Suma Wealth Raises $2 Million to Help Latinos Manage Money

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Suma Wealth Raises $2 Million to Help Latinos Manage Money
Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash

Even as the Latino middle class grows, the wealth gap persists. A typical white family has five times more wealth than Latinos. Suma was founded nine months ago by CEO Beatriz Acevedo with the goal of bridging the Latinos wealth gap.

A seasoned tech entrepreneur who founded Latino-focused entertainment company Mitú, which was acquired last year by GoDigital Media Group owner of Latido Networks for an undisclosed amount. Mitú had raised $52 million, but struggled especially during the pandemic. She also runs her family's California charity, the Acevedo Foundation.


Acevedo, who was born in Tijuana and has called herself "a proud border girl," wanted to build an app that helped a new generation plan their financial future.

Suma combines several tools in its "dinero toolkit" to help Latinos manage their money including savings goal trackers and tips and calculators to help people rent or buy a home and pay off credit card debt.

Acevedo said Latinos from many countries have struggled to maintain wealth or learn about money because of unpredictable governments – and older generations still recall hardship accessing their money during changing regimes.

"The problem that we have is that there's so much distrust in our community, in financial institutions, and even FinTech companies," Acevedo said. "Our parents and our grandparents come from countries of origin where they had tremendous financial hardship – whether you were in Mexico in a crazy devaluation, or Venezuela or Argentina, where you could never pull out your money from your bank one day and everything you've built is gone."

Suma CEO Beatriz Acevedo

This distrust coupled with a lack of personalized messaging and often shoddy translation means that many Latinos feel isolated and have difficulty navigating their finances using traditional banks and are looking elsewhere, Acevedo said.

Roughly 22,000 people are on the waitlist to use Suma, and it has built an online community of nearly 340,000, Acevedo said. While most Suma users are in California, it also has users in Chicago, New York and Texas. But it is looking to expand and just got a lifeline with a fresh round of funding.

This week, it announced that it raised $2 million to expand its operations and launch mobile apps next month.

The round was led by Chingona Ventures partner Samara Hernandez. Unlike most fintech companies, Suma board and investors are incredibly diverse – Acevedo said its cap table is 77% female and 72% Latino.

Hernandez is on Suma's board and told the Wall Street Journal during its seed raise she was inspired by Acevedo's pitch. "Before she had a name, I was in… I was sold immediately," Hernandez told the Journal.

Suma has raised $3.3 million since its 2020 launch following this round. It will use the new funding to hire more staff and launch its upcoming mobile apps. It generates revenue through subscriptions, but the web platform is now free.

Acevedo said the company is prioritizing digital expansion because its main audience is Millennials and Generation Z – young Latinos ages 28 to 35. As an added bonus, Acevedo said many of those younger users can also encourage their older family members to also get on the app.

Suma's investors also include Los Angeles-based Vamos Ventures' founder Marcos Gonzalez, Ulu Ventures, OVO Fund, Vitalize VC, Supercharged Initiative, The Fund and Gaingels.

Bridging the Gap

The Latino-White wealth gap is staggering, and the pandemic only exacerbated the problem. Acevedo noted the average Latino man makes $.55 for every dollar earned by a white man.

According to the Federal Reserve's most recent survey of consumer finances, the average white family's wealth is roughly five times that of a Hispanic family.

Latinos are gaining ground – the Urban Institute reported this year a young and growing Latino population is expected to make up most new homeowners through 2040 – an estimated 4.8 million more homeowners.

Young Latinos, Acevedo said, "are the ones entering the workforce at the fastest rate and it's a group that has the least wealth."

Acevedo wants to target these potential new homeowners and teach them valuable financial literacy skills to help protect their investments.

One feature launched this week is a financial checkup tool that analyzes a handful of features that impact a person's overall wealth including net worth, debt to income ratio, budgeting and emergency savings to calculate its version of a credit score.

In August, Suma ran Dinero Bootcamp, a youth-focused financial literacy workshop that helped 125 Latinos learn about their money. Wells Fargo granted an undisclosed sum to help Suma target local neighborhoods like Huntington Park, South Central, Downtown and Boyle Heights.

"We're excited to see that (Suma) works, that our community is excited to learn and to do better, and that they trust us, so we need to continue to arm them with all the tools and information and resources," Acevedo said.

https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

***

Read moreShow less

This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

***

Read moreShow less

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Secures $30 Million in Funding to Continue Space Robotics Developments
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
LA TECH JOBS
interchangeLA
Trending