Shares
“Can a social-first retail investing app build durable user retention by making investing a community activity rather than a solitary one?”
Founded2021
HQParis, France
Total raised$50M
Latest roundSeries A, March 2022
IndustryFintech / Investment
The story
Founded in 2021, Shares launched as a social-first retail investing platform allowing users to buy and sell stocks while following friends' portfolios and engaging in community discussion. The company raised $50M in its first nine months, initially targeting UK consumers before planning European expansion. The embedded finance angle centers on a mobile-native investment experience built on top of third-party ledger infrastructure (Formance), differentiating on UX and social engagement rather than proprietary financial rails.
Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2021
Founded in France with $10M seed round led by Valar Ventures; developed social investment app concept.· pivot
2022
Raised $40M Series A, launched app on App Store and Google Play exclusively in the UK with a social-first retail investing platform.· banking
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Shares’s embedded-finance stack
Ledger
Accounting gap: none