FinTech News
Fractional Trading Platform DriveWealth Raises $450 Million
Another FinTech mega round is in the books as DriveWealth has just announced that it’s raised $450 million. The Series D was co-led by Insight Partners and Accel with “significant participation” from Greyhound Capital, Softbank Vision Fund 2, and Point72 Ventures (which previously led the firm’s Series C). Returning investor Fidelity International and new investors Base 10, FTX, and FlightDeck also contributed to the round, which valued the company at $2.85 billion. To date, the FinTech has now raised a total of $550.8 million. With the latest injection of fundings, the firm says it plans to continue expanding its product as well as focus on acquiring talent.
DriveWealth is a fractional stock trading platform that allows consumers to invest as little as $1 in various U.S. stocks. Instead of operating its own app, the company offers an API, allowing fellow FinTechs to integrate its technology. Among those already employing DriveWealth fractional trading capabilities are Revolut, MoneyLion, Stake, and others.
Commenting on the company’s momentum and how this funding round will help propel it forward, DriveWealth founder and CEO Bob Cortright said, “We are in the early innings of a worldwide retail investing revolution. Our goal is for DriveWealth to be the partner of choice to deliver the embedded investing experience of the future. This new capital and investor engagement will accelerate our global expansion plans in order to become the world-class, exchange-like technology company that powers tomorrow’s investing products.”
Meanwhile, Accel’s Matt Weigand said of DriveWealth, “The increasing demand for financial services has left FinTech companies eager to expand their products and drive engagement. With DriveWealth’s unique combination of brokerage experts and technology, FinTech’s can get to market quickly and scale.”
This funding round arrives as the FinTech brokerage scene (and the larger discount brokerage market in general) have experienced major shake-ups. In recent years, a number of traditional brokerage firms have moved to a commission-free models a la their FinTech competitors. More recently, the exceptionally popular but controversial trading app Robinhood caused a splash by going public. Since then, the stock has seen some ups and downs but, as of this writing, remains above its IPO price.
Given DriveWealth’s behind-the-scenes status, the firm might not be a household name. However, it’s clear from the companies they’re working with that the startup could prove to be a big player — even as competition in the digital brokerage sector heats up. With $450 million now at its disposal, expect big things from DriveWealth going forward.
