Black Company Raises $6.1 Million For New Social Livestream App For Traders and Financial Content Creators

Calling itself a social live stream and immersive chat platform for traders and financial content creators, Trading.TV has raised $6.1 million in seed funding.

The company, led by founder and CEO Tobias Heaslip, swears it is the first and only fintech platform built for the creator economy. According to a news release, sitting at the intersection of finance and entertainment, the firm maintains it’s like the lovechild of Twitch and Slack.

The platform claims it allows creators to develop and share financial content ranging from stock, crypto, and rare sneakers to NFTs or non-fungible tokens. NFTs can include a broad range of unique items such as digital artwork, sport trading cards, and furniture that can be acquired through blockchain technology.

Driven by culture and not solely by markets, the New York-based Trading.TV declares it will allow creators to meet their community online. The company reports it is currently handpicking the first 50 creators to join the closed beta, unlocking new ways to monetize their content.

The firm is offering immediate support to the first group of creators joining the platform through a $1 million creator fund. Plans call for the business to use the seed funding to scale up and invest in platform growth ahead of public availability expected to occur this fall.

Trading.TV aims to eventually become a full-fledged trading platform, giving users the ability to buy and sell underlying assets they discover from creators. It hopes that will remove the friction between idea generation and investment execution for millions of fans, followers, and audiences worldwide.

A millennial Black entrepreneur, Heaslip spent over a decade as a trader at some of the world’s largest institutional banks and hedge funds, according to Trading.TV. He worked in analytics and buy-and-sell roles at such firms as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays.

In a letter, he stated, “During that time, I saw firsthand the power investing has to build wealth, and the institutional barriers that stand in most people’s way of achieving financial independence. But I also saw a confluence of two extremely powerful trade winds that could help even the playing field — new traders and new asset classes.” Those developments inspired him to build Trading.TV.

“We’re opening up revenue opportunities that previously didn’t exist for creators by combining content and community with the ability to buy and sell the underlying assets that creators are talking about.”

Heaslip reflected further on his new venture in an email to BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“We’ve never seen a moment like this where so many people — particularly younger generations — care about financial markets. But the system is still only set up to benefit a small group.”

He added, “By building a platform that is digitally native, values diversity of interests and assets, and puts inclusion at its center, we hope to unlock financial wellbeing for millions of people that haven’t previously felt welcome in the financial conversation.”

Creators desiring more details or interested in applying for Trading.TV’s closed beta can do so here.