The rise of China’s Robinhoods

Every day, 100k+ smart people read our newsletter. You can sign up here.

Hi readers,

2021 has been a weird year so far. All of my friends seemed to have become techie adults overnight, diving into conversations about Gamestop, Tesla stocks, and Dogecoin in every single meetup. Even my researcher friend, who has always talked about the molecular biology of cells, started teaching me about decentralized finance (DeFi) recently.

During these conversations, two apps come up often: Tiger Brokers and Moomoo. Both are certainly new to my ears, and they are also the stars of today’s big story.

Today we look at:

• The Robinhoods of China that are getting bigger and bigger
• A Singapore-based ecommerce startup that aims to go public getting funding
• Other newsy highlights such as Foodpanda’s plan to launch tech hub in Taiwan and a cybersecurity firm’s US$250 million fundraise

PREMIUM SUMMARY

China’s Robinhoods are stealing the hearts of youngsters in Singapore

Millennials and Gen Z-ers are charging into the investing world with guns blazing due to lockdowns and having more free time at home. This is much to the delight of stock-trading apps including US-based Robinhood, which achieved a 67% increase in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019. And it’s not just Robinhood reaping the benefits – the region’s stock-trading apps are also seeing a huge boom.

• The Chinese Robinhoods: Moomoo and Tiger Brokers are the two hot entrants that have quickly snapped up second and third place respectively for the most downloaded apps in the finance category. Tiger is owned by UP Fintech while Moomoo belongs to Futu, both of which are Chinese fintech companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
• The numbers are poppin’: The total quantity of shares that have traded on both platforms in the past year are on the up and up: Tiger saw a 200% increase in trading volumes from 2019 to 2020 while Moomoo generated a 438% growth.
• Not so Robinhood after all: Robinhood is famous for its zero trading commissions. Instead, it earns its keep from selling order flows to market makers. On the other hand, a bulk of Tiger’s and Moomoo’s 2020 incomes relied on trading commissions, with other incomes generated from services such as margin trading.

Read more: China’s Robinhoods steal young traders from Singapore’s old-school brokerages

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

More money for ecommerce

Singapore-based cross-border ecommerce enabler SCI Ecommerce has raised over US$37.5 million in a round led by Southeast Asia-focused VC firm Asia Partners.

It’s the year of exits