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Stonks operates a live investment platform designed to democratize access to early-stage equity for a wider investor base. The company facilitates connections between emerging startups seeking capital and individual investors, offering a dynamic and interactive environment likened to live-streaming platforms. This innovative approach aims to make private market investments more transparent and engaging, allowing for direct interaction and real-time deal flow participation.
The company was co-founded by Ali Moiz and Murtaza Hussain around 2020. Moiz, a serial entrepreneur with a track record including the successful acquisition of his previous venture, Native, identified a significant opportunity to transform how early-stage companies secure funding. Their shared insight was to harness the interactive elements of popular digital platforms to create a more accessible and inclusive ecosystem for venture capital.
Stonks serves both startups looking to raise capital and individual investors seeking to participate in private investment rounds previously difficult to access. The platform envisions a future where the barriers to early-stage investing are significantly lowered, empowering a broader community of investors and accelerating the growth of innovative companies through efficient and transparent capital allocation.
Stonks has raised $5K across 1 funding round.
Stonks has raised $5K in total across 1 funding round.
Stonks has raised $5K across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $5K Seed in January 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2022 | $5K Seed | — | Cathay Innovation, D.f.a. Capital, Draper Associates, Haun Ventures, Khosla Ventures, LAUNCH, LombardStreet Ventures, Peak State Ventures, Point Nine Capital, Queensbridge Venture Partners, #secretfund, Shkuri Ventures, SMOK Ventures, Supercharge Capital, Kurt Bilafer, RON Pragides, Stephen Garden, Zack Kanter | Announced |
Stonks has raised $5K in total across 1 funding round.
Stonks's investors include Cathay Innovation, D.F.A. Capital, Draper Associates, Haun Ventures, Khosla Ventures, LAUNCH, LombardStreet Ventures, Peak State Ventures, Point Nine Capital, QueensBridge Venture Partners, #SecretFund, Shkuri Ventures.
Stonks is a fintech startup founded in 2020 in San Francisco that originally built a crowdfunding platform to democratize access to startup investments for retail and accredited investors, putting "Silicon Valley in your pocket."[1][4][6] It has evolved into a platform helping creators—particularly YouTubers—turn hobbies into businesses by advancing YouTube payouts early, setting up DBAs, EINs, bank accounts, expense tracking, and issuing Visa cards for immediate spending from unlocked balances.[5] Serving creators and small businesses, Stonks solves cash flow delays in creator economies and barriers to private market investing, with early growth including $200M in investments facilitated in five months and backing from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Vibranium VC, and Naval Ravikant.[1][4][6] Now operating as or rebranded toward Sandhill Markets in some contexts, it has raised $22M total, targeting fintech innovation in private markets and creator finance.[4]
Stonks was founded in 2020 in San Francisco by Ali Moiz (co-founder, previously involved in Streamlabs with over $1B in creator payouts) and Murti Hussain (CEO/co-founder), building on the team's experience from Streamlabs and Peanut Labs, which achieved $200M+ in venture-funded exits.[1][5][6] Led initially by an experienced founder with 18 years in tech startups (including Adam Hardej, a Princeton grad and second-time founder), the idea emerged to solve VC access problems for founders and investors alike, hosting the "largest demo day on Earth" and scaling to $200M in investments within five months.[1][6] Pivotal early traction came from Tier-1 backers like Andreessen Horowitz and MVP Ventures, transitioning from pure crowdfunding to creator tools amid rising demand for democratized dealflow.[1][4][6]
Stonks rides the creator economy boom (40M+ creators, $1B+ payouts via Streamlabs heritage) and retail investing surge post-2021 meme stock era, timing perfectly with platforms like Robinhood lowering barriers to private markets.[4][5][6] Market forces favoring it include regulatory shifts toward fractional shares/SPVs for accredited investors, rising demand for early liquidity in illiquid startup assets, and YouTube's delayed payout cycles creating unmet creator needs.[4][5] It influences the ecosystem by democratizing dealflow—solving founders' capital access via crowd-investing and empowering "little guys" against Wall Street, as seen in secondary share returns and demo days.[3][4][6]
Stonks is poised to expand in the $100B+ creator finance and private market investing spaces, potentially deepening YouTube integrations, launching more creator cards, or scaling Sandhill Markets' SPVs amid tokenized assets trends.[4][5] Regulatory tailwinds (e.g., easier crowdfunding) and AI-driven deal sourcing could accelerate growth, evolving its influence from niche demo days to a full-stack retail VC gateway. As it puts Silicon Valley—and creator cash—in users' pockets, Stonks exemplifies fintech's shift toward inclusive capitalism.[1][6]
