Popular investing app Robinhood grabbed headlines earlier this year and has taken the investing world by storm.
What many people don’t know about Robinhood is that the financial services company has offices here in Arizona. Az Business talked with Taeshima White, site lead for Robinhood, about the company’s growing presence in the Grand Canyon State and the things you need to know about Robinhood.
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Az Business: For those unfamiliar with the company, what is the mission of Robinhood?
Taeshima White: Robinhood’s mission is to democratize finance for all. This is a shared belief that financial markets should be accessible to everyone. I interpret this as meeting people where they are with products and experiences that are digestible, relatable and created to lower the barriers to participation in the markets. This ranges from the app design to the way we deliver our news to our suite of learning resources.
AB: What is Robinhood’s target market?
TW: Our goal is to be accessible to all. As we have grown as a firm, our app has appealed to a broad audience, however we see that 50 percent of the Robinhood customers today are first time investors. Median age is 31. So the short answer is everyone is our target market.
AB: How big is Robinhood’s presence in Arizona?
TW: We opened the doors, virtually, for our Tempe site in August of 2020, before I was hired. We are excited to continue to have hundreds of Hoodies in the Tempe office. Our plan is to continue to invite top talent in to support the broader growth plans of Robinhood.
AB: Why did the leaders of Robinhood choose Arizona as a place to establish a presence?
TW: There are lots of reasons for a company to plant roots in Arizona, such as the strength of its workforce and the pool of financial services professionals in Greater Phoenix. The head of customer experience, Alex Mesa, is based in the Valley, and that speaks to the talented hires we find in Arizona.
AB: What are the long-term goals of Robinhood in Arizona?
TW: Our long-term goal is for Tempe to remain focused on culture, growth, employee development and contributing to high performance in key areas for Robinhood. There is a buzz and energy in Tempe, with a mission to build a solid foundation supportive of the long-term Robinhood vision of democratizing finance for all.
