Gamification of financial markets provides new unique form of data
- New app brings together live market information, news and a new form of data – market sentiment
- Levels the playing field for those outside the financial services industry
- ‘Virtual trading’ empowers and educates investors in a risk free setting
(London, 28th August 2014) invstr, the new social network for finance has launched on the iOS App Store. The app makes the financial markets more accessible through a game and the use of individual predictions which in turn generate crowd sourced market sentiment. This ‘virtual execution’ of trades is designed to enable users to learn more about the markets, based on the outcomes of their predictions and how instruments perform against sentiment.
For the first time, individuals from outside the industry as well as finance professionals can predict the future of individual instruments and the overall performance of the market through virtual market trades. By playing the game and building a profile, players develop market trading experience and gain expertise and confidence that could boost their financial reputation or CV without risking a penny.
invstr is the brainchild of Kerim Derhalli, who founded the business in late 2012. Kerim spent 30 years in the City, most recently as Global Head of Equity Trading at Deutsche Bank, before spotting an opportunity to disrupt the financial information industry with a new social network for finance.
The app enables players to benchmark their skills and presents market commentaries, research reports and data from over 40 exchanges around the world. It includes The Financial Times, Dow Jones, Alliance News and Noodls – all free and accessible anywhere via their mobiles.
For those that want live data, it is available for one cent per instrument per day, commentaries for five cents, research reports from 99 cents. Annual subscriptions cost the equivalent of $94.99 and include live market data, news, market commentaries and research reports from Edison Research.
The app is also designed to be social – as well as free access to market news and data, members can chat to each other, form clubs or use Topic Rooms to share ideas and insight into how the markets are performing.
Founder and CEO of invstr, Kerim Derhalli, said: “Many other sectors have been disrupted by technology and the empowerment of consumers – now it is the turn of financial services and the financial markets. invstr is the new social network for finance, where people can play, learn and share – making finance fun, fair and collaborative. It’s Finance Made Social.
“invstr’s aggregated crowd sourced sentiment is unique in the market – this is the ‘glue’ of the app and the community. invstr brings together a diverse range of high quality market data, news and research sources and user insights to create a one-stop-shop for personalised, easy to navigate financial information.
“invstr gives everyone the chance to play at trading and helps those with natural talent stand out through their scores. People can finally get a mood of the marketplace, which is much more accurate than previous sentiment tools; it’s not based on subjective hearsay, but on individual’s quantitative predictions.”