“Can a mobile-first fractional investing app become the default gateway for emerging-market retail investors to access US equities — without owning the brokerage or FX infrastructure?”
Founded in 2019 as TR8, Gotrade relaunched under its current brand after securing a Labuan securities license in Malaysia. The company's core thesis is enabling retail investors in emerging markets — particularly Southeast Asia — to buy fractional shares of US-listed equities from as little as $1, commission-free. Rather than building a full broker-dealer stack in-house, Gotrade is layered on top of Alpaca Securities LLC (a FINRA-licensed US broker-dealer) and uses local regulatory partners (e.g. PT Valbury Asia Futures for Indonesia) to navigate country-specific regulations. International money movement is handled via Wise Platform, reducing FX friction for cross-border funding.
Gotrade discloses Alpaca (self-operated by Alpaca Securities LLC as introducing broker) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Gotrade does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Alpaca (self-operated by Alpaca Securities LLC as introducing broker).
Gotrade uses Onfido for KYC and identity verification.
Gotrade uses Wise Platform for FX and cross-border payouts.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Gotrade's stack: Banking / BaaS (Alpaca (self-operated by Alpaca Securities LLC as introducing broker)); KYC (Onfido); FX & payouts (Wise Platform).
Gotrade was founded by Rohit Mulani, David Grant, Andrew Haryono and Norman Wanto and is founded in 2019, headquartered in Singapore (operational); Labuan, Malaysia (licensed entity).
Gotrade has raised $22.5M in total (latest round: Series A, April 2022).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Gotrade and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.