Robinhood Markets Inc. is coming to Charlotte.
The Silicon Valley fintech company, which operates a no-fee stock trading service and recently made headlines amid the GameStop stock controversy, expects to add 389 jobs in the Queen City by 2025. The company anticipates it will make an approximately $11.8 million investment in Charlotte, with $5.9 million of that in real property.
Robinhood is eligible to receive nearly $4 million in state incentives, including a $3 million Jobs Development Investment Grant over a 12-year term and more than $544,600 from the N.C. Community Colleges System. The city of Charlotte is offering up to $157,726. As much as $1 million could be funneled into the state’s industrial development fund-utility account from the project.
In total, Robinhood could receive up to $3.7 million from state and local incentives.
The company explored other sites in North Carolina as well as Fort Mill; Denver; Tempe, Arizona; and St. Louis before landing on Charlotte. The fintech company has offices in the Denver and Phoenix metro areas already but may have been considering further expansion in those markets.
The North Carolina economic investment committee, part of the N.C. Department of Commerce, voted to approve state incentives at its meeting on Tuesday morning.
In Charlotte, the company's office is expected to be at 650 South Tryon, part of the Legacy Union office project by developer Lincoln Harris, as previously reported by the Charlotte Business Journal. Although it didn't mention a location, Robinhood said in a statement on Tuesday it expected to open the Charlotte office in September. The company hopes to hire more than 100 locally this year.
The Charlotte office will include customer experience roles, including analysts, customer service staff and operations personnel. Already, there are several dozen job postings for Charlotte similar to other markets Robinhood already has a presence in. The expected average annual wage for Robinhood jobs in Charlotte is $76,450.
“Charlotte is known for its talented and diverse workforce, making it an easy choice as we looked to expand our operations,” said Alex Mesa, head of customer experience for Robinhood, in a statement. “We’re confident that Charlotte’s workforce will further contribute to our mission and lower the barriers to investing for all. We’re thrilled to join the Charlotte community.”
Robinhood is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The company, founded in 2013, recently filed initial public offering paperwork.
