(Reuters) – Robinhood Markets Inc, the fintech startup credited with helping popularize trading among millennials, said on Monday it has raised $200 million in its latest funding from investment firm D1 Capital Partners at a valuation of $11.2 billion.
The funding round is widely being seen as a precursor to an initial public offering (IPO) by the company, which has benefited from a surge in day trading, driven by consumers stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Menlo Park, California-based startup raised $320 million in funding from new and existing investors at a valuation of $8.6 billion in July.
Robinhood is one of the hottest fintech startups in Silicon Valley, having consistently raised large sums at higher valuations from several marquee investors including Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital and Index Ventures. According to PitchBook, it has raised about $1.51 billion, excluding latest round.
The company, however, has been criticized for not doing enough to moderate excesses after one of its customers took his own life believing he had lost more than $730,000 using the free trading app.
Robinhood said in June it may make it harder for people to qualify for sophisticated options trading on its platform and would improve its user interface.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru)
