Popular stock trading app Webull has acquired Mexican investment platform Flink, giving it an entry into the Mexico market.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Although Webull has China roots, it is based in the United States and rivals Robinhood in the country as a low-commission online trading platform that also offers cash management. It recently moved its global headquarters from New York to St. Petersburg, Florida.
Founded in 2017, Mexico City-based Flink has raised $70 million in funding, including a $57 million Series B that was announced in August of 2021. Backers include Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, ALLVP, Clocktower and Mantis Venture Capital (founded by The Chainsmokers). The startup gives Mexican consumers a way to invest in fractional shares of U.S.-listed companies without commissions.
As part of the transaction, Webull is also picking up Mexican brokerage Vifaru Casa de Bolsa, which Flink agreed to purchase in May 2022.
At the time of Flink’s last raise, CEO and co-founder Sergio Jiménez Amozurrutia told TechCrunch it felt unfair that in his country of more than 120 million people, only a tiny fraction of the population had the ability to invest in the capital markets.
Flink launched its app in 2018 with a wallet service, a digital and physical global debit card backed by Mastercard and in 2020, it began offering the ability to buy and sell fractional shares from 30 pesos, without commissions, for NYSE-listed stocks. As of August 2021, it had 1.6 million users. It is not known how many it has today.
In a written statement, Ruben Guerrero, Webull’s head of Latin America, described the Mexican market as one with “a young and vibrant population that has a strong and untapped demand for technology-based wealth building solutions.”
He added: “We believe the early success of Flink is proof of this demand, and that Webull’s approach of using technology to provide low-cost access to global markets for investors in all economies is a perfect fit for Mexico. We anticipate building on Flink’s success by offering its customers a broader set of investment products, user-friendly technology, and world-class support.”
Flink’s customers will continue to have access to trading U.S. stocks over the Flink platform. In coming months, Webull plans to integrate its own technology into the platform and launch local Mexican investment and cash management products.
The Webull trading platform launched in the United States in 2018 through a subsidiary of Webull that is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA member. Today, it has over 8 million opened accounts globally. With the addition of Mexico, Webull now operates in nine markets, including the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa, Japan, and the U.K.
Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up for The Interchange here.
techcrunch.com
