Wealthsimple Financial Corp.

raised $750 million in the latest equity round that would value the financial services firm at $10 billion, making it one of Canada’s most valuable startups.

The capital raise announced Monday is co-led by San Francisco-based Dragoneer Investment Group and GIC in Singapore. The round includes both a $550 million primary offering and a secondary offering of up to $200 million.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

is investing in Wealthsimple for the first time during the round, which also includes existing investors IGM Financial Inc., ICONIQ, Greylock, Meritech and Power Corp. of Canada. Power Corp. controlled 54 per cent of the firm as of June 30, and said Monday that its portion remains about the same after the new round.

Power Corp. was founded by the billionaire Desmarais family, which owns its stake in Wealthsimple through subsidiaries such as Portage Ventures. Paul Desmarais III, Wealthsimple’s chairman and the co-founder of Portage, said the plan is to be a major shareholder for a long time.

“One of the things we have learned through this investment is that you’ve got to bet big on your winners,” Desmarais III said in an interview. “And when you see traction and when you see founders that are able to attract great talent behind a vision, you’ve got to have conviction and you’ve got to go big.”

Power invested $100 million in this round, and its equity interest is now worth $1.57 billion, the company said.

Wealthsimple’s announcement comes after the company reached $100 billion in assets under management in October, doubling the amount held last year and beating its target of hitting that level by 2028. Wealthsimple was valued at $5 billion during its previous funding round in 2021.

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“I’ve been pretty open that our ultimate plan is to take the business public someday,” Chief executive Michael Katchen said in an interview. “This doesn’t necessarily change our plans one way or the other.”

Bloomberg.com