Rubicoin, an investment app for small investors, has raised €1,040,000 in fresh funding, sourced through the Employment and Investment Incentive scheme. The funding brings to €3 million the total amount raised to date.
The company also announced that its Invest by Rubicoin app is now available to users around the world. To date, the app was only accessible to US customers but now worldwide investing in Rubicoin’s showroom is now possible.
Rubicoin says its aim is to demystify the stock market and create a fully accessible experience for would-be investors through a completely mobile-led offering.
Rubicoin’s founders are Emmet Savage, Fionnuala Coburn and John Tyrrell. Savage formerly worked as a sales executive with Vodafone and left the telco in October 2013 to start Rubicion.
Savage was a contributor to the American stocks site The Motley Fool for eight years and the Rubicoin business model is based on his talent for stock tipping.
In Association with
The ‘Invest by Rubicoin’ showcases shares in its showroom, stocks that Savage recommends to build an investment portfolio. The app is free but there’s an in-app purchase option, which costs €2, to find out which share Savage believes is the ‘Best Buy Now’.
The company has also created the free Learn by Rubicoin app for those interested in knowing more about the stock market before beginning to invest.
“Our latest funding round will assist our successful expansion into new markets, which is a very exciting prospect for us,” said Tyrrell. “We graduated from NovaUCD to our new offices on Merrion Row in Dublin with our team expansing from six to 13 employees.”
The company says its app downloads exceed 150,000.
The tech piece behind Rubicoin is that the app links up with selected brokerages. Investors can sign-in or sign-up for a brokerage account and tap to invest.
EII Investment
Rubicoin tapped EII investors for €360,000 in December 2013, €230,000 in December 2104 and €1 million in September 2015.
The company’s biggest backer is Avondhu Investments, an investment vehicle for Laya Healthcare prinicpals Donal Clancy and Dermot O’Connor, who became millionaires when Laya was taken over by AIG in 2015.
Avondhu invested €750,000 in September 2015 and €395,000 in the latest round. The Motley Fool invested €90,000 in the June 2016 funding round, following on from €159,000 invested in September 2015.
Another enthusiastic supporter of the venture is Cork investor Paul Coburn. The taxpayer is involved through a €250,000 investment made by Enterprise Ireland in March 2014.
