Fintech startup and investing app Robinhood bags $280M Series F led by Sequoia Capital, now valued at $8.3 billion

We first wrote about Robinhood back in 2018 when the new online brokerage startup launched a commission-free cryptocurrency trading service. The service generated a lot of excitements and interest among cryptocurrency fans. Since then, Robinhood has grown to become a powerhouse online brokerage.
Now, the fintech startup announced in a blog post that it has closed $280 million in Series F funding. The round, which now puts the company at an $8.3 billion valuation, was led by previous investor Sequoia Capital, with participation from existing and new investors including NEA, Ribbit Capital, 9Yards Capital, and Unusual Ventures.
“Amid challenging times and market volatility, we’re humbled that people are turning to Robinhood to participate in the markets and build their financial future. We added more than three million funded accounts so far this year, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to serve each customer. We’re also proud to have built a platform that empowers people: Half of new Robinhood customers this year were first-time investors,” the company said.
The Palo Alto, California-based Robinhood was founded in April 2013 by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, who had previously built high-frequency trading platforms for financial institutions in New York City. The company’s name comes from its mission to “provide everyone with access to the financial markets, not just the wealthy”. Tenev noted that executing a trade cost brokerages “fractions of a penny” but they typically charged fees of $5 to $10 per trade, as well as required account minimums of $500 to $5,000.
The startup offers commission-free U.S. equity and options trading, as well as margin and extended hours trading through Robinhood Gold. Robinhood is one of the fastest-growing brokerage ever. It currently has over five million users and billions of dollars in transaction volume.
On March 2, 2020, we wrote about how Robinhood suffered a systemwide. It’s platform crashed and missed the entire day of trading during the largest daily point gain in the Dow Jones’ history, preventing users from performing most actions on the platform, including opening and closing position.