Wagestream, a London fintech company, has raised $175 million in a Series C round that it will use to expand its North American operations with a headquarters in Greater Washington.
The company’s app offers a flexible pay option for front-line and hourly workers, allowing them to access a percentage of the wages they’ve already earned before payday. The platform is subsidized by employers and syncs with payroll systems. Wagestream also offers some financial management features as well as access to finance products like insurance and credit. The company says more than 1 million workers are currently able to use the app, whose participating companies include Burger King, Pizza Hut, Crate & Barrel and the U.K.’s National Health Service.
Wagestream is currently in leased space in Central Place Tower at 1201 Wilson Blvd. in Rosslyn, but a company spokesperson said it is hiring up in the region and may look to take up larger space in the District proper. It currently employs just 20 in the region and expects that number to reach 50 by the end of 2022, according to the spokesperson. The spokesperson said Wagestream was drawn to the D.C. region at least in part by its access to tech talent.
The company was founded in 2018 by CEO Peter Briffett and Chief Technology Officer Portman Wills, who previously worked at a handful of D.C.-area tech companies, including early mobile health system Voxia and advertising network Gratis Internet. He was also founder of D.C. advertising analytics firm SocialCash, which sold to LifeStreet Media in 2009, as well as D.C.’s Join the Company Inc., a startup that worked in gaming and e-commerce that was acquired by GSN in 2011. He started his career in 1996 as a web developer with Herndon’s PSINet.
Wagestream is part owned by a collection of financial charities and impact funds and operates under a social charter that states the company can only offer financial services that “improve workers’ financial well-being.” All investors have to agree to the charter. Its salary-advance feature is aimed at giving workers access to capital when they need it, allowing them to stay out of debt to cover unforeseen expenses like medical bills.
Los Angeles venture capital firm Smash Capital led the new round of funding. The firm is focused on later-stage consumer tech companies, and previous investments include video game developer Epic Games, discussion website Reddit Inc. and safe search engine DuckDuckGo.
The round also included participation from New York investment management company BlackRock as well as follow-on investments from London VC firms Balderton Capital and Northzone, London charity fund Fair By Design (one of the company’s co-owners) and new financing from Silicon Valley Bank. The new round brings Wagesteam’s lifetime funding to more than $250 million.
Alexandria’s QED Investors, which is led by Capital One Financial Corp. co-founder Nigel Morris, is a previous investor in Wagestream.
