GUGU Paves the Way for US Stock Investing in Asia


In the bustling financial landscape of Hong Kong, Asia Win Inc Limited, under Owen Huang’s leadership, introduced GUGU in June 2020. GUGU is not just a financial platform; it's a mission-driven venture committed to breaking down barriers for Asian investors looking to enter the US stock market.


About GUGU

Founded by Owen Huang, GUGU's inception was inspired by the recognition of Asian investors' burgeoning interest in the US stock market. However, these individuals often faced significant obstacles, including a lack of domain knowledge and user-friendly tools. For three years, GUGU worked diligently to provide US stock investment education through online courses, blogs, and simulated trading apps.

During this time, thousands of users expressed a common wish - for GUGU to provide an easier and more user-friendly environment for starting their US stock investment journey. In 2023, GUGU decided to make this wish a reality by partnering with Alpaca.



GUGU's Mission

GUGU's mission is clear: to become the number one choice for foreign securities trading and investment among the young generation in Asia. The company envisions a future where everyone can start investing easily and confidently.



GUGU’s Key Benefits

GUGU believes that many Asian investors haven't ventured into US stock investments due to the absence of consumer-friendly tools. GUGU is on a mission to change this by reducing the barriers to entry through exceptional product design.

They’re able to do so by having:

  1. Intuitive Design: Boasting a trendy interface and a gamified experience, making investing engaging and accessible.
  2. Performance Rankings: Providing performance rankings and publicly disclose the holdings of others, fostering a transparent and informative investment environment.
  3. Localized Language Interfaces: Offering localized language interfaces based on various Asian countries, ensuring accessibility to a diverse user base.
  4. No Commission: Users can trade without worrying about hefty commissions, as GUGU operates on a commission-free model.
  5. Lightning Fast Account Creation: GUGU simplifies onboarding with an account opening process that takes less than six minutes.
  6. Invest with Just US$1: GUGU allows users to start investing with as little as US$1, making it an inclusive platform for all investors.

Why GUGU Chose Alpaca

GUGU's decision to collaborate with Alpaca was not taken lightly. Alpaca's agile approach and commitment to quality service aligned perfectly with GUGU's vision. Alpaca's success in assisting other securities firms to provide exceptional trading services further solidified the choice.


"In the dynamic Southeast Asian markets, Alpaca stands out for seamlessly integrable solutions and insightful recommendations. Their deep understanding of our customers' unique challenges, coupled with continuous innovation, ensures a tailored and user-friendly trading experience. Alpaca's commitment to Southeast Asia sets us apart, delivering exceptional and clear trading solutions.” – Owen Huang, Founder at GUGU

Powering Their Solution with Broker API

GUGU's collaboration with Alpaca marks the beginning of a transformative journey. From the comprehensive integration documents to the collaborative building process, GUGU was onboarded quickly and effortlessly. Through weekly review meetings and asynchronous communications, Alpaca's compliance and technical teams facilitated the journey, ensuring regulatory compliance and ease of build-out with the API.

One of the unique challenges addressed by Alpaca's Broker API was the provision of a simple KYC/account opening service that worked well with a set of APIs. This saved GUGU substantial time and effort, making their entry into the business more efficient.

"We have been very pleased by how seamlessly and completely Alpaca’s Broker API has enabled GUGU’s development team to build a trading app in our vision." – Hera Pan, Product Head at GUGU

Facilitating Operations with Broker Dash

Alpaca's Broker Dashboard proved to be a valuable asset for GUGU's teams. Its clean, organized interface serves as a central hub for GUGU's account, customer support, and finance teams. The dashboard simplifies tracking, ensuring a unified system for all operations.

GUGU and Alpaca, in their shared mission of making US stock investment accessible to Asian investors, have embarked on a journey that's not just about trading; it's about transforming the financial landscape in Asia. This partnership underscores their commitment to a future where investing is simple, engaging, and open to all.


“Alpaca has been proactively broadening its presence in the Asian market through strategic partnerships in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and other key regions. We are thrilled to welcome GUGU on board and anticipate harnessing its established brand influence in Asia, along with the team's wealth of market expertise in Southeast Asia, to further extend Alpaca's services in the APAC market.” –  Tarun Ajwani, SVP of Sales and Corporate Development at Alpaca

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. 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.


Let's See How We Can Partner Together


Alpaca and Asia Win Inc Limited ("GUGU") 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.


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