Trad3r
Trad3r founder and CEO Gianni O'Connor
- Trad3r lets users simulate stock trading through live gaming, letting them take risks on the market they might not want to in real life.
- The startup has been backed by one of the founders of the $2 billion New York consulting firm Oliver Wyman, as well as the man who oversaw Tencent's acquisition of gaming site Miniclip.
- Trad3r CEO Gianni O'Connor said he hoped to "dispel the myth that stock markets are only for a privileged few".
- The firm has just opened a second office in Barcelona, and says overall user numbers are now approaching 5 million worldwide.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Trad3r, the London-based startup that lets users simulate trading on the stock market in real-time, recently raised $2 million in seed funding.
The startup, founded by Gianni O'Connor in 2016, is based around an app which provides up-to-date information on global stock markets, allowing users to take risks in-game that they wouldn't want to in real life, and educating them on how trading works.
As well as offering counterparts to real life stocks, users can also trade fictitious shares in celebrities, such as Johnny Depp or Kim Kardashian, and sports teams, such as the Dallas Cowboys.
Since launching in June 2018, the game has gained 4.6 million users worldwide. The firm is primarily in London full-time, where it has 12 employees, but has recently opened an office in Barcelona, adding four more people to its headcount.
Its seed fundraising round initially ended in October, but was extended to January following renewed interest from investors. Backers include Alex Oliver, cofounder of the $2 billion New York consulting firm Oliver Wyman, as well as Brian Chadwick, the lawyer who oversaw the sale of online games site Miniclip to Tencent.
"This investment marks the next step in our journey to make trading accessible to a younger generation and to dispel the myth that stock markets are only for the privileged few," said O'Connor.
"I am incredibly excited to have received investment from such a hard-hitting roster."
Users trade on the app using virtual coins, which are priced at approximately $1 for every hundred. These coins can then be traded in the game, and cashed out in exchange for points. When a user earns a particularly high number of points, say 100,000, these can then be exchanged for gifts such as Amazon vouchers.
Speaking to Business Insider, O'Connor said: "We've put a lot of thought into the way the game operates, and what kind of limits there are. It was really important to me that someone wouldn't be able to just buy their way to the top, so there are things in place to stop that happening.
"And, on the other end of the spectrum, I didn't want some kids logging in and spending all their parents' money!"
We got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Trad3r used to bring investors on board. Check it out below: