Two Oxford alumni came together to launch Tickpool.com, a new information sharing platform for investors. The site allows investors and expert analysts to broadcast their views and opinions or “ticks” on the economy, stocks, news and the markets.
Vincent Lo first conceived the idea for his new company, Informatics Data Group, in May 2008 while studying for his Executive MBA at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. “I met this guy called Prashanth Angani from the full-time Oxford MBA programme,” he says. “I have a financial services and media background, and Prashanth has an engineering and technology background. We started brainstorming and came up with a number of potential ventures to improve information efficiency of specific financial markets.”
Applying the knowledge and skills they learnt during their studies, Vincent and Prashanth decided to launch Tickpool.com, an information sharing platform for investors. Tickpool allows investors to generate revenue by broadcasting their views and opinions or “ticks” on the economy, stocks, news and the markets. “We have always been interested in investments and we thought why not open up the discussion to a wider audience,” Vincent says.
Users of Tickpool can graduate from “tickster” – basic, free entry level membership – to “tickmaster” and finally “tickguru”. “To become a ‘tick guru’ you need to have lots of followers of your ticks; and to have very high tick ratings,” Vincent explains. “I anticipate one day being a ‘tickguru’ will mean something in the community.” The website is currently at alpha launch stage and a mass marketing campaign in the financial press is planned for later this year.
“If it weren’t for the Saïd Business School, this wouldn’t have happened,” Vincent says. “In particular, Dmitrios Tsomocos and Tim Jenkinson have been fantastic mentors.” He and Prashanth see Tickpool as just the beginning. Through their company, Informatics Data Group, they are already planning further new ventures in the financial services sector.