China-based social media network Renren has invested $40m in US-based stock trading platform Motif Investing, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The series E capital brought Motif’s overall equity funding to $126m. Investment banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase backed a $35m series D round in May 2014, after Goldman Sachs had invested in its $25m series C the revious year, along with Norwest Venture Partners.
Motif’s other investors include Foundation Capital, Ignition Partners, Balderton Capital and Wicklow Capital.
The company enables users to create, share and invest in baskets of stock aligned to common themes such as precious metals or online gaming, paying only a single $9.95 commission. To date the site has attracted some 120,000 users.
Motif will use the series D funding to expand the tools its offers for wealth managers and financial advisors to manage their clients’ portfolios. The company hopes to enter the UK and Hong Kong markets this year, as well as to eventually expand into mainland China with Renren’s help.