Digital bank Onyx Private today announced $4.1 million in new funding to provide private banking and investment services specifically tailored to high-earning Millennials and Gen Zers.
Village Global, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, One Way Ventures, 186 Ventures and Olive Tree Capital participated in the investment.
In partnership with Piermont Bank, Onyx Private offers digital banking services including checking accounts, debit card and cashback on payments and purchases. On the investment side, the fintech develops investment portfolios of high-yield, fixed-income portfolios, such as cash-sweep bills and US Treasury bills, with $100 minimums and low fees.
There is an application process to join Onyx Private and customers can choose between a free plan or a premium plan at $50 per month or $40 per month if you pay for the membership in one installment.
The investment services are managed by Helium Advisors and the brokerage account is through Pershing, a clearing house owned by the Bank of New York Mellon.
In addition, the company offers a “lifestyle concierge” service, through a digital personal assistant, to help book events, restaurants, hotels and flights, and even purchase luxury gifts, such as jewelry.
Victor Santos, Douglas Lopes and Tiago Passinato launched the company in 2022. Santos, who came to the United States as a child, previously co-founded banQi, a Brazilian neobank focused on financial inclusion that was acquired by Via Varejo in May 2020.
The banking dashboard and map of Onyx Private. Image Credits: Onyx Private
As he made products for low-income people, Santos told Acutely.info that he and his co-founders realized there was a gap in the market: enough options for the very wealthy or the low and middle class, but not many for those in between.
“These are people who are not necessarily wealthy, but affluent professionals, such as lawyers, doctors or people who work in technology,” Santos said. “Onyx’s goal is to build a more modern, more accessible private bank and democratize the tools that today are only available to the ‘ultra-rich’.”
Since launching nearly a year ago, Onyx Private has grown 30% month over month, processing over $4 million in transaction payment value per month. The company is approaching $5 million in TPV with a goal of quintupling that volume through the end of the year, Santos said.
Subsequently, Santos, Lopes and Passinato envision Onyx Private as “the next generation of UBS,” and the new funding will go toward that goal. The company has plans to put some capital into new product lines and to unveil an in-app human financial advisor in the coming year that will provide financial, estate planning and tax advice. Much of the growth so far has come from referrals; however, the company will now invest in marketing.
“There’s a lot of pressure on these new low-income banks, and what we think is powerful is that our average revenue per user and average user balance is 10 to 12 times more than these traditional neobanks,” Santos said. “We’re small, but it shows that it’s a very different demographic and there’s a greater willingness to pay for premium services from that demographic.”
