A partnership between digital trading technology company DriveWealth and India’s SV Capital will allow two of India’s largest stock brokers – Stockal and HDFC Securities – to offer their investors greater access to the U.S. stock market. The brokerage firms will leverage DriveWealth’s technology and brokerage execution, including its fractional share offering, to make it easier for investors in India to diversify their portfolios with investments in U.S. stocks.
“India is a very important market for us,” DriveWealth CEO Robert Cortright explained, “and this relationship has the potential to have a real impact on expanding opportunities for individuals to have straightforward, affordable online investing experiences related to brands they know and products they use on a daily basis.”
DriveWealth enables banks, wealth management firms, fintechs, consumer brands, and global businesses to build or add to their existing investment offerings. The company’s cloud-based technology powers real-time, dollar-based fractional share investing, digital roboadvisory portfolios, and features such as card-linked, round-up investing and stock-back, loyalty and rewards programs.
Importantly, for international partners, DriveWealth offers the ability for brokerages and other financial firms around the world to give their customers access to stocks, exchange-traded funds, and other assets that trade on U.S. exchanges. HDFC Securities Head of Digital Strategy and Analytics Nandkishore Purohit said that the partnership will able its Indian customers to participate in “global growth stories” and take advantage of investment opportunities outside India’s borders. Purohit also praised DriveWealth’s technology for its ease-of-use. “Being a completely digital platform,” Purohit said, “we strongly believe that customers will easily warm up to its user-friendly interfaces and will appreciate the simplicity of the investing process.”
DriveWealth has spent the year at a furious, partner-making pace. Leading up to this week’s announcement, DriveWealth has collaborated with Nigerian investment platforms, Bamboo and Chaka; partnered with Asia digital trading platform FastWealth, and teamed up with fellow Finovate alum Revolut to enable the U.K.-based fintech to offer its users commission-free trading in NYSE and NASDAQ-listed stocks. DriveWealth said that the partnership enabled it to acquire 20,000 customers in 36 hours.
DriveWealth demonstrated its technology at FinovateAsia 2016. The company, which won Best of Show, earlier that year, was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey. Since inception, DriveWealth has raised more than $29 million in funding from investors including Route 66 Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Raptor Group, and SBI Group.