FinTech News

$SOFI Debuts on Nasdaq Stock Exchange

One of the biggest players in the FinTech space is now a publically traded company. Yesterday, SoFi officially hit the Nasdaq stock exchange, trading under the ticker symbol $SOFI. During its first day of trading, the stock closed at $22.65 — up 12%. As of this writing, $SOFI continues to rise today, trading for as much as $24.83 during the day.

SoFi’s IPO comes after its merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V, founded by Chamath Palihapitiya. The transaction, which was completed last week, netted SoFi approximately $2.4 billion. According to the company, those funds will allow them to continue growing their product line-up to become a financial “one-stop shop.” The FinTech also intends to expand into new geographical markets.

Announcing the merger’s completion, SoFi CEO Anthony Noto stated, “Today marks an important step on our path toward providing an ecosystem of products, rewards and membership benefits all working together to help our members get their money right. All of us at SoFi are humbled to reach this significant milestone in our journey of building a generational company, and we are grateful for the countless individuals who have contributed to advancing our mission of empowering everyone to achieve financial independence to realize their ambitions.” As a result of the deal, SoFi will also add two new members to its Board of Directors: former Goldman Sachs president and co-COO Harvey Schwartz and former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.

Incidentally, SoFi’s own IPO comes on the heels of the company unveiling an IPO Investing platform for its users. Those with at least $3,000 in their SoFi Invest accounts can now request shares of companies going public. Soon after, rival investment platform Robinhood also announced a similar feature as it too pursues an initial public offering of its own.

In a blog post celebrating the debut of $SOFI, Noto highlighted the company’s growing list of products, writing, “We offer everything from investing in fractional shares, robo accounts, and cryptocurrency, to student loan refinancing, personal loans, mortgages, and a credit card that helps you reduce your debt and, most recently, two day early paycheck into your SoFi Money account.” He added, “We have and will continue to work to meet the broadest possible array of our members’ needs throughout each financial milestone in their lives.”

SoFi’s IPO is another big test for FinTech, which hasn’t always been so lovingly embraced by Wall Street. Although the stock is off to a good start, the listing surely puts on the company to continue innovating and growing. Meanwhile, it’s also worth monitoring how SoFi’s public offering impacts the SPAC trend that has been exploding in recent months. In any case, hopefully $SOFI sees success and inspires future FinTech IPOs.