Truebill, a startup that offers a variety of tools to help users take control of their finances, announced today that it has raised $ 17 million in Series C funding.
When I first wrote about the startup in 2016, it was focused on helping users track and cancel unwanted subscriptions. It has since been extended to other financial products, such as reporting on your personal expenses and the ability to negotiate lower bills.
This week, Chief Revenue Officer Yahya Mokhtarzada told me that with the pandemic leading to a drastic reduction in ad costs, Truebill has been able to make television advertising a key channel to reach new users.
And of course, the financial uncertainty has also made the product more attractive, most notably its smart savings tool, where users can automatically set aside money for their goals.
"People have realized they need to have some pillows," Mokhtarzada said. "You should start saving when things are going well, before I need it, but [saving during the pandemic] it's better than not doing it at all. We have seen a sharp rise in the adoption of smart savings, which is at an all-time high. "
The new round brings Truebill's total funding to $ 40 million. It was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with the participation of Eldridge Capital, Cota Capital, Firebolt Ventures and Day One Ventures.
The startup says the round will allow it to develop new products and features, including equity tracking, automatic debt payments, and shared accounts.
Mokhtarzada added that the company will make large investments in data science to help follow its "North Star" of financial health, where he said, "The data challenge is significant."
Sure, it's easy enough to recognize if someone is doing well or badly financially, but the real goal is to "recognize trends and shortcomings before they happen".
For example, instead of simply alerting users when an overdraft fee has been charged to their account, Mokhtarzada said: "What's useful is that predictive models analyze the data to anticipate a cash flow shortage and have the right tools. to prevent it. "
