Arguably the hottest financial services company among youthful investors today just got a fresh injection of cash. Robinhood Markets announced Monday that it has received $200 million in funding from D1 Capital Partners. This, Robinhood says, values it at $11.2 billion.
The company has been a sensation, particularly through the coronavirus pandemic, which has essentially quarantined armies of day traders and other eager investors at home. Many have stayed busy in part by trading securities and other financial instruments.
Image source: Getty Images.
The company shook the traditional brokerage industry when it launched its services in 2015 with commission-free trading. Within only a few years, securities trading without fees became the norm, with brokerage heavyweights such as TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and E*Trade Financial (ETFC) eliminating their own commissions.
The sudden decline in trading revenue led, in turn, to consolidation in the industry, with Charles Schwab scooping up TD Ameritrade in a $26 billion deal, and E*Trade being acquired by white-shoe investment bank Morgan Stanley for around $13 billion.
Although Robinhood has faced criticism that it effectively promotes reactive, ill-informed day trading, the company offers a set of educational resources on securities markets for its clientele. In its official blog post trumpeting the new investment, the company said that average unique daily visits to the hub learning page of its site have risen by over 250% since January.
Robinhood did not specify what it intends to do with the new round of funding. There is speculation that the company is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), although it has not formally announced its intention for that.
Investors are clearly eager to be involved with Robinhood. So far this year, the company has received $800 million in financing.
