Covestor raises $6.5 m Series A, led by Union Square and Spark

Two A key European VC is backing a site which allows you to play the markets with your brokerage account.

US-based Covestor has raised $6.5 million dollars in Series A funding, led by Union Square Ventures in the US and European US-based VC Spark Capital. They were joined by fellow European VC Amadeus Capital Partners.

MarketWatch and Motley Fool CAPS, Cake Financial and Social Picks are all sites which let investors create fantasy portfolios and track their performance. However, Covestor links your online portfolio to an actual brokerage account so there is real money at stake. As of October last year the site’s members were collectively managing $100 million worth of their own funds.

Covestor plans to plans to use the money to build out its asset management platform, allowing users to invest alongside the self-directed investors in its community, rather than in an expensive managed fund. Todd Dagres of Spark and Albert Wenger of USV will join the Covestor board.

Since launching in public beta in summer 2007 Covestor now hosts 10 times more ‘money managers’ than any professional firm, though admittedly these are private members, not professionals. Key people include Rikki Tahta, Co-Founder and CEO of Covestor.