In the dynamic realm of financial technology, Spaceship is set to transform the investment experience for young Australians. The company has not only established itself as a visionary in the field but has strategically chosen Alpaca as a service provider to further enhance its offerings. It’s time to climb aboard this rocket ship!
About Spaceship
Founded in 2016, Australia’s Spaceship has been at the forefront of changing how young individuals approach and invest their money. The company's legacy is rooted in a timeline of innovations, starting with the launch of Spaceship Super (a retirement product) in 2017, followed by the introduction of the Spaceship Voyager managed funds in 2018, reaching milestones of 200k customers and A$1 billion in funds under management (FUM) by mid-2021. The recent addition of US Investing in September 2023 expands Spaceship's offering substantially.
Spaceship’s Mission
Spaceship is on a mission to transform the mindset of young people regarding money and investments. Guided by forward-thinking, accessibility, curiosity, transparency, and straightforwardness, Spaceship aims to make investing not just a financial activity but a journey of discovery.
Spaceship’s Key Benefits
Spaceship continues to listen and address critical pain points faced by its Australian investors. Current solutions include easy access to US companies and ETFs, the ability to track and buy shares in Australian dollars, centralized management of investment portfolios, and the convenience of setting up automated investment plans for dollar-cost averaging.
Spaceship boasts features such as buying fractional shares with as little as A$10, seamless search functionalities, and unlimited trades for a low monthly fee instead of a traditional per trade fee. Perfect for long-term investors, Spaceship provides a one-stop solution for managing Spaceship Voyager, Spaceship Super, and US investments (with as many investment plans as customers want).
Spaceship Partners with Alpaca
Spaceship's decision to partner with Alpaca is grounded in the Local Currency Trading product; offering Aussie-dollar trading, settlement, and market data. This synergy provides a localized currency experience for Australian customers who wish to invest in the US markets, eliminating the need for complex FX conversions.
Alpaca and Spaceship Driving Immediate Impact Together
Step 1: Crafting a Seamless Experience
Researching and Building the Foundation
Spaceship embarked on the journey of integrating Alpaca's Broker API to elevate its investment solution. The process commenced with a thorough exploration of the API through Postman and curl, laying the groundwork for a seamless connection.
Order Flows and Real-world Testing
The team transitioned to building order flows for buying and selling. This included getting an estimate, creating the order and handling processing events related to that order. Spaceship strategically selected only a subset of assets for initial testing. This pragmatic approach allowed Spaceship to simplify the process, ensuring a smooth execution while dealing with limited data.
Enhancing Data Displays and Operational Flows
Spaceship focused on refining the user experience by enhancing data displays for assets, including real-time prices, historical data, and market status. Concurrently, operational flows and reconciliation processes were scrutinized, incorporating insights gained from real-life order testing.
Step 2: Building Operational Resilience
Detailed Reconciliation Reports and Document Integration
Delving into the intricacies of order and funding flows, Spaceship generated detailed reconciliation reports from the daily data provided through the Broker API. Early implementation ensured a comprehensive understanding from the start, allowing agile adaptation to any unforeseen changes. The integration with documents provided customers with on-demand access to trade confirmations and account statements.
Customer Onboarding and KYC Integration
Spaceship proceeded to streamline the customer onboarding flow, addressing non-trade activities such as dividends and corporate actions. A swift follow-up involved extending the onboarding process through the Broker API to include collecting and providing Customer Identification Program (CIP) data, aligning seamlessly with Spaceship's own Know Your Customer (KYC) process.
Step 3: Overcoming Unique Challenges
Powering Real-Time Trading for AUD
One of the unique challenges successfully tackled with the Broker API was real-time US stock trading and ETF investing with Australian Dollars. Spaceship leveraged the Local Currency Trading product, allowing users to: access US markets, view positions, monitor prices, and execute orders in Australian Dollars. This greatly enhanced accessibility for Australian investors.
Step 4: Scaling Together
Syncing and Updating Assets
Confident in the initial set of assets, Spaceship expanded its capabilities by creating a system to sync and update assets in alignment with the evolving Broker API. The integration of the logos API further enriched the visual representation of assets, contributing to a cohesive and dynamic user interface.
Step 5: User Feedback and Continuous Improvement
Customer-Centric Success
Since the launch, Spaceship has received valuable feedback from its Australian investor-focused customer base. Users appreciate the simplicity of their experience and the ability to manage US investments in Australian Dollars. The positive response underscores the impact of the data and functionality provided by the Broker API, aligning with Spaceship's commitment to a customer-centric experience.
As Spaceship continues to redefine the investment landscape in Australia, the partnership with Alpaca reinforces its commitment to delivering a seamless, customer-centric, and globally accessible financial solution for a young, modern generation.
About Alpaca
Alpaca is a developer-first API brokerage platform that’s raised over $120m in funding. Alpaca offers stock and crypto trading, real-time market data, and end-to-end brokerage infrastructure through modern APIs. Alpaca is backed by top 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.
Let's See How We Can Partner Together
Alpaca and Spaceship Capital Limited ("Spaceship") are not affiliated and neither are responsible for the liabilities of the other.
All investments involve risk and the past performance of a security, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objectives. Keep in mind that while diversification may help spread risk it does not assure a profit, or protect against loss. There is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities, or other financial products. Investors should consider their investment objectives and risks carefully before investing.
Securities brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities LLC ("Alpaca Securities"), member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc.
Cryptocurrency services are made available by Alpaca Crypto LLC ("Alpaca Crypto"), a FinCEN registered money services business (NMLS # 2160858), and a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Alpaca Crypto is not a member of SIPC or FINRA. Cryptocurrencies are not stocks and your cryptocurrency investments are not protected by either FDIC or SIPC. Please see the Disclosure Library for more information.
This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or cryptocurrencies, or open a brokerage account or cryptocurrency account in any jurisdiction where Alpaca Securities or Alpaca Crypto respectively, are not registered or licensed, as applicable.
