Woodstock

What Woodstock does

Woodstock (legal entity Woodstock K.K., 株式会社) is a Tokyo-based fintech founded in 2021 that operates a mobile-first, commission-free US stock trading app targeting young Japanese retail investors, particularly Gen Z and first-time investors. The company's core product is the Woodstock APP, available on iOS, Android, desktop, and tablet, which offers 24/5 trading of US equities and ETFs with zero fees across commissions, FX conversion, custody, and withdrawals. Onboarding is fully self-serve and takes approximately one minute, with identity verification via My Number Card scanning or Apple Wallet integration (an industry-first in Japan). The platform supports fractional shares from ¥200, real-time stock charts and FX rates, dividend investing, and AI-powered stock summaries and trend discovery. Customer assets are segregated at a trust bank via affiliated broker AlpacaJapan Inc. (Kanto Local Finance Bureau registration no. 3024), and Woodstock itself operates as an FSA-registered financial instruments intermediary (registration no. 965).

Woodstock's business model is currently freemium — all core services are free and the company states that revenue is not yet monetized. The explicit strategy is to acquire a large user base through zero-fee trading and subsequently introduce paid premium products (robo-advisory, API access, margin trading) to generate revenue. The company's go-to-market is product-led growth: digital-only distribution via app stores, social/referral mechanisms (Woodstock Link, Matching Live Trade), and LINE-based support. Woodstock is venture-backed, having raised approximately ¥750M total funding including a ~¥500M (~$4.8M) round in May 2024 led by Delight Ventures, with prior seed participation from Coinbase Ventures, Coral Capital, Hyper, Incubate Fund, and Kindred Ventures.

The company's most distinctive technical capability is Woodstock MCP, launched in June 2026 as Japan's first no-code Model Context Protocol service for investing. This product enables users to connect AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT) directly to their Woodstock brokerage account for conversational market research, portfolio management, and trade execution, consolidating the full investing workflow into a single AI-driven interface. The platform is built AI-native on Google Cloud with Gemini, and the company was featured on Google Cloud Japan's customer blog as a flagship AI agent implementation. As of the latest data, Woodstock operates exclusively in Japan (no global footprint claim), has between 101 and 250 employees, and was ranked the #1 US stock trading app in Japan among 8 platforms in a 2026 benchmark report by the Personal Financial Services Research Council and Japan Online Brokerage Benchmark Institute.

Name

Woodstock

Legal name

Woodstock株式会社 (Woodstock K.K.)

Website

https://woodstock.club

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Woodstock is a Tokyo-based fintech operating a mobile-first, commission-free US stock trading app targeting young Japanese retail investors. Its core product offers 24/5 zero-fee trading of US equities and ETFs, with industry-first AI assistant integration via Woodstock MCP, and it currently operates as a pre-revenue, venture-backed FSA-registered intermediary.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Brokerage / Online Stock Trading

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Execution-Only / Self-Directed Investing Platforms (FSAAAAAI)

Keywords

• Commission-free stock trading
• Retail brokerage services
• Fractional share investing
• AI-driven investing tools
• Social investment platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Freemium Core Trading: Core US stock trading (commissions, FX conversion, custody, withdrawals) is offered completely free. This is the primary customer acquisition layer. Revenue model is not yet monetized from this stream; the company states it will introduce premium products (robo-advisory, API access, margin trading) as future paid offerings to generate revenue from the acquired user base.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Woodstock operates a mobile-first social investment app providing zero-commission US stock trading to Japanese retail investors, available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. The app supports fractional share investing from ¥200, real-time charts and FX rates, dividend stock and ETF trading, and includes Woodstock MCP — Japan's first no-code service connecting AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT to brokerage accounts for conversational market research and trade execution.

Product overview

Woodstock is a social investment app targeting Generation Z in Japan, offering a platform-plus-modules architecture centered around commission-free US stock trading. The core product is the Woodstock APP (available on iOS, Android, desktop, and tablet) which provides 24/5 zero-fee trading, real-time charts, fractional shares, and dividend investing. This core platform is enhanced by the Woodstock MCP add-on module enabling no-code AI assistant integration for conversational trading. Additional modules include Invest (trading service), Open Account (verification), Available Stocks (discovery), Transfers (fund movement), Fees (pricing transparency), and Market News (market intelligence). The company was founded in 2021 and is registered with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, affiliated with AlpacaJapan Inc.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Woodstock MCP: No-code service connecting AI assistants and brokerage accounts using the Model Context Protocol standard for market research, portfolio management, and order placement through conversational AI interfaces.

Products and services

• Woodstock App Mobile-first social investment application for Japanese retail investors offering commission-free US stock and ETF trading 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Includes fractional shares from ¥200, real-time charts and FX rates, dividend investing, biometric authentication, and AI-powered stock summaries and trend discovery. Available on iOS, Android, desktop, and tablet.
• Woodstock MCP

Quantifiable outcome

• ¥150,000 estimated annual savings per user (vs. standard 0.495% transaction fee + ¥0.25 FX spread per dollar)
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Google CloudcoreTechnology or IntegrationWoodstock implements AI agents utilizing Google Cloud's Gemini. Google Cloud is the infrastructure and AI platform partner powering Woodstock's AI-native experience and MCP service. Partnership is publicly featured on the Google Cloud Japan customer blog.
• AlpacaJapan Co., Ltd.coreTechnology or IntegrationAffiliated financial instruments business operator (registered no. 3024). Handles actual brokerage operations, trade execution, and customer asset custody through a trust bank. Woodstock is a registered intermediary affiliated with AlpacaJapan, which is a member of the Japan Securities Dealers Association and Investment Management Association of Japan.
• Claude (Anthropic)flagshipTechnology or IntegrationClaude AI assistant is supported by the Woodstock MCP platform, enabling users to conduct market research, portfolio management, and order placement through conversational Claude interfaces without requiring programming knowledge or API development.
• ChatGPT (OpenAI)flagshipTechnology or IntegrationChatGPT is supported by the Woodstock MCP platform, enabling users to connect ChatGPT to their brokerage account for market research, portfolio management, and order placement through conversational AI interfaces.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Rakuten Securities: One of Japan's largest online brokerages offering US stock trading to retail investors. Directly competes with Woodstock on zero-commission US equity trading, with a broader product ecosystem and significantly larger customer base.
• SBI Securities: Japan's largest online broker, offering US stock trading with extensive research and account funding integrations. Competes with Woodstock on US equity access but serves a more general investor base rather than Gen Z specifically.
• Monex Securities: Japanese online broker offering US and global equity trading to retail investors. Comparable target market and product offering; older customer base but similar commission structure focus.
• PayPay Securities: Mobile-first Japanese broker owned by PayPay/Z Holdings. Closely comparable to Woodstock in mobile-first, low-cost, Gen Z-targeted US stock trading with strong ecosystem distribution.
• Matsui Securities: Japanese online broker known for commission-free domestic stock trading. Comparable self-directed, low-fee model; expanding US stock offerings competes with Woodstock's value proposition.
• au Kabucom Securities: KDDI-affiliated Japanese online broker offering US stock trading to retail investors. Competes with Woodstock in mobile-first commission-free US stock trading, with telecom ecosystem distribution.
• moomoo: Futubull-affiliated global retail brokerage with a Japan presence, offering commission-free US stock trading and community/social features. Closely matches Woodstock's social-investing and zero-fee positioning.
• LINE Securities: Messaging-app-integrated Japanese retail broker (LINE/SMBC). Comparable mobile-first, Gen Z-focused US stock trading approach with deep social app distribution.

Others

• Alpaca: US-headquartered brokerage API provider powering AlpacaJapan (Woodstock's execution partner). Connected to Woodstock via shared AlpacaJapan infrastructure rather than direct competition; ecosystem enabler.

Broad incumbents

• Interactive Brokers: Global multi-asset brokerage with a Japan presence serving retail and professional investors. Overlaps with Woodstock on US equity trading for Japanese residents but serves a more sophisticated, higher-balance segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Woodstock