London-based start-up Freetrade has raised $15m in a Series A round.
The firm鈥檚 app offers commission-free stock investment, and is targeted at millennials in an effort to solve what it sees as generational inequality.
Traditional methods of stock trading can cost up to 拢12 per trade, while on the firm鈥檚 app basic orders are free, or 拢1 for an instant order.
The latest investment follows a record-breaking crowdfund in which it secured 拢1m in 77 seconds on Crowdcube.
The firm reports an 8 per cent week on week customer growth and has said it will put the cash toward a world-class team of engineers.
Founder and CEO Adam Dodds said: 鈥淭his marks a pivotal moment for us as we continue to build a smooth and cost-effective investing app in the UK and Europe.
鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to have Draper Esprit, a VC firm with similar values and who鈥檚 committed to enabling everyone to get a slice of the companies of tomorrow, join us on this journey.
鈥淔rom the beginning, we鈥檝e been focused on making Freetrade the home screen app for investing. With this investment, we鈥檒l be able to level up our team and further develop our proprietary technology that will enable us to launch our new investment platform, providing users with the option to purchase not only US but UK and European fractional shares 鈥� a world first!鈥�
Simon Cook, CEO of Draper Esprit, also commented: 鈥淔reetrade are on a mission to open up investment opportunities for everyone, as are we. In this sense, their mission is totally aligned with our own, as a rare tech-focused VC listed on the stock exchange.
鈥淭he company have shown exceptional growth in the short time since they first launched the platform last year. We could not be more delighted to support with Adam, Viktor, Ian and their wider team as they enable Europe鈥檚 100 million millennials to benefit from the world鈥檚 economic growth.”