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Bid prices for Robinhood’s private shares have risen from roughly $15 per share over the last year to just under $60. Those bids rose dramatically between January and March. In that three-month period, Robinhood was forced to turn to its VC backers for $3.4 billion in emergency capital during the meme stock frenzy through a convertible note, at up to a $33 billion valuation.
The public relations crisis that followed the brokerage’s decision to halt trades, which dominated the U.S. news cycle for several days, ultimately served as a major growth event for the company. Users downloaded the app 1 million times during a few-day period in February, resulting in 18 million funded accounts as of the end of the first quarter. The company’s revenue rose 309% in the first quarter, to $522 million. “All that really happened was their brand was emboldened,” said Rainmaker Managing Director Greg Martin.
