HomeFrance-StartupsParis-based Shares.io raises €8.5 million to launch first social and investing app 

Paris-based Shares.io raises €8.5 million to launch first social and investing app 

Shares.io, the creator of an “investing made social” Shares app for launch in early 2022, has landed around 8.5 million in pre-seed pre-product funding. 

Shares’ VC & Angel investors include Singular (lead investor), Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Red Sea Ventures to date. André Mohamed, Co-Founder of Freetrade, Didier Valet, ex Deputy CEO of Société Générale, Chris Adelbach, Managing Partner of Outrun Ventures & UKBAA Angel Investor of the Year, and Ryan McKillen, Founding Team of Uber are currently business advisors.

Founded early 2021, Shares is a consumer mobile app and social-first platform for retail investors, designed from the ground up with user experience and community in mind, giving no-minimum, no-fees access to 1,500 stocks. Waitlist is now open to subscribers, who will be the first to access Shares on day one of launch.

Led by CEO & Co-Founder Benjamin Chemla, serial entrepreneur with a track record that includes co-founding Stuart in 2015. Six years later, Stuart is the European leader in last-mile logistics, continues its rapid growth trajectory and employs more than 600 people. 

The Shares Co-Founders and Benjamin, CEO have quickly assembled 35 experienced scaleup veterans to-date, ready to launch Europe’s first fully integrated social and investing app in less than a year. In addition to accelerated product development, Shares will quickly go-to-market in a highly regulated industry and comply with requirements that include KYC, AML and MAR. The startup will use its recent fundraise to continue to scale at pace on a mission to empower users with tools that open doors to first-time investors and increase financial inclusion.   

Shares is creating a whole new investing app category where anyone, including new investors can start conversations, network and learn from friends and experts as a community – together in a one-stop shop with all their portfolio management needs. Shares aims to be a market-leading app with low barriers to entry, including access to invest from £1.00/around 1.1 – and no trade fees – across 1,500 US stocks. The Shares app will truly democratise investing with a serious finance platform that inspires confidence for any user to build their own successful portfolio.

Designed to be social-first, Shares combines the functionality of a consumer investment app with the wisdom of online forums, where members can buy stocks, react to the market in real-time, start conversations with friends and access curated expert advice in one place. In addition to the Invest platform, Shares enables community and private Chat to network, learn, track friends and grow individual portfolios (as well as make Group stock indexes with Friends) from the app. Additionally, Shares’ curated market intelligence feed, Spotlight, allows Shares members to build their financial awareness and educate themselves about investing, the biggest industry trends and offer supportive guides on tax, regulation and compliance.

Benjamin Chemla, CEO and Co-Founder of Shares describes the product as an “entirely new category of fintech investing platform that resonates with today’s investors. We founded Shares, ‘investing made social’ for investors who prioritise user experience and community first, and also expect a serious platform to build their portfolio.” He added: “Building Shares wouldn’t have been possible without the seasoned team of scaleup experts we’ve assembled across the business to achieve this product, in record time, without sacrificing quality. There is still untapped market opportunity in this high-growth fintech space and Shares is uniquely positioned as Europe’s first social and investing app to fast become a leader in the industry. 

Shares is a proudly international and fast growing team of 35 today, representing 10 nationalities based across three offices in Paris, London and Krakow so far. Talent has been drawn from leading scaleups including Revolut, Stuart, Bumble, and FreeNow with diverse expertise applied to build the one-of-a-kind Shares app. 

James Fitzgerald, Founding Partner at Valar Ventures and VC supporter of Shares said: Valar invested in the team at Shares with confidence in their ability to overcome the technical challenges and execute the project in a matter of months to get to market. Congratulations to Shares for executing the launch of Europe’s first social-focused investing app – a feat of engineering, finance and regulatory know-how.

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Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte is the previous Editor at EU-Startups.com. She spends her time scouting the next big story, managing our contributor team, and getting excited about social impact ventures. She has previously worked as a Communications Consultant for number of European Commission funded startup projects.
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