Sharesies
NZ platform for buying fractional shares, ETFs, and KiwiSaver funds online.
On the record
Checkpoint: Next disclosed financing round or valuation reset since the 2021 Series C
The call
Sharesies keeps its investor and issuer network intact while its own valuation sits frozen near 2021 levels, waiting on the next round to say whether that's a plateau or a discount.
Sharesies lets ordinary New Zealanders buy and sell stocks and KiwiSaver funds on their phones. It is hard to copy because it has a license to hold customer money and stocks, a direct relationship with 40% of companies listed on the NZX stock exchange, and a million users all on one platform, which makes the whole system more useful. Banks like ASB and Westpac could build the same thing but haven't in five years, probably because they make more money from expensive financial advice than they would from a cheap app. The one thing that could change everything is if Sharesies needs to raise money again: the last price paid for the company was around NZ$430 million in late 2022, but the company hasn't announced a new round in five years, which suggests investors are not eager to pay more.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI chatbots can suggest stocks but cannot hold custody or run a licensed KiwiSaver scheme, so they feed the research side, not replace the broker. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: NZ retail banks (ASB Securities, Westpac broking, Craigs mySTART). Banks already run their own broking desks but none has cut into Sharesies' investor base in five-plus years, partly to protect high-margin advisory. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. A two-sided network of 1M+ retail investors and NZX-listed issuers, sitting on licensing and custody infrastructure banks and AI can't quickly copy.
What would change this call
Sharesies announces a new primary funding round or IPO within 6-12 months. Reveals whether its ~NZ$500m valuation is repricing up, flat, or down.
Commerce Commission issues final ruling on interchange fees affecting Spend card. Would show whether Spend card unit economics face material regulatory pressure.
Any NZ bank (ASB, Westpac, Craigs) launches a directly competing low-fee retail brokerage. Would signal the bank-inertia moat is eroding and share is contestable.
Commerce Commission issues final ruling on interchange fees affecting Spend card. Would show whether Spend card unit economics face material regulatory pressure.
Any NZ bank (ASB, Westpac, Craigs) launches a directly competing low-fee retail brokerage. Would signal the bank-inertia moat is eroding and share is contestable.
Key numbers
- Series C valued Sharesies at ~NZ$500m
- KiwiSaver unit revenue hit NZ$6.73m, up from NZ$2.38m
- ~700,000 customers managing ~NZ$5bn invested
Named risks
- No disclosed new funding round since October 2021, raising flat or down repricing risk on the NZ$500m valuation.
- Group-level financials remain undisclosed and unaudited publicly, obscuring true profitability.
- Commerce Commission interchange-fee ruling could materially affect Sharesies Spend card unit economics.
- FMA and Commerce Commission jurisdiction shift on consumer credit (effective July 2026) creates regulatory uncertainty for Spend product.
- Crypto product exposed to market volatility and potential further NZ government restrictions after crypto ATM ban.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| NZ retail bank broking arms (ASB Securities, Westpac, Craigs mySTART) | contesting | No bank has shipped a rival taking share in over five years as of 2026 |
| Stake, Superhero, CommSec, Pearler (Australia) | contesting | Established Australian micro-investing rivals per April 2025 Canstar comparison, as Sharesies expands into AU |
| InvestNow, Hatch, Kernel, Tiger Brokers NZ, Simplicity | gaining on | Named as smaller NZ peers with lower account counts (InvestNow ~30,000, Kernel ~20,000) per June 2025 Clare Capital report |
Questions people ask
- Is Sharesies profitable in 2026?
- Group-level profitability is not publicly disclosed. Its regulated KiwiSaver subsidiary, Sharesies Investment Management Limited, reported a net loss of NZ$270,000 for the year ended 31 March 2026, narrowed from NZ$1.09m the prior year, but the wider group financials remain unverified.
- Who owns Sharesies?
- Sharesies is privately held and venture backed. As of 2020, Trade Me held 15.4% and Discount Nominees 9.5%, with co-founders Brooke Roberts, Leighton Roberts and Sonya Williams each holding about 6.26%. It has not disclosed a new funding round since October 2021.
- How many people use Sharesies?
- Sharesies states 1,000,000+ customers across New Zealand and Australia on its homepage as of 2025 to 2026, up from roughly 700,000 customers cited for late 2024, alongside about NZ$5bn invested according to Wikipedia.
- Could AI replace Sharesies?
- Unlikely for its core function: Sharesies holds NZX-accredited broker status, an Australian AFSL, and KiwiSaver licensing that AI cannot substitute for. AI already powers thinner layers like its June 2024 AI Search feature and some help-centre content.
- Who is Sharesies biggest competitor?
- In New Zealand, peers include InvestNow, Hatch, Kernel, Stake, Tiger Brokers NZ and Simplicity, per a June 2025 Clare Capital report; no NZ bank has shipped a competing retail brokerage taking share in over five years.
- Is Sharesies raising money or planning an IPO in 2026?
- No new equity round has been publicly confirmed since the October 2021 Series C, which valued Sharesies at roughly NZ$500m. A late-2022 secondary implied a lower NZ$430m valuation per Clare Capital, and no IPO has been announced as of mid-2026.
Timeline
- 2026-07-24KiwiSaver subsidiary reports NZ$6.73m revenue, net loss narrows to NZ$270k, reaches cash-flow break-even
- 2026-07-10Orchestra acquisition (originally April 2024) rebranded and announced as Sharesies Private
- 2026-06-25FMA and Commerce Commission sign MOU reallocating consumer-credit regulation ahead of July 2026 CCCF shift
- 2026-06-13Sharesies acts as approved retail broker for SpaceX ASX-associated offer trading start
- 2025-11-25Launches Sharesies Spend debit card with Mastercard and Episode Six, NZ's first spend-to-invest card
- 2025-08Launches in-app crypto trading via Kraken Financial custodian, tops 80,000 users shortly after
- 2025-03-18Submits formal opposition to Commerce Commission on interchange-fee reform for Mastercard/Visa
- 2024-06-13Launches AI Search natural-language investment discovery tool
- 2024-04Acquires Auckland investor-management startup Orchestra
- 2021-10Raises NZ$50m Series C led by Amplo, valuing company at roughly NZ$500m
Revision history
26 July 2026
First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Sharesies Business, Sharesies New Zealand (2025-04-10)
- Sharesies (2026-06-01)
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs), Sharesies Australia
- Kiwi investment platform Sharesies raises NZ$50 million in a series C (2022-05-20)
- Sharesies - Headcount, Funding & Open Jobs (2026-06-20)
- Clare Capital Tech Insights #272
- Investing smarter, saving better, and what's coming in 2025, Sharesies New Zealand (2024-12-18 (page updated 2026-07-10))
- Sharesies' KiwiSaver still going for growth, reaches break-even on cash flow (2026-07-24)
- Invest, KiwiSaver, Crypto, Spend, Save, Insure, Sharesies New Zealand
- New Zealand's Sharesies enters crypto trading amid market rally (2025-07-30)
- Episode Six and Sharesies launch New Zealand's First Spend-to-Invest Debit Card (2025-11-25)
- SpaceX initial public offering (IPO), Sharesies Australia (2026-06-03)