Public Holdings, Inc.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial technology |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Founder | Leif Abraham, Jannick Malling |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | United States, United Kingdom |
| Products | Electronic trading platform, cryptocurrency trading, fractional bond investing, Treasury accounts, options trading, automated investment accounts, margin investing, direct indexing |
| Website | public |
Public Holdings, Inc. operates under the names Public and Public.com as a U.S.-based financial technology firm headquartered in New York City. It provides an electronic trading platform designed for the exchange of financial assets.
History
Established in 2019 by Leif Abraham and Jannick Malling, Public distinguished itself early by eliminating payment for order flow (PFOF) in February 2021, opting instead for a tip-based revenue approach. That same month, the company launched an advertising campaign featuring Michael Bolton to emphasize its opposition to PFOF.
In October 2021, Public broadened its offerings to include cryptocurrency trading, initially supporting ten digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The firm expanded its operations into the United Kingdom in July 2023.
By December 2023, Public pioneered fractional bond investing on its platform and introduced a Treasury account feature aimed at facilitating T-bill acquisitions. The following January, it rolled out options trading accompanied by a rebate initiative that effectively lowered transaction fees below zero. In August 2024, Public debuted an automated investment account focused on corporate bonds yielding returns higher than Treasurys.
Margin investing was incorporated into Public’s services in November 2024, followed by the launch of direct indexing for retail clients with a minimum investment threshold of $1,000 in October 2025.
Acquisitions
Public expanded through acquisitions beginning in January 2022 with the purchase of Hypercharts, a platform specializing in stock data visualization. Two months later, it acquired Otis, allowing users to invest fractionally in alternative assets like fine art and collectibles.
In April 2024, Public took over TradeApp brokerage accounts from Stocktwits. Subsequently, in August, it acquired startup stock marketplace accounts from Carta after controversy arose over Carta’s use of private data to facilitate customer sales.
Financing
In March 2020, Public secured $15 million during a Series B funding round led by Accel and Greycroft. This round also included investors such as Dreamers VC (co-founded by Will Smith and Keisuke Honda), J.J. Watt, Advancit Capital led by Shari Redstone, Sophia Amoruso, Casey Neistat, Scott Belsky, and Morgan DeBaun.
Later that year in December 2020, the company raised $65 million through a Series C round spearheaded by Accel with participation from Lakestar, Greycroft, Advancit Capital, Tony Hawk, and the Mantis venture fund backed by the Chainsmokers.
By February 2021, Public had amassed $220 million at a valuation of $1.2 billion from existing stakeholders including Greycroft, Accel, Tiger Global Management, and Inspired Capital.
Recognition
- Featured among the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company (2022)
- Ranked on the Forbes Fintech 50 list (2022)
- Honored as a Forbes Best Workplace (2023)
- Included in CNBC's top 250 fintech firms (2024)