The great Gatsby raises millions to take on Robinhood
Summary
Backers include Techstars Ventures, Beta Bridge Capital, a network of “super angels” placed by ClearList and an oversubscribed SeedInvest campaign. Besides focusing on a younger demographic, Gatsby aims to give people “a safe and fair platform to trade on without users having to worry about getting in over their heads or being shut out of names when volatility spikes.” The app launched into iOS and Android in early 2020, with the number of signups doubling since the beginning of 2021. “We believe that PFOF (payment for order flow) is a fundamentally better pricing model than commissions for users trading on small accounts as long as customers feel like their broker is being fair and honest about execution quality and how they make money,” Myers said. This means that Gatsby’s algorithm will assess the trader and adjust the feature set and interface to be tailored for that user depending on their experience level. For Jordan French, an early-stage investor in Gatsby and publisher at Grit Daily News, Myers and Belanger-Saleh “have the right combination of technology and marketing experience to grow Gatsby into a defensible position that will be very difficult for competitors to unseat.” He also believes the company’s approach aligns closely with its core investor base.