Public.com Secures $65M Series C For Social Investment Network

Public.com brought in its second round of capital infusion in 2020, this time $65 million in Series C funding.

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The New York-based social investing network company enables users to buy any stock with any amount of money, and around that, can participate in social communities, Leif Abraham, co-CEO of Public.com, told Crunchbase News.

“There are two major reasons why people are not investing: Lack of financial education on how to invest, and the culture of the stock market, which is traditionally homogenous, very male dominated and not very welcoming,” Abraham said. “The perception seems scary, so we are building a social network and community from scratch to provide a more welcoming place for new investors that is diverse in backgrounds.”

Accel led the round–its third lead for Public.com–and was joined by Lakestar and previous investors Greycroft and Advancit Capital, as well as a group of individuals including professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk, Dick Parsons and The Chainsmokers’ MANTIS VC.

The new investment comes eight months after the company raised a $15 million Series B, bringing Public.com’s total funding to $90 million since it was founded in 2018, according to Crunchbase data.

Public.com is operating in a market with incumbents, such as the publicly traded E*TRADE and Robinhood, and that has generated investor attention. One recent example is San Francisco-based social investment platform CommonStock, which announced $9.7 million in seed funding in August.

With the additional funding, the company will invest in development of the social network and hiring across the board, Jannick Malling, co-founder and co-CEO, said in an interview.

“We’ve just scratched the surface of the social network,” Malling said. “When you make a trade, you can share it, talk within chat groups, send DMs and create a public portfolio that will show what company stocks you own. The product gets better the more people that are on it.”

Although Abraham did not disclose the number of community investors, he did say it grew 10 times since its launch in September 2019, and its makeup includes approximately 40 percent women.

Abraham and Malling said its social-first approach is why investors, like Hawk, came on board.

“The stock market has historically been an intimidating place reserved for a lucky few,” said Hawk in a written statement. “As technology continues to disrupt barriers, Public.com is creating a platform that makes investing accessible to everyone, while providing a place where they can share ideas and build their confidence as they build their portfolios.”

Feature photo of  Jannick Malling and Leif Abraham courtesy of Public.com
Illustration: Li-Anne Dias