Benzinga | May 3, 2021 02:07PM EDT

Drake, Ryan Reynolds And Other Celebs Join WealthSimple's $610M Funding Round At $4B Valuation: Bloomberg

* Canada's Power Corporation Of Canada's (OTC: PWCDF) online brokerage, Wealthsimple, has raised $610 million (C$750 million) at a $4 billion valuation, over three times its October valuation, Bloomberg reports.

* Existing investors Meritech Capital Partners and Greylock Partners led the funding round, including Canadian celebrities like rapper Drake, actors Ryan Reynolds and Michael J. Fox, and basketball player Kelly Olynyk.

* Wealthsimple was capitalizing on the surging tech valuations and online trading that have benefitted the likes of Robinhood Markets Inc.

* Wealthsimple offers commission-free stock trading, automated investing, cryptocurrency trading, and tax services.

* The company was building out cash, checking, insurance, and mortgage products to become a primary financial institution for users, CEO Michael Kitchen said last year.

* Wealthsimple procured C$114 million at a C$1.5 billion post-money valuation in October.

* The latest funding round consisted of a C$250 million primary offering by Wealthsimple and a C$500 million secondary offering from Power Corp and its subsidiaries.

* Power Corp will own a 43% stake in Wealthsimple after the financing, including the portions owned by Power-controlled IGM Financial Inc (OTC: IGIFF) and Great-West Lifeco Inc (OTC: GWLIF).

* Price action: PWCDF shares are trading higher by 2.1% at $29.75 on the last check Monday.