New York-based Pave Finance has closed an oversubscribed Series A round of more than $15 million at a $100 million pre-money valuation, the company announced. The AI-powered portfolio management platform will use the fresh capital to expand its engineering and market-facing teams, as advisory firms grapple with time-consuming manual work and rising demand for personalization.
The financing follows Pave's $14 million oversubscribed seed round from September last year and drew participation from advisory firms, former executives and board members of major financial services companies, and company insiders, according to a statement. Chief executive Christopher Ainsworth framed the raise as a response to structural pressure building across the advisory business.
"Reaching this funding stage reflects the growing demand for modernized platforms we're witnessing within the financial advisory space," Ainsworth said. "As advisory businesses grow, firms must now find efficient ways to manage a larger volume of clients who are simultaneously demanding greater personalization in their portfolios." He added that the funding will help grow the team and continue investing in technology that saves advisors time and resources, ultimately translating to lower fees and more tailored client experiences.
It may take time before AI adoption results in lower dollar costs for clients, though they can expect more value. A new study by Cerulli Associates, published in partnership with Vista Equity Partners, expects AI to augment advisors, enabling firms to maintain fee levels while expanding service capacity. "AI use is pervasive across the RIA space, but firms are applying it to expand advisor capacity rather than reduce headcount," the Cerulli report said. "Firms have a greater opportunity to redeploy advisor capacity toward higher-value work."
Founded in 2021, Pave tracks more than 50,000 publicly traded securities globally and lets advisors build, personalize, and manage client portfolios while excluding sectors or holdings, accounting for existing positions and tax considerations, and optimizing for individual risk tolerance. The platform integrates with more than 170 custodians to speed onboarding, according to the company. Its leadership team brings a combined 200-plus years of experience from firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, and Fidelity, alongside technology veterans from Google, Apple, Meta, and Wealthfront.
The raise lands amid a wider wave of venture capital flowing into wealthtech this year, most aimed at automating the operational side of advice. Fintech firm Feathery recently closed a $30 million Series A backed by Portage and Bain Capital to expand AI-driven RIA operations, while smaller entrants such as WealthReach have raised seed rounds to build AI-powered growth tools for advisors. Pave's valuation jump also comes as the addressable market keeps expanding, with projections of global wealth management assets under management reaching $217.4 trillion by 2031 and the industry generating $3.4 trillion in annual revenue by 2030.
Data on RIA firms' current appetite for AI is mixed. A recent white paper from Astraeus Wealth, produced with Pirker Partners, found that only 6% of more than 6,384 independent private wealth RIAs disclosed any use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, or algorithmic tools in their Form ADV Part 2As as of March 2026, representing roughly 11% of industry assets under management. Larger firms played an outsized role: 16% of RIAs managing between $5 billion and $25 billion in assets disclosed AI use, compared with 5% of firms managing less than $1 billion. According to Schwab's 2026 RIA Benchmarking Study, 83% of firms with $250 million or more in assets under management reportedly use some form of AI, including for administrative tasks (65%), developing client correspondence (49%), and generating marketing content (48%).
As advisors increasingly turn to technology to handle operational burdens, platforms like Pave are positioning themselves to capture a share of the growing demand for automation. The company's ability to secure backing from industry veterans and advisory firms suggests confidence in its approach, even as broader adoption of AI in the RIA space remains uneven. For advisors, the key will be balancing efficiency gains with the personalized service clients expect, a challenge that Pave and its competitors aim to address.
