Instant Financial Raises $14.3 Million to Empower Hourly Wage Workers

A fintech that helps put money in the hands of their customers when they need it most has just raised some new cash of their own.

Instant Financial has raised $14.3 million in a new Series A round. The new money will help the Vancouver company acquire more customers, support innovation of their platform and bring Instant Financial to the attention of its direct customer base.

This Series A was led by TTV Capital, who will act as a strategic partner with full participation from their existing investors ITC Partners Fund, Kinetic Ventures and Real Ventures.

The fintech caters to the 80 million hourly workers in North America. Instant Financial allows workers to access the money that is owed to them when they need it, even if payday is a few days away. The model is to reinvent traditional payment practices that have not changed for over 100 years.

“Our mission at Instant is to empower millions of hourly workers by putting employees in control of accessing their pay, while significantly improving employee retention and engagement for their employers,” said Steve Barha, CEO of Instant Financial. “Adding TTV Capital as a partner and the additional capital from this funding round will fuel our rapid growth and allow us to continue our product innovation.”

As of now, over 260,000 users are on Instant Financial’s platform. Franchisees of companies such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Outback Steakhouse are using the service, and as a result of joining Instant Financial, many clients have noticed higher employee retention, lower turnover, and more engaged employees overall.

“The TTV team is thrilled to join Instant Financial as they change the way employees are paid across the nation. This is a great addition to our portfolio and a perfect match for our vision to transform the financial services sector,” said Gardiner Garrard, co-founder of TTV. “We’re looking forward to helping Instant achieve higher growth and revenue.”

There is no fee for employees looking to take their money earlier than payday using the platform. Instant Financial’s MO is to give workers access to the money they have earned—no strings attached. The funds are placed in an Instant account and can be used via a prepaid Mastercard or transferred to an existing bank account.

This new round of funding brings Instant Financial’s total raises to $19.3 million after an earlier seed round.