Acorns

Acorns operates a micro-investing app that automatically invests contributions from users into diversified portfolios consisting of stock and bonds. The platform enables users to set up automated investments through small amounts of change money. The app rounds up debit or credit card purchases made from a linked card to the nearest dollar and invests the change on behalf of the individual. The company also enables users to set up recurring investments on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, and provides additional features such as automated portfolio rebalancing and educational tools to improve financial literacy.

The company’s products are offered under three tiers: 1) Lite 2) Personal and 3) Family at USD 1/3/5 per month respectively. The company’s most basic package offers investment accounts, with the latter two providing additional features such as retirement and checking accounts. In November 2023, Acorns launched Mighty Oak Debit Card , a debit card providing the option to invest spare change from transactions, in partnership with Dwayne Johnson. The Mighty Oak Debit Card provides 3.00% checking APY and 5.00% APY on the card's emergency fund savings, with no minimum deposit or balance requirements.

As of May 2021, the company had around 4 million subscribers in the US with revenue of USD 71 million in 2020 representing 61.4% year-over-year (YoY) from 2019. Recent revenue growth has been driven by an increase in high paying subscribers. The company expects to achieve a revenue of USD 126 million for 2021, implying a growth rate of 77.5% YoY. Acorns is yet to be profitable and incurred an operating loss of USD 65 million in 2020.

Key customers and partnerships

In January 2024, Acorns extended its partnership with Helix , a banking-as-a-service platform, to launch its new debit card, the Mighty Oak Debit Card.

Funding and financials

In March 2022, Acorns raised USD 300 million in Series F funding led by TPG at a valuation of USD 2 billion. The management planned to utilize the funds to pursue more acquisition opportunities and invest in growth and innovation. The company had also indicated that it will pursue a traditional IPO following the termination of its proposed USD 2.2 billion merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Pioneer Merger Corp.