Smartkarma (company)
 | |
| Private | |
| Founded | (September 2014) |
| Founder | Jon Foster, Raghav Kapoor, Lee Mitchell |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
Area served | Worldwide |
Number of employees |
|
| Website |
www |
Smartkarma is a FinTech company servicing the global asset management industry. It owns and operates a digital marketplace that provides investment insight into Asian markets. Smartkarma is currently the world’s only investment research provider to offer a streaming service.[1]
Launched in 2014, Smartkarma is Asia’s largest independent marketplace for investment research.[2] As of September 2016, the company had over 70 contributing firms, 400 individual insight providers and over 140 institutions active on its platform.[2]
History
The company was co-founded by Singapore-based financiers, Raghav Kapoor, Jon Foster and Lee Mitchell in 2014.[1] The company's founders worked together at Aviate Global (Asia) prior to its acquisition by Religare Capital Markets in 2010.[3]
The idea for Smartkarma was reportedly conceived in the attic of Co-Founder, Raghav Kapoor. During the first three months of operations, the founders injected sufficient personal capital to cover all costs for the first year of operations.[3]
Smartkarma’s platform officially launched from closed beta in April 2016.[4]
The company successfully closed its second round of funding in June 2016 at $4.7 million USD. The funding was used to assist Smartkarma's overseas expansion.[5] The second round of funding brought the total capital raised by the company to $7.5 million USD.[6]
Current Smartkarma investors include Wavemaker Partners, Jungle Ventures, an arm of the Singapore government, and an investment group led by Koh Boon Hwee, former Chairman of Singapore Telecommunications.[7]
Product
Users access Smartkarma's platform by paying a yearly subscription fee. Smartkarma pays all of its contributing research analysts a monthly fee based on the reach and influence of their articles.[8]
Users can choose to use Smartkarma’s predictive search-and-sort feature which filters content published on the platform, creating customized reading lists for users based on their specific fields of interest.[2] Smartkarma’s customizable platform is designed to help investors improve their research spend and enhance returns while accessing a wide range of global analysis on the Asian markets.[9]
Smartkarma follows the likes of AIREX Markets in the United States and Electronic Research Interchange (ERIC), which both provide online research products.[9]
Reception
Smartkarma's reception by the financial press has been positive. In June 2016, Bloomberg described Smartkarma as the "Spotify" of Asian investment research.
Awards
Smartkarma won the Best New Technology Product 2016 for Trading and Execution by Futures and Options World on September 22 2016.[10]
References
- 1 2 yoolimleenews, Yoolim Lee (2016-06-01). "Smartkarma, the Spotify of Asian Research, Raises $4.7 Million". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- 1 2 3 "Smartkarma launches collaborative marketplace to change investment research and analysis". Institutional Asset Manager. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- 1 2 "Asian-based Distribution Platform Smartkarma Goes Live • Integrity Research". Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- ↑ "Smartkarma Launches Investment Research 'Collaboration Marketplace'". Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- ↑ hermes (2016-06-08). "Start Singapore: Financial research firm raises $6.4m to expand". Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- ↑ "This startup wants to become the 'Spotify' for investment research". Singapore Business Review. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- ↑ "Smartkarma Completes Second Round of Funding for Research Marketplace". 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- ↑ "Here's how the 'Spotify for the investment research' lets analysts make money from the beach". Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- 1 2 "Smartkarma, A Marketplace For Asian Investment Research". 2016-08-02. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- ↑ "Futures & Options World". www.fow.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.