A new financing deal involving plenty of star power and venture capital investors has pushed WealthsimpleB次元官网网址檚 valuation to $5 billion and has its CEO anxious to build the brand even further.

The Toronto-based financial services business announced Monday that it has raised $750 million from six celebrities and more than 15 venture capital investment firms including Meritech, Greylock, Dragoneer and iNovia.

The star-studded list of investors includes rapper Drake, actors Ryan Reynolds and Michael J. Fox, NBA players Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell and NHL all-star Patrick Marleau.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 incredibly exciting and feels great, but I am notoriously a bad person at celebrating things, so IB次元官网网址檓 already thinking about whatB次元官网网址檚 next and where we have got to go,B次元官网网址� Wealthsimple co-founder and CEO Mike Katchen said hours after announcing the financing.

He plans to use the new cash to expand WealthsimpleB次元官网网址檚 market position, build out its offering of products and grow its team.

Wealthsimple, which began as an online investment manager in 2014, has grown to add Wealthsimple Trade, a commission-free stock trading platform, and Wealthsimple Crypto, which allows users to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency assets.

It also launched Wealthsimple Cash, a peer-to-peer money transfer app, earlier this year and offers automated investing, saving and tax filing products.

B次元官网网址淲e are really trying to become the full-service financial partner, the primary financial relationship in our clients lives,B次元官网网址� Katchen said.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e come a long way and weB次元官网网址檙e offering a pretty big breadth of services to get there, but we have still got a long way to go to the services we offer.B次元官网网址�

Part of that long way to go, he said, will include broadening WealthsimpleB次元官网网址檚 suite of services again and exploring how its current offerings can provide even more value to customers.

Katchen admitted that he has his eye on an initial public offering, too.

He feels itB次元官网网址檚 the best way to build a lasting brand, but said B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 just a question of timing.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e want to focus on executing our plan and many of those short-term questions that get introduced when youB次元官网网址檙e going public can be a distraction,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e just not going to deal with that for the time being, but it is for sure in the plan still.B次元官网网址�

For now, Katchen has big decisions to make around deploying his new war chest and a pandemic still to navigate.

While many businesses have struggled during the crisis and had to turn to layoffs, closures and even bankruptcies, the pandemic boosted Wealthsimple.

Katchen noticed people increasing the attention they paid to their finances and many were able to save larger-than-expected amounts of cash they wanted to invest or collect compounded interest on.

He said it sparked B次元官网网址渦nprecedentedB次元官网网址� levels of activity in WealthsimpleB次元官网网址檚 trading and cryptocurrency businesses.

B次元官网网址淚 never would have guessed that COVID would have this remarkable tailwind for the investment industry,B次元官网网址� Katchen said.

To address those demands, the company scaled as much as it could, while also trying to educate consumers about financial tools.

Education has long been a cornerstone for Wealthsimple, which has marketed itself as an easy-to-understand investment company operating a website peppered with explainers for investing newcomers.

Katchen believes that ethos and branding helped Wealthsimple hook celebrity investors.

B次元官网网址淲hen we were introduced to them to talk about this investment opportunity, they already had some affinity for the company,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淚 think they love seeing a Canadian company be successful, all of them are Canadian, and so there was just an easy conversation to bring them on board.B次元官网网址�

It wasnB次元官网网址檛 WealthsimpleB次元官网网址檚 first time raising big bucks. The company snagged $114 million from TCV, Greylock and Meritech at a $1.5 billion post-money valuation last October.

The last time Meritech and Greylock co-led a funding round was the Facebook Series B in 2006, Wealthsimple said.

B次元官网网址淲e invest in companies with the potential to revolutionize industries and become enduring market leaders,B次元官网网址� said MeritechB次元官网网址檚 general partner Max Motschwiller, in a release.

B次元官网网址�Wealthsimple has been able to capture a generation of financial consumers in Canada with financial products that are markedly different than anything offered by the incumbents B次元官网网址� simpler, more human, and built with the kind of technology that delivers an experience consumers want.B次元官网网址�

Meritech has also invested in Salesforce, Nextdoor, Zulily and Lime, while Greylock has backed Airbnb, LinkedIn, Coinbase and Discord.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

Like us on and follow us on .