Robinhood

Robinhood Markets, Inc. is a financial technology company founded in 2013 by Stanford graduates Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Robinhood aims to democratize access to financial markets by offering commission-free trading through a user-friendly mobile app. The company launched publicly in March 2015 as the first mobile-first brokerage in the U.S. with no minimum deposit, quickly gaining popularity and reaching 1 million users shortly after its debut. Robinhood provides a digital platform for commission-free trading of stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, and cryptocurrencies. The platform also offers retirement accounts, crypto wallets, and credit cards, along with features like fractional shares to make investing more accessible. With a focus on retail investors, particularly millennials and Gen Z, Robinhood has influenced the industry by prompting competitors to eliminate trading fees. The company went public in July 2021 and has raised over $5.73 billion across multiple funding rounds, employing around 2,300 people as of 2024.