Vietnam-based Anfin makes stock investing accessible – TechCrunch

Based in Vietnam AnfinWith features such as fractional trading and in app communities, wants to make more stock investors. Today, Y Combinator alum Clement Benoit, founder of Stuart and Not So Dark and Y Combinator, announced that it raised a $4.8million Series A. The round included Rebel VC and Kharis Capital as well as Newman Capital, First Check Ventures and Micro Ventures. Springcamp was also included.

The funding will be used on Anfin’s product development, especially its social investment features, including one that lets users host and join live audio rooms. The app’s proprietary stock trading platform includes stock profiling and risk assessment. It also plans on offering more financial asset classes to go along with its 300 stocks and nine ETFs.

You can start investing with as little at 10,000 VND (or approximately 40 U.S.cents), which gives you access to stocks you might not otherwise have the means to purchase. Like other investment apps aimed at Gen Z and millennial users (90% of Anfin’s users are 18 to 35 years old), Anfin has educational content about stock market fundamentals.

Hiep Nayen, Phuoc Trn, Chi Pham and Michael Do launched Anfin on October 2021. Its founders claim it has been downloaded over a million times since then. This is due to increased interest in mobile banking during the COVID-19 pandemic. It now boasts 100,000 funded accounts. Deposits have reached up to $5million and $10 million in total transactions value.

The startup is the latest in Southeast Asia to receive venture capital funding. Pintu, Pluang and Bibit are some other examples.

Do told TechCrunch that Anfin’s founders got interested in a stock trading app “by observing the disconnect from the increasing demand of stocks as an asset class with the increasing cost of investing in the stock market. Specifically, Vietnam changed its trading lot size from 10 shares to 100 shares, which meant blue chip stocks cost $400 to $600 for one full lot.”

As a result, Anfin’s founders saw an opportunity to lower the cost of investing by offering fractional shares and becoming a liquidity provider, or charging a spread for instant settlement. Do added that fractional trading is Anfin’s most popular features, with average transaction values of $20.

One factor in Anfin’s favor is the Vietnamese government’s goal of increasing the amount of peopleInvestors in stocks range from 3% to 5% in 2021, and 10% to 2030.

Anfin’s social investment product allows users to communicate with one another. It also includes a newsfeed ranking algorithm and the use of a “bull and bear”-like system that identifies and features top traders on the app, Do said.

“Building this feature directly in the app reinforces trust as the investment profile features metrics that highlight an investor’s track record and risk level,” Do said. The app will eventually offer influencer-driven incentives (Do saidThe team prefers social investing to copy trading.

Anfin makes money through trading commissions. Do saidThe app does not accept payment for order flow (PFOF), nor sell its user data. Instead, it integrates directly with brokerage partners and order for its users through Vietnam’s regulated exchanges. It also offers a subscription feature called Anfin VIP, which gives the startup recurring revenue.

Benoit gives a prepared statement. said, “Democratizing access to stock trading with a social layer through a simple and friendly product is definitely the answer to a large untapped market in Asia. I have no doubt that this Series A funding will allow Anfin to scale beyond Vietnam and become a reference in social trading.”