Robinhood, a California-based stock brokerage that allows customers to trade US listed stocks and cryptocurrencies with zero commission, revealed on Monday that it has raised $323 million through a recent funding round.
The completion of Robinhood’s latest investment round values the company at approximately $7.6 billion. According to Reuters, the trading platform’s round was led by DST Global, a Hong Kong-based firm that funds late-stage ventures in the internet and e-commerce industry. Ribbit Capital, Sequoia, Thrive Capital and NEA also participated.
The firm’s representatives said the capital raised would be used to expand Robinhood’s business operations.
In May 2019, the company announced that it had acquired a BitLicense to offer crypto-related services in the state of New York, allowing residents to purchase digital assets through Robinhood’s app.
Robinhood app users can purchase seven different cryptoassets including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. The brokerage firm’s app may also be used to monitor the price movements of these digital currencies among other cryptos.
As mentioned on Robinhood’s official website, the company’s zero-fee trading app is accessible to the residents of 39 US states and has around five million users.
Robinhood made its first strategic acquisition in March. Focusing on the Millennial market, it acquired MarketSnacks, a leading financial news media outlet and podcast, rebranded as “Robinhood Snacks”, to target the company’s young traders by delivering fintech news in a humorous way.
Speaking at a recent panel during Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference, Robinhood’s chief operating officer Gretchen Howard, reports Fortune, says only 25% of Millennials use a self-directed broker for investments, leaving an entry point for the fintech company. Howard says Robinhood has filed for a federal bank charter which would allow the crypto-friendly company to offer traditional banking products to its customers.
Robinhood joins other tech companies, such as Facebook, that are attempting to move into traditional finance or challenge incumbents in the payments system.
Says Howard,
“We’re going to come out with a cash management account soon.”
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