Vested Finance, an online investment platform that enables Indian investors to invest in the U.S. stock market, announced on Thursday it raised $3.6 million through its latest seed funding round, which saw participation from Moving Capital, Ovo Fund, TenOneTen Ventures, Inflection Point Ventures, and Venture Catalysts.
Founded in 2018, Vested is seeking to enable sustainable wealth creation by allowing local investors to invest globally.
“Our mission is to allow everyone to invest in their favorite global brands in an affordable and hassle-free manner.”
Vested further revealed that it saw rapid growth in 2020, with money deposited into Vested accounts grew 26x over the last twelve months, along with a 5x increase in U.S. brokerage accounts opened through the platform. Vested processed more than $100 million in trades in 2020, and more than half of the investors using the Vested platform are investing in the U.S. market for the first time ever. Viram Shah, CEO and Co-Founder, Vested Finance, stated:
“Individuals in India have been contributing to the top and bottom line of international companies for decades, but have never had the chance to create wealth by investing in them. Our goal is to build the easiest U.S. investing platform for Indian investors, and our growth to date has proven that interest in the opportunity is strong and increasing. Our focus following this seed round is on accelerating product development to create a seamless and cost-effective end-to-end U.S. investing experience.”
Vested also explained that to facilitate Indian investors to invest in U.S. markets, it has partnered with more than 25 brokers, fintech, and wealth management firms in India, including Axis Securities, Kuvera, Angel Broking and 5Paisa. Vested has also partnered with global digital trading technology platform DriveWealth to power its offerings.
In regards to what it is planning to use the investment round’s funds for, the company added it will be used to accelerate product development and hire talent across the U.S. and India.