Tech-centric RIA Farther gets $72M vote of confidence in latest funding round

Following a year of turbo-charged growth, tech-driven financial advisory firm Farther announced it has raised an additional $72 million to extend its visionary push to shake up the wealth industry.

The series C funding round – co-led by CapitalG, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, and Viewpoint Ventures – brings Farther’s valuation to $542 million and will be used to expand its advisor network and enhance its proprietary wealth management platform.

Farther’s reported AUM has surpassed $5 billion to date, marking a fivefold increase from the previous year. The firm attributes that rapid growth to the efficiency and productivity improvements enabled by its custom-built technology platform.

“We built Farther to enable advisors to focus on what truly matters: delivering value to their clients,” said Taylor Matthews, CEO and co-founder of Farther, said in a statement Thursday. “Removing operational and administrative hurdles creates growth opportunities for our advisors, and they can offer a superior experience to even more clients. This capital infusion signals strong market confidence in that vision.”

According to Farther, its technology allows advisors to spend an estimated 90 percent of their time on client interactions and prospecting – which, by its reckoning, is four times the industry average. The also highlights its advisor-centric approach supported by a transparent payout structure and equity offerings, both of which have been major draws for top talent.

“We were drawn to Farther both for its strong leadership team and for its unique business model,” said Jesse Wedler, general partner at CapitalG. “This creates an ideal environment in which both advisors and clients flourish, and a flywheel which will continue to attract best-in-class advisors to the Farther platform.”

In a July snapshot, the New York-headquartered firm said it had boosted its advisor headcount with dozens of strategic hires from Goldman Sachs, United Value Advisors, and an array of other firms.

Drew Aldrich, founder and managing partner of Viewpoint Ventures, highlighted how Farther's growth has contrasted with the broader trend of consolidation and dealmaking in the wealth space.

“We’ve been impressed with how fast Farther is growing organically, especially in an industry where growth has mostly come from M&A,” Aldrich said.

With its latest investment, Farther says it has raised more than $118 million to date from various investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Cota Capital, and Khosla Ventures.