Robinhood competitor Public.com valued at US$1.2bn amid retail investing surge

Self-professed investing social network Public.com announced it has raised US$220mln in a funding round which is valuing the company at US$1.2bn

The online brokerage is a competitor of Robinhood, which tapped investors for US$3.4bn earlier this year to cope with heightened volatility.

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Retail investing platforms experienced a surge in popularity during lockdowns, when people turned to the markets while cooped up at home, but got a real boost last month amid the GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) frenzy.

Public.com, which sets out to open the stock market to everyone regardless of their background, said on Wednesday it has reached 1mln members.

The US$220mln were raised from existing investors Accel, Greycroft, and Lakestar, as well as Intuition Capital, Tiger Global, The Chainsmokers’ Mantis VC, Will Smith’s Dreamers VC, Inspired Capital, Vine Capital, Aglaé Ventures, and YouTube star Phil DeFranco.

The online platform said the proceeds will go towards scaling up infrastructure for further membership growth as well as launching new products and features.

Public.com recently decided to eliminate Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) practice, which has been scrutinised from regulators worldwide because brokers are incentivised to serve whoever pays the most instead of ensuring the best outcome for customers.

The firm also stressed it doesn’t encourage day-trading, nor it pushes margin credit on new investors.

Story by ProactiveInvestors