A fintech startup that spun out of Chicago-based Avant has raised a mega-round of funding, valuing it at $1 billion and making it Chicago's latest "unicorn" company.
Amount announced Tuesday that it raised $100 million in a Series D round led by WestCap, a VC firm that has also made notable investments in technology businesses such as Airbnb and StubHub.
Other investors in Amount’s round include Hanaco Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Invus Opportunities and Barclays Principal Investments. This latest round of funding is Amount’s third financing within 14 months, said the startup’s CEO and President Adam Hughes. The company raised a $68 million round in December and $58 million in March 2020. To date, Amount has raised $243 million.
Founded in 2018 originally as the tech arm of Avant, a digital consumer lending company, Amount has built tech-powered lending products for banks, who wanted to significantly enhance their digital capabilities.
Last year, Amount announced that it officially spun off of Avant and is now led by Hughes, who was previously the president and chief operating officer at Avant. According to Crunchbase, Avant has raised $1.6 billion in debt and venture funding.
Amount’s technology allows financial institutions to seamlessly make lending decisions and transfer money to consumers. Amount also offers fraud prevention and account management services.
“More and more banks are now wanting to partner to really improve the virtual experiences for their consumer bank,” Hughes said. “We have a tremendous amount of momentum here to help banks digitize. Investors are really excited about what we’re doing.”
Amount currently has 10 clients, including Barclays U.S. Consumer Bank, which is also an investor in Amount. Other clients include BBVA, HSBC, TD Bank, Regions, Banco Popular and of course, Avant.
The new funding will be used for research and development, hiring more workers, and merging with or acquiring other fintech companies.
“There’s a ton of M&A opportunity out there,” Hughes said.
Amount has 400 employees, 350 of which are in Chicago at its 80,000-square-foot office at 222 N. LaSalle St. Amount is offering a hybrid workplace, allowing employees to work at the office and remotely.
Amount is just the latest Chicago startup to become a unicorn as local companies continue to grow and raise mega-rounds of funding.
“It’s a badge of honor,” Hughes said.
Other local companies that hit unicorn status this year include Enfusion, ActiveCampaign, Relativity and Cameo.
