Robinhood introduced the ‘freemium’ model into the investment app ecosystem, challenging incumbents such as E*TRADE, Fidelty, and TD Ameritrade. Now, fintech newcomer Atom Finance is bringing free professional research to investors, banking on a user-friendly experience and high-quality tools to lure users away from pricey, high-end terminal and software subscriptions.
Atom Finance is challenging Bloomberg — whose eponymous terminal continues to dominate trading floors — by trying to develop a simpler product offering the depth of information that an institutional product might offer, but without a price tag that would break the bank for retail investors.
"A lot of the tools and information we are offering are things that have historically not been available to a larger audience, both due to price point and also just due to the fact that you know something like the Bloomberg Terminal takes two to three months to learn how to use," Eric Shoykhet, Founder & CEO at Atom Finance told Cheddar in an interview Tuesday.
Since launching its web platform in June and the mobile app in December, Atom Finance has netted more than 100,000 signups, with “north of 60,000 downloads” for its mobile app. Shoykhet said the company is planning to balance its free offering, while also introducing a premium product to generate revenue.
"The game plan is, for our web product, we're going to have a more, kind of institutional-style offering that we'll start charging for probably later this year," Shoykhet said. "On the mobile app, we're really just focused on continuing to build a great product and just getting it out there."
Atom Finance has raised a $10.6 million Series A led by General Catalyst, bringing its total funding to $12.5 million.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
