Robinhood upsizes funding round to raise an additional $320 million at a $8.6 billion valuation

via Business Insider

Retail investors aren’t the only ones pushing cash into Robinhood through the coronavirus pandemic.

The popular discount brokerage boosted its Series F funding round with an additional $320 million in closings, according to a Monday statement, bringing its post-money valuation to $8.6 billion. The funding comes from new and existing investors, including TSG Consumer Partners and IVP.

Robinhood’s Series F round was first announced on May 4. Sequoia Capital led the $280 million round alongside NEA, Ribbit Capital, and Unusual Ventures. The release touted the more than 3 million new Robinhood accounts created in the year to date and the fact that half of its new users in 2020 were first-time investors.

“Amid challenging times and market volatility, we’re humbled that people are turning to Robinhood to participate in the markets and build their financial future,” the brokerage said in its May release.

The Monday update brings the round’s total to $600 million. Robinhood plans to use the capital in hiring across offices, including a new Denver location, according to the May update.

The funding arrives amid a mass influx of retail investors to the still-choppy stock market. Casual day-traders seized on virus-fueled volatility and broke age-old market rules, piling into everything from beleaguered airlines to newly bankrupt Hertz.

Retail investor activity rose to 25% from about 15% of trading through the start of the year and serves as a “significant force” in the market, Joe Mecane, head of execution services at Citadel Securities, said Thursday.