Empower
“Can a mobile-first cash advance and consumer banking app leverage AI and credit tools to become the primary financial account for underserved American consumers?”
Founded2016
HQSan Francisco, California, USA
FoundersWarren Hogarth
Total raisedunknown
Latest roundSeries B
IndustryFintech / Consumer banking
The story
Empower Finance started as a mobile-first personal finance and budgeting app for millennials, combining AI recommendations with human financial planners. It pivoted toward embedded consumer banking and credit, launching cash advance and banking account products under its own brand (Thrive). The acquisition of Petal Card, Inc. expanded Empower into credit cards and broader credit health improvement, repositioning the company from a financial wellness app to a fuller-stack consumer fintech offering banking, lending, and credit products to underserved consumers.
Product timeline
2016
Empower Finance founded by former Sequoia partner Warren Hogarth as an AI-assisted personal finance app.· pivot
2017
Company first publicly noted, offering mobile banking and financial planning tools for millennials.· banking
2020
Closed $20M Series A led by Icon Ventures; platform had 600,000+ active users combining AI and human financial planners.· banking
2024
Acquired Petal Card, Inc., adding the Petal credit card product and Petal Card, Inc. as an affiliate entity under Empower Finance.· acquisition
2025
Consolidated Privacy Policy updated to reflect affiliates Empower Finance, Inc., Empower Lending, LLC, and Petal Card, Inc., with products including Empower Cash Advance, Thrive, and Petal Card.· banking
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Empower’s embedded-finance stack
Lending
Empower Cash AdvancePetal Card credit
KYC
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
1 more provider across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.