[ad_1]
This is the web version of Terms sheet, a daily newsletter on the biggest deals and dealmakers. Sign up to receive it for free in your inbox.
Sequoia Capital may be a major investor in Robinhood, but it doesn’t believe stock selection will take precedence over all investments.
In a bet that consumers won’t put all of their investment dollars into robo-advisers and stock picking apps, the venture capitalist is leading $ 45 million Series B round at Vise, a start-up that seeks to automate the time-consuming tasks of independent investment advisers while fashioning individualized portfolios for their clients using AI Since Vise’s income comes from the assets it helps manage, it appears to compete indirectly with companies like Robinhood for the same investment dollars.
But Ravi Gupta, partner of Sequoia, believes that the cake is large enough that all these companies can coexist together. “We don’t see Robinhood as a competitor – we think Robinhood is booming and will continue to thrive,” Gupta tells Term Sheet, adding that clients of investment advisers tend to age while Robinhood users tend to grow older. to be millennials. Following the agreement, Sequoia will occupy two seats on the company’s board of directors. Don’t forget: the company was founded in 2016, when the duo were just teenagers. Read more.
Other investors also seem to think that there is more room for even more direct competition. As the soaring stock markets and boredom have taken control of those locked in their homes, Robinhood’s future challengers are also benefiting from the times.
Audience, a stock trading app that competes directly with Robinhood, raised $ 65 million in Series C financing with Accel in mind. Seeking to differentiate itself with a social element in which users can share their stock picks, the company has recruited prominent people in the media including Scott Galloway, skateboarder Tony Hawk and Alex Pall, member of The Chainsmokers. This comes in the middle of a story to which Robinhood loses traders another platform, WeBull.
The question for Public: will it have a place in a world dominated by Robinhood? In theory, the social element means a lot to me. Stock trading is an incredibly social activity. Retail traders are aggressively Twitter and Reddit where they both fight and discuss each other’s investments. And unlike Venmo where few people want to broadcast their dinner payouts, investors like to broadcast when they win, and even sometimes when they lose. Social media is a great place for celebration and compassion, and stock trading can be a big cause for both.
But the reality is that Robinhood still stands well above its competition, and stock pickers still gravitate to existing social platforms to voice their successes and grievances. If Public maintains its strategy to reach the top, it will not only be about acting as a TDAmeritrade or a better stock picker app, but also as a better social media platform. Read more.
IPO EARTH: We may not see Affirm or Roblox IPOs until the end of the year, but keep an eye out for Wish, the ecommerce platform that sells low-priced products mostly from from China. The company is expected to price its IPO today, after saying it expects to raise around $ 1.1 billion.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
E-mail: lucinda.shen@fortune.com
[ad_2]
