A few months after announcing it was allocating $20 million of its corporate venture capital dollars toward startups founded by women, Milwaukee-based financial services and life insurance company Northwestern Mutual has made the first investment from those allocated funds.
The company's Future Ventures Fund is part of a $3.5 million seed round for U-Nest, a California-based financial services technology startup that created a mobile app that helps families save for college and other educational expenses by setting up tax-advantaged college savings plans. Through the app, which costs $3 per month, users can also apply gifts from friends and family to the savings account.
"U-Nest aligns with our focus on technological disruption and investing in solutions that transform how our clients achieve financial security, as well as our commitment to supporting female-founded startups," said John Grogan, chief product and innovation officer of Northwestern Mutual, in a statement from the company. "Saving for college is a big priority for many families' financial planning needs and U-Nest shares our same goal of making it easier for consumers to secure their families' financial futures."
Other funds investing in the seed round include Los Angeles-based fintech fund Group 11 and Unlock Ventures. Existing investors of U-Nest are The Artemis Fund, Draper Dragon, Vested Ventures and Band of Angels.
"As a female founder, it is essential that the capital you raise comes from a source that believes in you," said Ksenia Yudina, CEO and founder of U-Nest. "With Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures' generous support, we intend to continue our growth, and encourage more families to save for education. The Northwestern Mutual team recognized that we are quickly becoming part of many families' saving strategy, and for some, the first step to financial responsibility. These are crucial financial decisions and require more direct and transparent solutions than what has been available previously."
U-Nest raised $2 million in a seed round in July 2019.
