and upward

Amount is uniquely poised as the market’s first and only battle-tested SaaS solution built specifically for the financial services industry. During my tenure at various financial institutions, we were never enabled in the way that Amount enables banks to be more nimble—it’s truly a unique platform.

Because of these unique factors, I believe Amount’s future is especially promising for a few reasons:

Our model 

Unlike other FinTech players in the market, we partner with the leading financial institutions to enable them to compete and win in a highly competitive market. We believe banks have the balance sheet, broad product suite and customer network to compete and win in the market now and into the future. 

By partnering with Amount, banks can activate untapped potential of emerging growth areas in retail lending and buy now, pay later (BNPL) in a matter of months—not years.

Our risk technology

Given my banking background, I know how incredibly important it is to have secure and stable technology in place to protect your customers and your institution. 

That’s why Amount takes a white glove approach. Built with an intuitive front-end and powerful bank-end, the Amount platform can be configured to meet any business need. Our world-class verification capabilities make it easy for banks to mitigate digital risk with high fidelity fraud and identity verification solutions enabling new levels of confidence in the digital age.

Our speed

Building a product suite like ours from scratch would take years. Banks need to be ready for the future now. 

Amount makes that possible by accelerating the build out of the bank's digital infrastructure, ultimately enabling the creation of a digital customer experience and a sustainable competitive advantage.

What’s next for Amount?

The additional capital raise (quickly following our Series B and C in 2020) clearly demonstrates the value that Amount has to offer to financial institutions seeking digital transformation without the headaches.

The Series D capital will be used to accelerate hiring in Amount’s product, technology and sales teams and to pursue accretive M&A opportunities that accelerate the introduction of innovative products and features to the Amount platform.

Our bank partners include several of the top US banks who collectively manage close to $2T in U.S. assets and serve more than 50 million U.S. customers. This capital will put us in an exceptional position to continue enabling both existing and new partners to digitize their infrastructure, ultimately enabling them to better meet their customers' lending needs. 

In the past year the Amount team has accomplished incredible feats. From enabling bank partners and merchants with best-in-class technology, to building out a diverse talented team, and raising a sizable amount of capital.