froots Receives 2.25 Million Euros to Support Further Growth

The Vienna-based WealthTech company froots has closed another funding round totaling 2.25 million euros. Most of the existing investors participated in the round, including former Erste Group CEO Andreas Treichl and durchblicker.at founder Reinhold Baudisch. New investors include Paul Fattinger, former CEO of bicycle manufacturer Woom. The capital will primarily be used to develop the technical platform and further build the brand.

Approximately 250 million euros in assets under management

froots was founded in 2020 and now employs more than 20 people in Vienna. The company offers independent asset management that combines technology with customized investment strategies and personalized support. According to the company, it currently manages approximately 250 million euros in client assets.

In doing so, froots positions itself as a long-term asset manager. According to the company, clients specify an average investment horizon of 18 years at the start of their contract. froots aims to reflect this long-term perspective not only on the client side but also in its own financing and among its shareholders.

Paul Fattinger Joins as a New Investor

In the current funding round, the company is therefore once again relying on a mix of existing and new investors. Previous investors include Andreas Treichl, now Chairman of Erste Stiftung, and Reinhold Baudisch, founder of the comparison platform durchblicker.at. Both are investing again.

At the same time, froots has gained a new investor in Paul Fattinger. Fattinger was previously CEO of the Austrian children’s bicycle manufacturer Woom.

froots has not disclosed how the 2.25 million euros is distributed among the individual investors or the valuation at which the round was conducted.

Smaller Funding Rounds Instead of a Large VC Round

Instead of raising large venture capital rounds with correspondingly high growth expectations and a potential future exit, froots intends to finance its growth through several smaller, individually tailored funding rounds.

The company refers to its investors as “evergreen investors.”

“We don’t have to deliver an exit to anyone in five years. That gives us the freedom to make decisions for the next twenty years.”

David Mayer-Heinisch, CEO and Co-Founder of froots

In this way, froots is striving to better align the time horizons of customers, the company, and shareholders. While customers build their wealth over many years, investors are also expected to have a correspondingly long-term investment horizon.

Capital Flows into Technology and Brand

The fresh capital will now be invested primarily in two areas. First, froots intends to further develop its technical platform. Alongside personalized support, technology is a central component of the offering and is intended to enable individually tailored wealth management.

Second, part of the funding will go toward further developing the brand. The company did not provide specific details regarding new products, geographic expansion, or planned hires as part of the funding announcement.

Long-Term Model Must Enable Further Growth

Six years after its founding, froots thus finds itself in a different situation than many traditional early-stage startups. With approximately 250 million euros in client assets under management and more than 20 employees, the company has already established an operational foundation.

At the same time, froots is consciously opting against the typical sequence of increasingly larger VC funding rounds. Instead, it plans to raise capital as needed from investors who support the company’s long-term direction. For froots, it now remains to be seen how well this approach can be reconciled with further growth. The current round of 2.25 million euros is relatively modest compared to the assets already under management. However, this is precisely in line with the company’s strategy: growth is to be financed incrementally, without prescribing a fixed exit path at an early stage.