Three months after closing a pre-see investment round, Vancouver fintech startup Blossom is publicly launching on the App Store.
The social network for retail investors, the first of its kind available to Canadians, received the investment round from Pareto Holdings, the venture fund co-founded by Shutterstock founder Jon Oringer.
Blossom bills itself as unique from existing social networks because it links to a user’s brokerage account, making it easy to share portfolio and trading activity.
Users can follow friends and top investors and get notified of their trades in real time, discovering new investment ideas from a community where opinions are backed up by performance.
“Investing is inherently social. The new generation of investors learn about stocks from group chats, Reddit, and Discord. Blossom aims to displace these channels by creating a platform built specifically for investors,” says Maxwell Nicholson, a Blossom co-founder & CEO.
Unlike Reddit and Discord, where opinions aren’t backed by data or performance, on Blossom, investors link their brokerage accounts and showcase a public profile of their portfolio and returns.
Nicholson left his high-paying job at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company a year ago to start Blossom in the middle of the pandemic. Co-founders Annika Ng and Kartik Bhutani joined full-time soon after.
“It’s been a roller-coaster of a journey to say the least, but it’s moments like these that make the journey so rewarding. I’m so proud of everything the team has accomplished in the last year and am excited to share what we’ve built with the world.”
Nicholson adds that launching in a bear market is not without its challenges, but he is optimistic for the future.
“It’s tough to see the red, red, red everyday, but it’s nice to open Blossom and see that you’re not the only one with losses. When stocks are going down there is also a lot of panic selling that goes on, and being part of a strong and knowledgable investor community is a good way to avoid making emotional investing decisions.”
Blossom launched its private beta in November and in advance of public launch already has a community of 300 investors sharing their portfolios and trades with their friends and the community.
Download Blossom on the App Store or Google Play.
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