Social trading service eToro pockets another $15M

Investing in currencies, commodities can be as simple as following your favorite financial wiz

Investment network, eToro announced Tuesday that it raised another $15 million in funding. This venture round, led by Spark Capital with participation from existing investors BRM, Guy Gamzu and Jonathan Kolber brings the total amount of funding raised by the Israel-based company to $33.9 million.

EToro, which was founded in 2007, has found a strength in pioneering a market place for people to trade currencies, commodities and indices in a more social online platform. 

The personalized social investment network that eToro created makes trading, shockingly similar to following people on Twitter. From financially savvy to newbie, the idea that you can track and learn from various other investors and see what people are trading is an attractive offer that eToro is profiting from.

Usually, investors are trusting their broker to tell them what trends or stocks are buzzing, but eToro allows you to follow investors just like you follow celebrities, comedians and new outlets on Twitter -- but you have a far greater opportunity to make money on these follows.

The company has already collected more than 2 million users in more than 140 countries worldwide to manage their funds, with thousands of new accounts created every day.

There is already a strong market for people that want to learn about different investments online and deal with online broker companies, but eToro lets individuals play the stock market without the big dollar requirements that many have.

EToro's trading volumes have doubled in size within the last 12 months, and the number of traded positions in the network has increased by more than 500%.

EToro also has a popular function called the "CopyTrader" function where you can not just follow what other traders are doing, but can also invest and mimic their activity.

And traders that become popular to follow are also compensated for their trend setting by receiving $10 per month per follower.

The most popular user at the moment, “Moksel1972” from Germany, has just over 3,100 copiers, and nearly 20,000 followers.

He is a currency trader and 99.6% of his trades have been profitable. And it probably doesn't hurt that he is raking in $200,000 a month just for being recognized as a currency expert. 

Much like any other investing site, eToro takes a commission on the trades made through the service but there are no other charges connected or pricey minimums required.

And it looks like eToro has only just gotten started in this industry since the new flush of funding will go toward hiring more employees as well as R&D.

Some of the upcoming projects for eToro include an official launch in the U.S. later this year and more partnerships with banks and financial institutions to offer more services and insight for investors to work on.