A Charlotte-based online brokerage firm that serves active retail traders is in growth mode after closing $24.6 million in Series B financing.
Founded a decade ago, Tradier offers developers, trading platform providers and individual investors an innovative trading platform and a set of real-time APIs. The capital boost will enable the company to move into nearly four times larger its current office space next month, Dan Raju, co-founder, chairman and CEO, told CBJ.
The firm's 2,400-square-foot office now is at 11016 Rushmore Drive in the Ballantyne area. Its new office, also in Ballantyne, will be 3420 Toringdon Way and span 8,500 square feet.
The additional funding will also provide traders and partners broader access to enhanced features, live content and more custom services.
"What we have done with our embedded finance product, we have made it super easy for the world to launch investing applications and investing services," Raju said. "Today, we service over 200 firms who actually have been investing applications on top of us."
The Series B funding round was led by PEAK6 Strategic Capital with participation from existing investors F-Prime Capital and KF Business Ventures. Tradier had $5.6 million in funding prior to the Series B round.
The funding comes after Tradier saw a record year for growth in 2022. Traders with accounts averaging $30,000 and performing about 150 trades per month joined the platform last year, the company said. Its equity share and option contract volumes also increased 100% year over year.
"We are able to offer a unique product that gives them the comfort, gives traders the service they deserve and gives them the technology that has created tremendous growth for us," Raju said. "And we expect that to continue again in the next 12 months."
Tradier said a new base of active retail traders are demanding more custom platforms and content engagement. The company called the trend the "graduation effect," where active retail investors are requesting a more differentiated brokerage offering over traditional single-platform services.
This year, Tradier plans to expand its products by providing an extended API offering, global debt funding, futures, crypto, a content hub and portfolio margin to service the growing trading market. Raju said the hub will provide one location for traders to find tools, create applications and publish them under a single platform.
While market conditions have been bearish, Tradier has been able to scale due to its unique business model, distinct customer base and investments in technology to keep costs down and effective, Raju said.
"Conditions like we're having right now — where the sentiment is bearish, where people are thinking twice, it's very important for firms to take that oath to always do the right thing and service those customers," he said.
