Goldman Sachs announced yesterday an agreement to buy Austin fintech startup
Since launching at SXSW almost a year ago to the day, Honest Dollar has raised $3 million to offer alternative, streamlined retirement savings plans directly to workers.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the company will remain under the leadership of CEO and co-founder whurley, a highly visible figure in Austin’s tech scene who co-hosted President Obama with will.i.am at SXSW Interactive on Friday.
“I don’t have any plans to retire,” whurley (pictured above) said. “I told my employees today it’ll be business as usual at Honest Dollar. I’m still CEO, and everybody’s still got their jobs.”
The move came as a surprise for some who view Honest Dollar as anti-Wall Street, ushering in an era of self reliance for independent workers in the post-recession, tech-driven gig economy. One observer on Twitter even called the juxtaposition of Goldman Sachs and Honest Dollar an “oxymoron.”
But whurley said the two companies were actually a perfect fit.
“Goldman Sachs could work with anyone they wanted to,” he said. “They have hundreds of investments. Just check CrunchBase.”
The list stretches back to 1999 and includes Austin’s own
and .
“They clearly have the means and access. And to be blunt, we had our choice, too, as a hot new startup in this space. But we chose one another for a reason. As far as other people in the market, I don’t see another transaction happening at this level.”
whurley said the company’s mission will remain the same, but with the means to move it along a lot faster.
“Goldman Sachs has a reputation for the quality of the teams and people they hire. They have a 140-year history, and they’re always looking at what the next 140 years look like,” he said. “We’re going to be expanding our software teams pretty aggressively between now and the end of the year.”
Have a news tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Tell us or tweet us @BuiltInAustin.
