Reddit vs. Robinhood
AngelList Weekly
 Fintech behemoth Robinhood drew the ire of Reddit this week when it restricted trades of GameStop amid an epic short squeeze that’s causing havoc from Wall Street to the White House.
Members of the 4M strong #wallstreetbets subreddit were apoplectic to learn Robinhood and other trading platforms restricted trading after they successfully drove GameStop to astronomical heights.
Investors invoked Braveheart, Michelle Obama, and comic book villain Bane to encourage others to keep the squeeze on hedge funds that bet against GameStop with short positions. VC Chamath Palihapitiya got in on the fun, buying $115k of the stock, turning a quick profit, and then donating $500k to the Barstool Fund for small businesses.
The “meme stock” frenzy dealt serious damage to two of the targeted hedge funds, Melvin Capital and Citron Research, and led other well-known shorters to pump the brakes. The biggest loser so far: $20B fund D1 Capital Partners reported a 20% loss.
Ripple effects were felt elsewhere. The White House said it was monitoring the situation, and Senator Elizabeth Warren called on regulators “wake up and do their jobs.”
Meanwhile, Bank of America Corp. analysts, responding to GameStop’s roller-coaster ride, raised their price target to $10 from $1.60 — and reiterated their underperform recommendation. Hot startups hiring now 🔥
Funding and acquisitions Booksy, a Polish-founded appointment booking and payments management platform, raised a $70M Series C led by Cat Rock Capital. Founded in Poland and now headquartered in San Francisco, Booksy claims 13M active users. The company started with a focus on the beauty and wellness industries and has expanded to include gyms. New York-based Rhino, which offers an alternative to home rental security deposits, raised $95M in a round led by Tiger Global Management. Rhino provides an insurance product to real estate companies, allowing them to forgo traditional rental deposits from tenants. The company charges renters a monthly fee to cover the insurance policy for the landlord. San Francisco-based fintech startup Fast raised a $102M Series B led by Stripe and Addition. Fast lets shoppers log into websites and check out, without having to enter information more than once. It also allows users to purchase items without going into a shopping cart. Stripe also led the company’s $20M Series A. |
