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.
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC. That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend — on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived. In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to the company’s own platforms, which come with their own price tags.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
