Vietnam-based Fintech startup Anfin announced on Wednesday they had secured $4.8 million in a pre-series A funding round led by Y Combinator and angel investor Clement Benoit. Other investors in the round included Rebel VC, Kharis Capital, Newman Capital, First Check Ventures, Micro Ventures, Springcamp, and AngelHub.
Anfin was launched in October 2021 by Hiep Nguyen, Phuoc Tran, Chi Pham and Michael Do. Since then, the startup has gained more than 100,000 funded accounts, with deposits reaching US$5 million and US$10 million in total transaction value.
Their latest funding will be allocated to Anfin’s product development, especially its social investment features, including one that lets users host and join live audio rooms.
The Vietnamese app’s proprietary stock trading platform includes stock profiling and risk assessment. And in addition to its current 300 stocks and nine ETFs, it also plans to offer more financial asset classes. Anfin will also provide a platform that allows credible investors to share ideas, strategies, and trades using tech-enabled profiling and risk assessment tools.
Phuoc, Anfin’s CEO and co-founder, said the funding is important to the firm’s next growth phase, with its goal to democratize access to diverse financial assets for retail investors in Vietnam.
In January this year, Anfin also raised $1.2 million in a seed round led by Goodwater Capital and Global Founders Capital (GFC) – the latter coming in as a returning investor.
‘Turn more people into stock investors’
In an interview with TechCrunch, Michael spoke about how all the founders got interested in a stock trading app “by observing the disconnect between the increasing demand of stocks as an asset class and the increasing cost of investing in the stock market.” He added that Vietnam has changed its trading lot size from 10 shares to 100 shares, which meant blue-chip stocks cost $400 to $600 for one full lot.
Because of that, Michael revealed that the founders saw the opportunity to lower the cost of investing by offering fractional shares and becoming a liquidity provider, or charging a spread for instant settlement. He added that Anfin’s most popular feature is fractional trading, with average transaction values of $20.
Anfin wants to turn more people into stock investors with features like fractional trading and in-app communities.
“Building this feature directly in the app reinforces trust as the investment profile features metrics that highlight an investor’s track record and risk level,” Michael said in the same TechCrunch interview. Eventually, the app will also include influencer-driven incentives, he said they prefer using the term social investing instead of copy trading.
The fintech startup monetizes through trading commissions. The app does not practice payment for order flow (PFOF) or selling user data. Instead, Anfin integrates directly with brokerage partners and orders for its users through Vietnam’s regulated exchanges. Additionally, its VIP subscription feature gives Anfin a source of recurring revenue.