Vestly lets you win cash for picking stocks

By Jordan Crook for Techcrunch.com

For some, the stock market can be a tricky and seemingly dangerous place. Even with apps like Robinhood, that make buying and selling stock super simple, users still have skin in the game.

With Vestly, incubated by Foundermark, you get the same fun of playing the stock market without putting up any money.

Here’s how it works:

Users log on to the platform and give up some basic information, via a required Facebook log-in, and then get started picking their stocks. This might be the most difficult part of the process, as there are no curated selections or added information in the process of creating a portfolio.

Instead, Vestly asks you to enter the stock symbol or name of the company you’d like to purchase virtual stock from.

The company operates under a theory that comes from Peter Lynch, author of Beating the Street, that says the chances of success are greater when users invest in companies that they use, know, and believe in. Vestly educates users to do the same, choosing their portfolio based on the companies they use and love the most.

However, users are encouraged to educate themselves on the market and the performance of various stocks before creating their portfolio.

At the end of the month, 100 people with the top portfolios will split $10,000, with the highest ranking players taking home more of the prize. The company also offers a longer-term prize for folks each six months, in the form of a new car, an Audi Q3 Quattro.

The company wouldn’t elaborate on a business model, but you can see where this type of data, from the everyday consumer, might be useful to various financial institutions like hedge fund managers and e-trading platforms.

Not only does this data identify future players in the stock market, but it also helps identify various stocks that might be flying under the radar.

Vestly recently raised $4 million in seed funding. You can learn more about Vestly here.

First appeared at Techcrunch.com