A London-based fintech company co-founded by an Irishman has become the first such firm to win funding from the London Co-Investment Fund.
Stockflare, which aims to make investing in shares simpler, is targeting £300,000 in funding through investment site Crowdcube, with the LCIF – supported by the London mayor's office – contributing £75,000 of the total.
The company was founded by Irishman Shane Leonard, an equity analyst, along with former Just Eat developer David Kelley and designer Jonathan Kelly.
The company aims to deliver key metrics and information on any stock in the world quickly, with more than 47,000 global stocks on its list. It’s presented in a clear format, outlining everything from the current stock price to the outlook provided by investors.
"We're taking the Amazon approach to this," explained Mr Leonard. "Amazon makes money by helping people find the things they want."
The funding will be used to help integrate the service with brokerages, allowing would-be investors to set up and operate a broker account quickly and easily, at an entry point that will be accessible to smaller investors.
“We’re trying to help the 99 per cent,” he said.
The US market is first on the list, meaning investors from around the globe will be able to sign up for a brokerage account with its US partners, but there are plans to expand that into the European market
Mr Leonard said the company was hoping to have the brokerage partnerships active later in the year.
Only in operation for eight months, the beta service already has about 10,000 active users, Mr Leonard said, with the majority under the age of 35 and classing themselves as novice or intermediate investors.
After only a day on Crowdcube, the company had raised more than £204,000 from 64 investors, with £175,000 of that coming from the LCIF investment plus contributions by family and friends before the CrowdCube campaign went active. The Crowdcube campaign will continue for the month.
Although the company is still in its early stages, Mr Leonard hasn’t ruled out some operations in Dublin, perhaps for its development team.
