Zero-commission brokerage start-up Robinhood said Tuesday it has picked up $13 million in series-A funding from venture capital firm Index Ventures.
The capital infusion would be used to hire engineers and designers and bring the Apple iOS-only app out of beta, co-founders Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt told CNBC.
The company, which launched its mobile trading platform earlier this year, also added a number of well-known Silicon Valley names to its board of directors, including Jan Hammer of Index Ventures, Box co-founder and CEO Aaron Levie, actor and musician Jared Leto and rapper Snoop Dogg, Tenev added.
Tenev said that the company sought to address an underserved market.
"Of the almost half-million people on the waiting list to use the Robinhood app, 80 percent are between the ages of 18 and 29," he said. "We think this is a very interesting part of the population that has been traditionally underserved by the financial companies."
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The start-up previously received $3 million in seed funding from Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Rothenberg Ventures, Tim Draper and Howard Lindzon's Social Leverage.
