Retail investment platform Robinhood has reached the highly-coveted decacorn list after a new funding round sees it reach a $11.2bn valuation.
The increased valuation came following a $200m Series G round from D1 Capital Partners.
With this fresh capital boost, the online investment company is looking to improve its core product and boost the customer experience. One way it will improve its capabilities in meeting customer needs will be through the hiring of hundreds of new registered financial services representatives in Texas and Arizona.
It is also looking to add more staff in all of its offices to reduce response times, create more service tools and bolster its informational and educational tools.
On the topic of educational tools, Robinhood claims consumers have been engaging more with these during the lockdown. It claims that average unique daily visits on its learning tools are up by more than 250% since January.
With the coronavirus putting stress on finances, people could be looking for alternative wealth creation.
In a blog post, the company said, “We believe investing at its core is a democratic concept — it allows people to take part in the success of a company or sector they believe in. With our latest round of funding, we’ll continue empowering people in their financial lives and enabling a more democratic financial system. “
Despite difficulty in securing funding during the Covid-19 pandemic, Robinhood is raising capital rapidly. The FinTech only just closed its Series F round, initially pulling in $280m in May this year. Just a couple of months later it increased the round, with an additional $320m and putting the Series F round total to $600m. The valuation of the FinTech after this was $8.3bn.
Robinhood’s growth is even more impressive after seeing how the coronavirus has impacted many other FinTechs. Starling Bank recently revealed its losses have doubled to £53.6m in the last year, with the pandemic being the primary cause, it claims.
Fellow UK challenger bank Monzo also revealed its losses have doubled, but that is not all. It recently raised a £60m top-up round that saw its valuation decline by 40%, going from £2bn to £1.24bn.
While Robinhood is clearly able to grow, it has not been able to avoid the challenges of the virus. It halted its UK expansion plans in order to focus on the US market, citing that “a lot has changed in the world over the past few months.”
The expansion has been postponed indefinitely and suggests there are still concerns within the company during this time.
Other FinTechs on the exclusive decacorn list include Brazilian challenger bank NuBank, which reached a $10bn valuation after a $400m funding round in 2019. Stripe is the largest US-based FinTech unicorn, with an impressive $35bn valuation following its recent $600m Series G round.
However, the largest FinTech valuation goes to China’s Ant Financial. The online payments company reached an earth-shaking $150bn after a $10bn funding round in 2018.
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