Yahoo has acquired CommonStock, a social platform that allows retail investors to share insights based on information linked directly to their brokerage accounts. Announced yesterday (Wednesday), the acquisition will enhance the offerings under Yahoo Finance.
Yahoo Buys Social Investment Platform CommonStock
The capabilities of CommonStock will be integrated with both free and paid versions of Yahoo Finance. The CommonStock team will join Yahoo, but the terms of the deal remain undisclosed.
“Our vision for Yahoo Finance is to be the premier singular destination for all our customer’s financial needs,” said Tapan Bhat, the President of Yahoo Finance.
“Our platform caters to every stage of the investment process – from providing pre-trade market news and analysis, facilitating engaging pre- and post- trade conversations within our community of like-minded investors, to offering effective self-directed portfolio management tools and insights. Acquiring CommonStock reinforces this vision.”
A Blend of Two Poplar Platforms
CommonStock was launched in 2020 and was boosted by the pandemic-driven craze in the stock market. It allows users to link their brokerage accounts and has more than $10 billion in connected assets. Users of the platform can share their portfolios and discuss trades and strategies.
Though the number of users of CommonStock is not known, its integration with Yahoo Finance will expose it to 150 million monthly active users.
According to Crunchbase, CommonStock raised around $34 million over the last three years. It is backed by several venture capitalists and well-known investors like Philippe Laffont, Bill Ackman, Ari Emanuel, Michael Li Jin, Turner Novak, and Jill Carlson.
“Joining Yahoo Finance is a tremendous opportunity to build community and products on the largest consumer finance stage, which will positively impact millions of loyal users,” David McDonough, the CEO and Founder of CommonStock.
“The unique blend of Yahoo’s reach and Commonstock’s expertise in creating retail investment communities is an incredibly powerful combination. This acquisition will allow us to accelerate our mission at scale, emphasizing community-driven knowledge and ensuring the amplification of quality insights to separate signal from noise.”
