SUMA Wealth has now raised $2.2 million in new funding to continue developing financial tools, content, and live and digital activations to help young Latinos in the United States build wealth.
Radcle Impact led the investment, with participation from Vamos Ventures, OVO Fund, and American Heart Association Impact Fund. They join investors from previous rounds, including Ulu Ventures, Women Founders Fund, and Chigona Ventures. This brings SUMA's total funding to his $5.5 million.
We first introduced California-based fintech companies when we exhibited as part of Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022. Beatriz Acevedo founded the company several years ago with Mary Hernandez and Xavier Gutierrez to build financial apps designed for her demographic: Latinos. What we believe is often overlooked.
We provide in-culture financial content, products, and experiences that help them take control of their finances and build wealth. SUMA Wealth is also collaborating with financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo, and is seeking to engage with the Latinx population.
“We are putting a lot of emphasis on AI capabilities to allow us to highly personalize how we spend our money and how we do better, but our community has so many different national origins. They’re coming together,” Acevedo told TechCrunch. “It was very important to us that we deliver in a completely customized way, from the features, tone and voice, to even the content we provide to educate and educate about what we are trying to learn and achieve” and personalized . ”
This means that if you're Venezuelan, the app knows that and will use references and examples from those familiar to that culture, or use a tone similar to someone in your family. she explained.
SUMA Wealth's financial planning app. Image credits: Suma Wealth
In addition to consumer apps, Acevedo was also working on enterprise apps. Then this app was released, and in December a new version of the app was also released, and now both entities have reached his million users.
Apparently, that personalization is being embraced by users. SUMA Wealth's platform has seen a 62% increase in annual user numbers. The app will remain free for users, but the company is monetizing it with partnerships with various brands, including dating app Match.com, and features such as more personalized coaching. This enterprise app is also subscription-based, which businesses can purchase for their employees and their own customers.
Acevedo built SUMA Wealth for young Latinos and their families in the U.S., but she was surprised by the adoption of the app by non-Latinos.
“Thirty percent of us are not Latino, even though our jokes and our insights and our image are very unapologetically Latino,” Acevedo said. “This is a place where people feel welcome. We're happy that not only Latinos are drawn to this app and find our tools and content helpful.”
In addition to client growth, SUMA Wealth's revenue has increased nearly five times over the past year. We also acquired Intellecto, a learning management system that further personalizes users' learning experiences.
This follows the acquisition of savings and personal finance platform Reel in February 2023. As part of this acquisition, Reel co-founder and CEO Daniela Corrente has joined her SUMA as chief strategy and business officer.
Meanwhile, the new funding will be used for the acquisition of Intellecto as well as new hires in engineering, product, and sales. The company is also working to expand its technology offerings to further advance AI personalization, data, and analytics.