Wealthfront Upcoming IPO: Robo-advisor gears up to go public
Wealthfront, one of the original challengers to the old guard of wirehouses, is now looking to enter the public market, in a sign of its evolution from startup to more of a fintech stalwart. In late June, the company said that it confidentially filed to go public, according to reports.5 Details of the upcoming Wealthfront IPO have not been announced, however.
The robo-advisor has long been rumored as an IPO candidate, such as with the company's director of communications telling Benzinga in 2017 that one of the company's eventual goals was to go public.6
In early 2022, UBS then entered into an agreement to acquire Wealthfront for $1.4 billion, but the deal fell apart later that year, although UBS stayed on as an investor.7
Now, Wealthfront appears to be trying for another liquidity event, at a time when several other fintech companies have recently conducted successful IPOs, such as Chime and eToro,8 which both overlap with Wealthfront in certain ways.
Wealthfront: Company background
Wealthfront initially began in 2008 under the name kaChing, founded by Andy Rachleff, who had a venture capital background, and Dan Carroll, who had a trading background.9 It started off primarily to disrupt the mutual fund industry, originally by letting users view virtual portfolios of amateur and professional investors, and later adding the feature to set up accounts that matched those trades.10
The company then shifted into inviting a select group of seemingly high-performing investment managers onto the platform, and its technology enabled individuals to invest with these managers for much lower minimums than what would otherwise be required. Around this time, the company rebranded as Wealthfront in 2010.11
Wealthfront then shifted again into the robo-advisor space, launching in December 2011 an automated investing platform that more closely resembles its current iteration.12 The company, based in Silicon Valley, is now led by CEO David Fortunato, who first joined in 2009 as CTO.13
Democratizing financial advice
Technology has helped democratize many areas of finance, such as how the average individual can easily place low-to-no-cost trades almost instantly through a brokerage app, rather than going through a human stockbroker and paying hefty commissions. Even areas that seem more interpersonal — such as financial advice — have been democratized through the advent of robo-advisors, which can automate much of the portfolio construction and portfolio management processes.
Wealthfront has been a pioneer in this democratization, particularly in the area of robo-advisory services, though it has also extended into other areas of finance in recent years. While Wealthfront's rival Betterment is often credited as being the first robo-advisor widely available to consumers starting in 2010,14 Wealthfront quickly joined this space in 2011.
Since then, the two have held their own even as many traditional brokerages and other startups broke into the robo-advisory space. By some counts, Wealthfront ranks as the third-largest robo-advisor by AUM, trailing Betterment by around $10 billion. However, both significantly trail the leader, Vanguard, although they're larger than some other offerings from major companies like U.S. Bancorp and other fintechs like Acorns.15
That said, robo-advisor assets are only part of the equation. Wealthfront has expanded into other areas such as cash management through partner banks, and a large portion of its assets are held in cash-accounts via partner banks. As of early 2025, Wealthfront had around $75 billion in total assets.16
The company has also been expanding into new areas like direct indexing, which could potentially increase competition with other types of investing apps, rather than just those looking for a robo-advisor. Wealthfront seems to have a headstart on this front, as its direct indexing offering launched in November 2024.17
One operational difference though, is that Wealthfront has retained more of a focus on technology, while many other robo-advisors offer access to human advisors. This approach has helped Wealthfront keep a fairly limited headcount while scaling revenue. Over the past decade, Wealthfront's headcount grew by around 3X while its annual revenue has grown around 57X to $340 million.18
Wealthfront stock price history
At this time, Wealthfront's Forge Price is unknown, aside from its $9.54 price per share based on its last-known funding round in 2022.19
That said, the company's implied stock price has gone up significantly since starting with an $0.11 stock price from its first funding round in 2007. While it hit an implied stock price of $8.21 in 2014, however, it then dipped by more than half in 2018. Yet it started trending back up in 2019 and surpassed its 2014 implied stock price with its 2022 funding round.20
Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions, and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.
Forge is always working on adding more pricing information for companies like Wealthfront, so check back here for potential updates.
Wealthfront funding history and private market valuation
Although Wealthfront has raised several rounds of funding, including from venture capital firms such as DAG Ventures, Index Ventures, and Greylock Ventures, it hasn't had the typical venture-backed IPO trajectory in terms of very large, splashy capital raises.
Across nine primary funding rounds, Wealthfront has raised around $303 million in total.21 The latest came in 2022, when UBS invested around $70 million at approximately a $1.4 billion valuation, despite pulling out of its planned acquisition.22
The company also reportedly bought back employee-owned stock in late 2024, valuing the company at $2 billion.23
Looking ahead
While Wealthfront has not announced clear IPO plans at this time, its confidential filing and recent successful fintech IPOs suggest that the company could be going public soon.
Check back here or take a look at Forge’s upcoming IPO calendar to stay in the loop about the Wealthfront IPO and other pending public offerings.
If you’re interested in investing in private companies like Wealthfront, read more about pre-IPO investing or register with Forge today to get started.
FAQs about the Wealthfront upcoming IPO
What does Wealthfront do?
Wealthfront is a fintech company whose offerings include automated investing services, direct stock trading, and cash management.24
When is Wealthfront likely planning an IPO?
Wealthfront has not specified an IPO timeline, though based on its reported confidential filing in late June 2025,25 an IPO could be coming in the second half of this year.
Who are Wealthfront's key investors?
Some of Wealthfront's key investors include Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Greylock Ventures, Index Ventures, Spark Capital, and UBS, among others.26
Can anyone invest in Wealthfront?
For now, Wealthfront is still a private market company, so Wealthfront stock is typically only available to accredited investors. Outside of primary funding rounds, individual accredited investors may be eligible to buy Wealthfront stock through private market platforms like Forge, subject to availability. If Wealthfront goes through with its planned IPO, then the general public would be eligible to invest in the company.
