Draper Esprit participates in $69 million Series B in investment platform Freetrade

Draper Esprit, a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, today announces that it has  participated in a $69m Series B investment round in Freetrade, the commission-free investment platform. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with the growth fund of  L Catterton also joining alongside Draper Esprit. Freetrade will use the funds to accelerate its growth in international markets and allow the team to scale the  product. 

Freetrade, unlike traditional DIY brokers in the UK, does not charge commission on  individual trades, with the aim of getting everyone investing. Freetrade’s goal is to  help customers achieve better financial outcomes at low cost and educate new and  experienced investors in developing long-term investing habits. In line with this,  Freetrade doesn’t earn revenues via payment for order flow, nor does it offer complex  leveraged derivative products to its customers. Freetrade has seen explosive growth in  the last 12 months as markets everywhere have seen increased retail investor  participation.  

Freetrade was founded by CEO Adam Dodds and CMO Viktor Nebehaj, with the app  launching in the UK in 2018. Draper Esprit led the company’s Series A in 2019.  Freetrade now ranks as the second most active broker by number of trades on a daily basis according to league tables released by London Stock Exchange for its Retail Service Provider network and this points to Freetrade’s commission-free model expanding the market and making it feasible for everyone to invest, starting with  smaller sums of money.  

This latest investment follows a number of recently announced new and follow-on investments from Draper Esprit including Focalpoint, Riverlane, Graphcore and CoachHub. 

Commenting on the round, Adam Dodds, Founder and CEO of Freetrade, said: Draper Esprit has been an incredible supporter of our mission to get everyone  investing. This funding round will accelerate our growth across Europe and allow us to  launch even more features for our product. As we scale-up, to serve millions more  across Europe, we are remaining laser focused on building a product that will help our  customers achieve better financial outcomes.” 

Commenting on the round, Will Turner, Managing Partner, Growth Fund at Draper  Esprit said: “We have seen the impact that investment platforms can have on public markets in  the last 12 months, but we are proud that Freetrade remained focused on acting in the  interests of its customers – everyday investors and traders. We continue to believe in  democratising access to the markets and are delighted to welcome Left Lane Capital