Robinhood Markets Inc this Thursday announced a new offering that will allow retail investors to buy shares in IPOs, something that has been only available to Wall Street funds in the past.
The new offering, called IPO Access, was first reported on in March. Sources informed reporters that Robinhood will offer some of the company’s own shares for sale on the platform.
“Most IPOs are usually open only to institutions. With IPO Access, all investors have the option to get in at the IPO level,” Robinhood said on their blog.
Robinhood will partner with large banks to get IPO allocations for their customers, the company said. This new platform will be open to everyone, without restrictions. It intends to list upcoming IPOs for its investors.
While Robinhood did not say which exact offerings will be available, FIGS Inc this Thursday was the first firm to give its shares to investors in this way. The creator of face masks, medical scrubs, and shields is reserving 1% of its 22.5 million shares for Robinhood customers.
Also, several other big names, like delivery app Instacart, EV maker Rivian and Brazilian digital bank Nubank, are expected to have an IPO later this year.
Robinhood is expected to gradually open the IPO Access program to all users in the next few weeks.
Robinhood’s strategy, if adopted by more financial institutions, would be another disruption for tech companies that have been trying to erode the firm grip of Wall Street’s biggest banks on the market.
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