Fintech Focus Roundup For April 4, 2021

Fintech Spotlight: Brazilian Fintech Guru Looks To Launch Commission-Free Trading
In an effort to provide Brazilians better technology and infrastructure to access markets, Guru launched a free solution last year for accessing stock market news, company financials, stock quotes and more.

“I found out about Robinhood and I was amazed by their growth, valuation, fundraising, technology, and design,” co-founder Felipe Catão said.

“In Brazil, though, it’s very hard to be a financial institution, so we thought ‘how do we make our way into the game?’”

Competing brokers weren’t providing engaging user experiences and quality data to act on, Catão said.

“We saw an opportunity to start building a trading app that has all the market data information — news, charts, real-time quotes — everything you see in most American apps,” he said. “We started out building market data and a portfolio aggregator where we didn’t need any kind of regulation, and it was just informative.”

The idea was to empower people to make robust and informed investment decisions, increase the user base and later to offer users a way to act on the in-app insights.

Professional Fighters League Launches Digital Fan Token With Chiliz

PFL delivers a differentiated experience to over 450 million fans who are underserved in the fast-growing sport of MMA.

In late October, PFL announced a partnership with blockchain company Socios on digital assets that would provide fans with engagement opportunities, such as voting rights and the ability to earn rewards.

As of March 31, the Fan Token, listed under $PFL and minted on the Chiliz blockchain, will enable owners access to voting rights in polls, VIP rewards, exclusive league and sponsor promotions, AR-enabled features, chat forums, games, and competitions on Chiliz’ fan engagement and rewards mobile app Socios.com.

“As the first U.S.-based league to offer Fan Tokens and the sports league that continues to innovate with new technology, we’re excited to launch Fan Tokens with Socios.com and provide the 550 million MMA fans worldwide with engagement opportunities with the PFL, our fighters, and the action during our 2021 season,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said.

The token will be priced at $2 and, as soon as April 9, holders will be able to vote on fight cards.

Meet Zinvest, A New Take On Self-Directed, Passive Portfolio Management

Zinvest comes as a commission-free trading app and automated portfolio management service.

“Users can trade stocks, ETFs, bonds, China A-Shares, commission-free, on our platform,” founder Bingshan Song told Benzinga in a discussion on the company’s free trading app, which is listed on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Given recent trends and changing investment personalities, Zinvest procured the technology and finance talent to empower a new generation of investors.

"Customers can use our portfolio management system to build their own portfolio ... [which] will reduce equity positioning and increase bond holdings,” during stress, Song said.

The premium managed portfolio service charges quarterly a 1.5% annual management fee and requires a $3,000 minimum deposit.

Fintech Spotlight: OppFi CEO Talks Going Public, Prospects For Growth

OppFi powers banks to deliver credit access to the everyday consumer. The company has unlocked credit to the 60 million consumers with low income or credit.

Insurtech pioneer and OppFi CEO Jared Kaplan said he joined the company because he saw plenty of unsolved problems in the traditional lending space.

“What we built at OppFi is a financial technology platform that powers banks to offer credit access to the 60 million Americans that have been completely locked out of coverage,” Kaplan told Benzinga. “If you’ve got bad credit and no savings, and you need credit access and can’t get it, you’re in a very difficult situation.”

Social Influencers, Business Execs Launch Gen Z Venture Fund Called Animal Capital

As society transitions from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, into the so-called "Roaring Twenties," Animal Capital is launching the first Generation Z-focused venture capital fund, to promote innovation and scale in areas such as fintech, healthtech, and media, with the help of digital creator megastars at the founder-level.

Marshall Sandman, who is a former strategy, venture and business development executive for WarnerMedia and previously an investment banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and Michael Gruen, co-founder of Talent X, a talent and entertainment management company for digital creatives, will serve as managing partners.

Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck will serve as operating partners. Part of Animal’s advisory team is Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch; Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, a former Google, Amazon, and StubHub executive; Jana Messerschmidt of Lightspeed Venture Partners and #ANGELS; Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of Winklevoss Capital; and Jason Levine of NewFlow Partners.

"We're so excited to launch this brand-new model of VC investment, which will provide traditional resources to grow brands while also driving direct awareness among millions of potential customers," Richards said. "With the team we've assembled, I have no doubt that Animal Capital will set a new standard in the investment space."

How CrimeDoor Uses Augmented Reality, Supporting Content To Recreate Crime Scenes
True crime is the most popular genre of content.

That’s according to Emmy award-winning producer Neil Mandt and media veteran Lauren Mandt, the couple behind CrimeDoor, an augmented reality app that recreates crime scenes.

In a discussion on how to provide victims of crime a voice, the Mandt’s unpacked their backgrounds and the motives behind CrimeDoor.

Holler Raises $36M Series B To Invent A New 'Content Consumption Paradigm'

Led by a diverse team of technologists, digital animators and media veterans via proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Holler helps make peer-to-peer messages more engaging and effective for partners like Paypal Holdings Inc-owned Venmo.

As part of a vision to promote innovation in text- and app-based messaging, Holler raised a Series B co-led by CityRock Venture Partners and New General Market Partners with participation from WorldQuant Ventures, Towerview Ventures, Relevance Ventures, Interplay Ventures and Gaingels.

In total, Holler has raised more than $51 million.

“Holler is more than simply a groundbreaking technology company,” said CityRock Managing Partner Oliver Libby. “Under Travis Montaque’s visionary leadership, Holler boldly stands for a new era of ethics in social media, and also deeply reflects the values of diversity, inclusion, and belonging.”

Meet Sharewise, A Community For Stock Market Investing

Founded in 2007, Sharewise is a community for stock market investing.

The company was founded after the founders were unable to rate the track record of analysts and trade ideas posted to online forums.

“You listen to the guy who sounds most convincing, but you have no idea how often he is right or wrong with his predictions,” cofounder Stefan Nothegger told Benzinga. “This was the basic idea behind Sharewise. A lot of people tell you which stocks to buy, but we tell you how often they are right. We make it trackable.”

In the simplest way possible: Sharewise is a community of stock market investors and analysts to share their actionable trade ideas.