With disruptive new technology platform, SMB 401(k) leader
takes on multi-trillion-dollar retirement gap
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amid record-breaking growth, SMB 401(k) provider Human Interest today announced a hefty $55M capstone to its Series C funding. Led by Glynn Capital, an existing investor, with participation by new investor NewView Capital, the additional financing brings the round to $105M and Human Interest’s total funding to $136.7M.
The investment comes on the heels of an extraordinary year for Human Interest. The company saw 10X growth in monthly customer acquisition over the past 18 months, and revenue retention rates that exceeded even those of top performers in a recent industry study.1 Human Interest also unveiled a new brand, eliminated more than twenty 401(k) transaction fees and launched new offerings, Complete and Concierge, to simplify retirement plan administration and make retirement savings accessible to people in all lines of work.
“If we want to close America’s $28T retirement savings gap, then we have to make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to offer retirement savings plans, and we have to make saving automatic for employees. With every step, we’re getting closer to that vision,” said Human Interest CEO Jeff Schneble.
Human Interest will use the new funding to double the size of its engineering team and scale its unique technology platform and operations to help hundreds of thousands of employers with millions of employees—who previously had no access to 401(k)s—build their financial futures.
“The big incumbents haven’t figured out how to make plans affordable and accessible for smaller companies,” Schneble said. “We knew that to make a permanent dent in this country’s retirement crisis, we had to do something different.”
That ‘something different,’ Schneble said, was in-house, end-to-end technology that has transformed the economics of Human Interest’s business, enabling it to double its margins over the past six months while eliminating transaction fees for plan administrators and participants.
“We rethought the 401(k) model from the ground up and built a unified technology platform that allowed us to deliver a complete solution to SMBs at a fraction of the price charged by legacy providers,” Schneble said. “We passed this savings on to our customers, allowing us to deliver a user experience, technology platform, and brand that differentiates us and meets a tremendous unmet need for both employers and employees.”
“Those efficiencies explain why Human Interest is enrolling more plans per month than the largest incumbent,” said Glynn Capital principal Charlie Friedland. “We believe that Human Interest’s platform gives it a structural advantage over every other 401(k) provider in the SMB market,” Friedland said. “Where competitors are burning capital with every new customer, Human Interest has a clear path to long-term success.”
Founded in 2015, Human Interest has quickly grown to become a leading 401(k) provider partnering with over 400 brokers, financial advisors and payroll companies, offering a full-service alternative for small and medium-sized businesses. Human Interest plans to increase its partner base to over 1,000 partners by the end of 2021.
Human Interest was recently recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers, by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area and as a 2021 Top Company by Y Combinator.
About Human Interest
Human Interest is an affordable, full-service 401(k) provider that makes it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to help their employees save for retirement. Founded in 2015, Human Interest helps companies in all lines of work access retirement benefits and a path to financial independence. Headquartered in San Francisco, Human Interest has helped nearly 3,000 businesses across America to offer retirement accounts to their more than 80,000 employees. For more information please visit humaninterest.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
Investment Advisory services are offered by Human Interest Advisors, a subsidiary of Human Interest Inc. Human Interest Advisors is a registered investment advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). SEC registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Investing involves risk. Past performance is not a guarantee or indicative of future returns. The value of your investment will fluctuate, and investors may earn or lose money. Additional information can be found in the company’s Form ADV Part 2A.
About Glynn Capital
Glynn Capital is focused on investments in leading private and public technology growth companies. We seek to be long-term investors in a limited number of excellent companies with world-class management teams, sustainable business models and long-term growth potential. Visit us at: glynncapital.com.
About NewView Capital
NewView Capital (NVC) provides entrepreneurs and venture capitalists with the freedom to drive continual innovation and sustainable growth. With more than $2.0bn in assets under management, NVC matches late-stage funding with significant operational support. Our portfolio focuses on growth-stage technology companies, including Duolingo, Forter, MessageBird, Plaid, Scopely and Segment. More at nvc.vc.
Media Contact:
Maura Yepez
Firebrand Communications
415 848 9175
humaninterest@firebrand.marketing
1 Insight Partners, Sales and Customer Success KPI Benchmarking Report, 2020