Dabbl, UK’s first app-only stockbroker, on cusp of launch

Dabbl (www.dabblinvest.com), the UK’s first app-only stockbroker, is set to launch within six weeks. Developed to make share dealing accessible to everyone with an easy-to-use innovative interface and low dealing costs, Dabbl is now taking pre-registrations from those who want to be the first to see this ground-breaking technology in action.

Mark Ackred, co-founder and Chief Executive of Dabbl, explains:

“We will be rolling out the live Dabbl service on a staged basis over a period of several weeks. Our democratic approach means that those who register early will be the first to gain access to the app, with the ability to see how it works – and hopefully move on to making their first investment.”

Dabbl allows anyone to buy physical shares in hundreds of companies listed on the UK, European and US stock markets. Exchange Traded Funds (“ETFs”) will be added soon after launch. Innovative image recognition and search engine technology has been used to allow easy association between brands and the companies that own them.

A ground-breaking fee structure has also been adopted, designed to ensure that even those investing just a small amount aren’t dissuaded by high transaction fees. For a subscription of just £1.49 a month, Dabbl customers will be able to buy and sell as often as they want, without paying any commission fees, which are an average of £10 per trade with the UK’s top 5 stockbrokers.

Fifty years ago, direct share ownership in the UK was hugely popular, with ONS data showing small investors held over 50% of UK shares in the 1960s – a number that now sits around 14% – but a lack of innovation in the sector has left it as the preserve of the few. The ability to buy shares, to participate in the profits of publicly traded companies, is a basic right which has been denied to too many of us for decades – a situation which hasn’t been helped by lethargic stockbrokers catering to an old-fashioned, wealthy elite.

Mark Ackred, added “At Dabbl we’re on a crusade to remove the unfair barriers which have dissuaded a generation of everyday people from being able to buy shares themselves, and to educate a nation in the benefits. We want to make investing in shares, in the companies that people connect with every day, easy and accessible for all – a Fair Share revolution.”

“To this end we want to open up ownership in Dabbl to the people who use it. We will therefore be giving the first 10,000 Dabblers who join the waiting list and download the app an exclusive option to be one of the first to invest in Dabbl when we undertake our first public fund-raising round within the next 12 months.”

Qualification for the option to invest will be reliant on having downloaded the app. There is no requirement to invest using the platform.