New York-based Aussie venture Roboinvest raises $125,000

Roboinvest, an Australian-founded web start-up that tracks financial trades in real time, has secured $125,000 in funding from a selection of New York-based investors.

The business was only officially launched in January this year by its founder Michael Giles, an Australian who has based himself in the New York in order to grow the venture.

Giles regularly blogs for StartupSmart about his entrepreneurial journey in the Big Apple.

The new investment comes from ARC Angel Fund, a group of 71 member investors who have stakes in 11 other start-ups, along with extra cash from individual moneymen Jim Nichols and Joe Saviano.

Nichols is a stock market trader while Saviano is chief financial officer of Baker Capital, a $1.5 billion private equity fund.

Roboinvest received previous seed capital from serial Australian entrepreneur Dominic Carosa. The business made the final of a global televised pitching competition for financial services start-ups in January.

Roboinvest works by allowing users to track and match the financial trades of experienced investors, allowing them to make similar wins from the stock market.

Since launching, the business has catered to more than three million customers and has received widespread media coverage in the US.

Giles says: “We believe in the power of slow; that great companies are built over time and not overnight.”

“This funding is a small step towards achieving our goals. I want to thank Jim, Joe and ARC for believing in me and our team, as well as our seed round investors for their continued support.”