Mumbai: Vested Finance, a Silicon Valley-based online investment platform that enables Indian investors to invest in the U.S. stock market, today announced it has raised a $3.6 million seed funding round with participation from Moving Capital, Ovo Fund, and TenOneTen Ventures in the U.S., and Inflection Point Ventures and Venture Catalysts in India. The company will use the new funds to accelerate product development and hire talent across the U.S. and India.
Vested is on a mission to enable sustainable wealth creation by allowing local investors to invest globally. Founded two years ago, the company saw rapid growth in 2020. 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.
“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,” said Viram Shah, CEO, and co-founder, Vested Finance. “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’s zero-commission online platform requires no minimum balance and allows investors to invest in U.S. stocks in minutes. Investors can choose individual stocks or ETFs, or select from a variety of “Vests,” Vested’s curated portfolios constructed with various goals, themes, and risk levels in mind.
“The United States is a global center of innovation, and people around the world can benefit from investing in the U.S. markets,” said Gil Elbaz, partner, TenOneTen Ventures. “Vested is bringing this cross-border investment opportunity to India and beyond, allowing local investors to diversify globally by spreading out their risk, and we’re excited about the possibilities Vested will bring to individuals in India, Southeast Asia, and around the globe.”
To facilitate Indian investors to invest in U.S. markets, Vested 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.
“By enabling local investors to invest in international markets, Vested Finance has taken the idea of sustainable wealth creation a step further,” said Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder and president, Venture Catalysts. “We see a lot of potential for disruption in its unique value proposition and are confident that the team at Vested Finance will continue to grow and scale, as it makes wealth creation simpler and more accessible to more investors across the globe.”
Vested is a recent graduate of the 2020 Techstars& Western Union accelerator in Denver, where the 2020 program thesis focused on access to better financial tools and services that will create a more equitable and inclusive financial system.
