A hot US fintech startup that lets you trade stocks for free is coming to Europe
Robinhood lets people buy and sell US shares for free through its app. It cuts out traditional commission and trading fees charged by brokers by using technology to cut operating costs to the bare minimum.
It makes its money from the interest it gets on uninvested client deposits it holds. It is also planning to introduce paid-for premium features.
The Palo Alto-based startup, founded by two Stanford graduates in 2013, is one of the hottest fintech, or financial technology, startups in the US. The app launched to the public last March and crossed $1 billion (£680 million) worth of transactions on the platform after just five months.
Robinhood has raised $66 million (£44.7 million) from investors including Europe's Index Ventures, Google Ventures, and well-known Silicon Valley fund Andreessen Horowitz.
Jan Hammer, a partner at Index Ventures who led the Robinhood investment, told BI over email: "From the time of our Seed investment in 2013, Robinhood has continued to impress us with the quality of their product and the pace of growth.
"They've not just made trading simpler, mobile and free, but by doing so, they've opened up stock trading to a generation of Millennials who have largely stayed clear of the stock market."
The job listing on Robinhood's website says the company is recruiting a chief compliance officer in the UK, who would operate out of a new London office. But the listing makes clear that whoever takes the role would effectively be "a Chief Executive" leading expansion across the UK and the European Union.
The startup will face competition in Europe from iDealing, an online stockbroker that recently launched commission-free trading for European stocks. iDealing uses almost the exact same business model as Robinhood.
Robinhood has not formally announced plans to enter the UK or Europe. Last May it announced plans to expand to Australia but it does not appear to have launched there yet. The company is still advertising for a chief compliance officer to lead its Australian operations.
Business Insider has contacted Robin Hood for comment and will update when we hear back from them.