Betterment raises $3M to give casual investors a more accessible portfolio

Online investing service Betterment announced today that it has raised $3 million in a first round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

Betterment lets users transfer money to their accounts and decide how much of it they want invested in the stock market and government-backed treasury bonds. Stocks are typically a little more volatile in the short term, whereas treasuries have a guaranteed yield but generate a much smaller return. The idea is to … Continue Reading

Bank middle-manager BankSimple raises $2.9M to not be a bank

BankSimple, the not-quite-a-bank provider of front-end services for a number of treasury-focused banks, raised $2.9 million in its first round of funding. First Round Capital, IA Ventures and Village Ventures led the round.

Again, BankSimple is not a bank. It’s a provider that manages user experiences for banks. Chief executive Joshua Reich likened it to the way gift-card operators work.

The company partners with banks that are exclusively interested in the back-end parts of banking … Continue Reading