TC partners with Google Cloud to put the power of investing into the hands of everyday Brazilians

When investing in stocks, access to timely, accurate information can make the difference between success or failure. With so many factors impacting markets, everyday investors need trusted information they can count on—something that was particularly challenging for Brazilians. 

Five years ago Israel Massa, Rafael Ferri, and I founded TC (formerly TradersClub), an online community that empowers people in Brazil with tools to make sound financial decisions.

Only 3 percent of Brazilians actively invest in stocks, so we set out to change that by virtually connecting the country’s novice and experienced investors with insights, stock tips, research tools and real-time news, all through an app. 

Brazilians want to invest but didn’t have easy access to education and support. We knew a convenient and affordable platform with the right resources available at subscribers’ fingertips could put Brazilians in control of their financial future.

Brazilians hedge bets on early growth

First started as a social media group with a handful of users, TC now has more than 500,000 active members on its app, including individual investors, corporate investors, analysts, and others across Brazil. 

Whether it’s fixed income and derivatives, cryptocurrencies, and everything in between, people can hop on the app to get the latest tips and insights to invest wisely. People can even set alerts to receive-real-time information for certain investments so they can move their money faster. 

We know that smart investing should be customized based on a person’s financial needs, so TC offers free and paid subscription plans based on investing experience. The Mover service offers news and resources for new investors, while our Trade Ideas program delivers expert insight for more experienced investors.

Going long on Google Cloud 

As customer demands grow, tech startups like ours need a technology partner to deliver an agile, powerful IT environment to support our rapid growth and be flexible enough to  keep costs in check and help secure the huge amounts of data flowing through our platform. By working with Google Cloud for Startups and standardizing on Google Cloud, we have the foundation we need.

“We aligned with Google Cloud for Startups because they understand what we need to grow our business, stay current, and deliver outstanding financial information services to subscribers,” says Javier Ramacciotti, our CTO and a TC partner. “By the time we had 19,000 people using our services in less than a year, our entire platform was cloud-ready. We could grow without restrictions and continue to empower subscribers to invest on their terms.”

Interest accrues with Google Cloud solutions

Managing huge amounts of customer data may seem like a burden, but it doesn’t have to when using the right tools. After signing up for the Startup Program by Google Cloud, we began using Google Cloud solutions for all of TC’s data management and app development. As more subscribers sign up for the TC platform, we can better handle data, scale existing services and add new ones, while delivering seamless experiences for Brazilian investors.

TC’s external customer data as well as data generated by the platform exists in a single data lake in BigQuery. This means all content posted in the app, subscriber activity, and other information is managed and accessed securely in the cloud, any time and from any location. 

Insights and predictive analytics tools powered by machine learning in BigQuery help us better understand business processes from the inside out, while Google Looker presents that data in a highly visualized, easy-to-understand format. These tools enable us to share rich insights across teams and make decisions based on current information to continually refine the quality of subscriber services.

Scale without fail with app development and delivery

We need  to manage workloads and applications with speed and security, so as the company grows, TC’s  technology and infrastructure grows with it. With Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), we can adapt and scale as needed. GKE manages growing traffic to TC’s app, as well as big user surges during certain times of day. High user volume, new services, and more content doesn’t slow down or disrupt subscribers’ experiences with the platform, which is critical in the time-sensitive world of investing.

“The Google Cloud for Startups program gives us everything we need to help Brazilians take complete control of their investment goals and wealth,” says Javier. “From app development and scalability supported by GKE and rich analytics powered by BigQuery and Looker, Google Cloud provides all the tools to deliver standout investment services to Brazilian investors.”

A rally for TC

I’m proud to share that our IPO valuation is $541.2 million (USD). Using the support of Google Cloud for our startup and the power of Google Cloud solutions to grow and evolve our services, we plan to empower more people country-wide to take charge of their investments. 

Some 15 percent of all current investors in Brazil already use the platform for investor research and insights, and according to our CTO it doesn’t stop there. “Our goal is to have at least 20% of people investing in some asset within the platform in the short term,” Javier  says. “With the help of Google Cloud, eventually we want to be the information and education hub for all Brazilians looking to invest.”

If you want to learn more about how Google Cloud can help your startup, visit our Startup Program application page here to get more information about our program, and sign up for our communications to get a look at our community activities, digital events, special offers, and more.