Public.com, a zero-commission stock Trading Platform , is raising fresh funds of $200 million, only a couple of months after the closure of its last funding round, according to a Business Insider report.
The startup is seeking a 'pre-money' valuation of $1 billion for its latest funding round, four times the valuation of its last round. After the compilation of the funding, the 'post-money' valuation could reach $1.2 billion or higher if the company managed to raise more.
The round will be led by Tiger Global, and the venture firm, Accel, which led Public.com’s previous funding rounds, is also participating. However, none of the companies officially provided any details of the funding round.
Riding on the Retail Trading Frenzy
Founded in 2019, Public.com raised $88.5 million in several rounds, with the last one being closed in December, as seen on Crunchbase. Additionally, the startup is backed by several celebrities, including Hollywood actor Will Smith, music duo The Chainsmokers, football player, Keisuke Honda, and a few more.
Public.com raised $65 million in December 2020. The urgency of the new $200 million can be justified given the rise of the retail stock trading popularity.
According to data Analytics platform App Annie, the new downloads of the platform from the App Store jumped six times. It was mostly benefited by the outrage against competitor Robinhood after the platform restricted the purchase of GameStop and other volatile stocks.
Finance Magnates recently reported that Public.com changed the way it is making money and scrapped the controversial Payment for Order Flow or PFOF model. Instead, it has introduced a tipping feature for traders and is considering to roll out a subscription-based model.
Furthermore, the report outlined that the change in the business model might have forced the brokerage to seek funding.
