“Can a social investing app become the AI-powered, multi-asset financial OS for retail investors by combining commission-free trading with AI research, fixed income, crypto, and high-yield savings?”
Founded in 2017 as a social investing app for commission-free fractional stock trading, Public expanded beyond equities into a multi-asset retail investment platform. By 2023, it had added Treasuries, High-Yield Cash Accounts, Bonds, and Direct Indexing — pivoting toward becoming a comprehensive wealth-building platform rather than just a social brokerage. The 2024 Series D-2 cemented a strategic focus on AI-driven investment research and expanded asset classes including Crypto IRAs and margin lending, positioning it as an AI-first investment platform competing with Robinhood and Fidelity.
Public discloses Apex Clearing as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Public does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Apex Clearing.
Public processes payments through Stripe.
Public uses Socure for KYC and identity verification.
Public connects to bank accounts through Plaid.
Public's crypto products run on Bakkt.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 6 layers in Public's stack: Payments / PSP (Stripe); Banking / BaaS (Apex Clearing); Lending (Margin lending and Instant buying power); Open banking (Plaid); KYC (Socure); Crypto (Bakkt).
Public is founded in 2017 and headquartered in New York, NY.
Public has raised $435M+ in total (latest round: Series D-2, 2024).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Public 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.