SmartAsset, a Y Combinator-backed startup offering interactive tools to help homebuyers understand the financial ramifications of their decisions, has raised $1.5 million in new funding.
The round was led by Javelin Venture Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners, with participation from YC, Peterson Ventures, Quotidian Ventures, and Identified CEO Brendan Wallace. SmartAsset actually announced funding just two months ago — in the intervening months, SmartAsset took the stage at YC Demo Day, which probably attracted some new investors. With the new money, the company has raised a total of $2.4 million, and Javelin Managing Director Jed Katz is joining SmartAsset’s board of directors.
Co-founder and CEO Michael Carvin has said that SmartAsset emerged from his own experience buying a home. When he looked for help online, all he could find was general advice and simplistic financial calculators. SmartAsset tries to go deeper, taking your basic financial information and offering insight like how much money you can afford to borrow and put down, as well as the long-term cost of renting versus buying. The company’s calculations are tailored to a specific location, so it can also tell you about the tax implications of a home purchase.
Moving forward, Carvin wants to turn SmartAsset into a broader financial tool that users turn to for a number of difficult financial decisions. Over the next three months, the company plans to add new features to its home buying guide, then Carvin said it will launch similar tools for college and further education.
SmartAsset isn’t disclosing its current user numbers, but last month, it said it had more than 20,000. And again, these are people who are at least considering a home purchase, so they’re much more valuable to advertisers than a random web visitor.
As a side project, the company also released a tool to help entrepreneurs calculate the impact of their fundraising terms on their ultimate financial outcome. I assume Carvin has been putting that calculator to good use.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/47883217 w=500&h=281]
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SmartAsset Introduction from SmartAsset on Vimeo.
