Thndr is said to be focused on opening investing accessibility in the MENA region with Alpaca.
Thndr is an emerging force in MENA, who’s team is on “a mission to increase access to personal investing.”
By opening access to the global markets for “a growing population of young, tech-savvy individuals, they’re well on their way to accomplishing this.”
Thndr is a digital investment platform designed “to simplify and democratize investing.”
It facilitates access to essential tools and resources, empowering anyone “with a phone and an internet connection to invest and achieve financial freedom.”
The vision for Thndr was born out of the co-founders’ experiences “with the stock market and working at an investment bank in Egypt.”
Seif Amr, Co-Founder and COO, claims to have “encountered significant difficulties in opening a personal investment account.”
Meanwhile, Ahmad Hammouda, Co-Founder and CEO, “recognized that unique investment opportunities in Egypt were largely inaccessible to the general population but open to the few. Therefore, their shared vision was to leverage technology to create a modern, inclusive investment system accessible to everyone.”
In August 2020, Thndr received its brokerage license “from Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), allowing it to conduct securities brokerage services.”
This milestone marked the beginning of Thndr’s journey “towards becoming the #1 investment platform in Egypt by retail trade volume and value, as of April 2024.”
Since its inception, Thndr has achieved remarkable growth and success:
- Achieved a trading volume of $1.8 billion in 2023, an 800% growth compared to 2022
- Increased daily transactions from 1,500 in 2022 to 32,000 in 2023 and nearly 100,000 in 2024 (app.1)
- Over 3 million app downloads, with 500,000 monthly users
- Most recently, Thndr expanded its operations into the UAE through their ADGM license.
- This Category 3A license with retail endorsement from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) allows Thndr to offer direct access to US-listed securities, including stocks, ETFs, and fractional shares, with no minimum investment requirements.
Key Features for Customer Empowerment
Thndr empowers users with a fully-licensed, “easy-to-use app” and provides educational resources through:
- Thndr Learn: An educational platform covering essential financial knowledge
- Claps: A daily financial newsletter
- Virtual Mode: A market simulation for risk-free investment practice
- Rumble: A platform offering expert financial advice to identify and understand investment opportunities
Through this offering, Thndr helps address “the low rates of financial literacy and outdated, expensive investment options in the MENA.”
As a result, individuals have access to affordable investment resources “to build and grow their personal wealth.”
Thndr chose Alpaca for its comprehensive offering of US equities.
This eliminated the need for them to heavily invest in the underlying infrastructure. This strategic move not only “reduced operational costs but allowed Thndr to focus on enhancing its user experience.”
Alpaca’s Broker API enabled Thndr to quickly build “an investment experience tailored to their clients’ unique needs.”
Alpaca’s intuitive APIs and comprehensive documentation accelerated Thndr’s development process, enabling the “swift delivery of innovative trading solutions to the MENA market.”
This has allowed Thndr to handle trading operations seamlessly and “scale to meet growing demands.”
As mentioned, Thndr’s mission is to open investing “access in the MENA region by leveraging technology to offer a simple, barrier-free investing experience.”
The partnership between Thndr and Alpaca demonstrates and “exemplifies how innovative fintech solutions can revolutionize traditional financial systems – providing long-term value to users.”
As Thndr continues to grow and lead the market, it remains “committed to empowering more individuals, including increasing the number of female investors, and maintaining its position as a leader in the investment landscape of the Middle East.”
Alpaca is a developer-first API brokerage platform “that’s raised over $120m in funding. Alpaca offers stock trading, real-time market data, and end-to-end brokerage infrastructure through modern APIs.”
Alpaca is backed by investors in the industry globally, “including Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, SBI Group, Eldridge, Positive Sum, Elefund, and Y Combinator.”