With Focus on Conscious Consumerism, Aspiration Raises $135M Investment

By CIO Applications| Monday, July 06, 2020

Aspiration announces $135 million cash infusion from its latest funding round, bringing the total capital raised to $200 million

Fremont, CA: Aspiration announces $135 million cash infusion from its latest funding round, bringing the total capital raised till date to $200 million. The funding round was led by local investor Alpha Edison. The new investors who participated along with the existing investors are UBS O’Connor Capital Solutions, DNS Capital, Radicle Impact, Sutter Rock, Jeff Skoll, Joseph Sanberg, Social Impact Finance, the Pohlad Companies, and AGO Partners.

The company was formed four years ago by former Bill Clinton speechwriter and political wunderkind, Andrei Cherny. The fintech startup was one of the LA’s early entrants into the financial services market dominated by entities from Europe and New York City, the financial capital of the U.S.

Aspiration differentiates itself from other fintech startups that compete around a suite of product offerings designed to provide no-fee checking and deposits or upfront-cash payments and short term no-interest loans. This is why, even after four years of its inception, Aspiration has not backed down, but growing bigger than ever. The company focuses on sustainability and conscious consumerism.

The first market pitch of the company was with an investment management service similar to those from Betterment and Wealthfront, but the kind where customers could choose the value of their fees. Aspiration also gave guaranteed investments in sustainable companies, and the portfolio would not include fossil fuels companies or other businesses that were deemed to cause pollution and exploit the resources. 

Conscious consumerism is a flat-line that knits together all the other products in the Aspiration portfolio, including its Impact Measurement Score of products that gave customers a window to earth-friendly avenues. 

Aspiration has built partnerships with other sustainable and environmentally conscious companies like Toms and Warby Parker, giving its customers added cash-back rewards when they stop to shop in these businesses.

 “Aspiration has built deep, trusting customer relationships that are beginning to unlock latent demand for financial services among the tens of millions of conscious consumers,” said Nate Redmond of Alpha Edison, in a statement. “We are excited to lead a great group of investors to fuel Aspiration’s durable growth and lasting impact.”