Japan's WealthNavi secures $37m funding round
A fund launched by Sony Financial Ventures and Global Brain is among the participants in a JPY4.1 billion ($37.5 million) funding round for Japanese financial technology start-up WealthNavi.
Additional contributions came from, UTokyo Innovation Platform – which is tasked with expanding the University of Tokyo's innovation ecosystem – Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment’s Japan Coin Best, DBJ Capital, Opt Ventures, local incubator Chiba Dojo, SMBC Venture Capital, Resona Capital, and Mizuho Capital.
Founded in 2015, WealthNavi offers a robo-advisor service that conducts fully automated asset management. Since the platform was formally launched in 2016, it has received 240,000 account applications and accumulated JPY180 billion in assets under custody. When the company closed its previous funding round at JPY4.5 billion in early 2018, it held JPY60 billion across 70,000 accounts.
The company claims that half of its employees are “manufacturing financial institutions” in that they are engineers, designers and other professionals focused on product creation. Its robo-advisory services target customers seeking mid- to long-term stability, using algorithms to build optimal portfolios, maintain appropriate asset allocations, and manage risks such as exchange rates.
WealthNavi invests in a pool of around 11,000 stocks across 50 jurisdictions, operating through six or seven exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It charges fees of 1% of assets under management, falling to 0.5% for portfolios in excess of JPY30 million, according to a statement.
The SFV-GB fund, which is managed by Global Brain, has a corpus of JPY5 billion. Established in 2018 and billed as the first VC fund under Sony Financial Ventures, it has a mandate to invest in fintech start-ups globally that can collaborate with or create new business opportunities for Sony. The Japanese technology giant also has a corporate venture arm called Sony Innovation Fund.
WealthNavi’s previous round comprised debt and equity. Commitments came from the likes of Mirai Creation Fund, Global Brain, Sony Innovation Fund, DBJ Capital, SMBC Venture Capital and Mizuho Capital.
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