Robinhood filed confidentially for an IPO on Monday, a person familiar with the matter told CNN Business, a development that shows the trading startup is forging ahead despite a recent series of public-relations nightmares.
The filing demonstrates how confident Robinhood is in its growth prospects even after a disastrous few months that featured its CEO getting hauled before Congress and Michael Bolton appearing in a viral video about the platform’s controversial business model.
The confidential IPO filing suggests that Robinhood plans to capitalize on the flurry of retail trading that the startup helped set off with its zero-commission business model.
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Robinhood has selected Nasdaq to list its shares on, a separate source familiar with the matter told CNN Business. News of the confidential IPO filing was first reported by Bloomberg News.
A Robinhood spokesperson declined to comment.
Other prominent startups, including Airbnb, Lyft, Slack and Palantir, filed confidentially to go public. That route route allows companies to privately file a registration statement, known as an S-1, with the SEC for review — without divulging their financial details for now.
Eventually, Robinhood will be required to release those numbers so investors can evaluate the company’s growth trajectory and key risks. It will be at least several months before the S-1 filing is made public, one of the sources told CNN Business.
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