Autopilot, an application that monitors the stock trades of prominent individuals, has secured $8 million in funding to broaden its operations. The app, which was motivated by the trading acumen of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), now oversees $1 billion and has been downloaded three million times.

What Happened: Chris Josephs founded Autopilot with the aim of tracking Pelosi’s stock trades. Despite Pelosi’s upcoming retirement, Josephs intends to retain the name of his widely followed social media account, @pelositracker.

The app lets users track or even automatically mirror the stock trades of prominent investors and members of Congress. With its new funding, Autopilot plans to hire more engineers and marketers and expand its footprint from San Francisco to New York City.

Josephs initially developed the app as a tool for receiving notifications of friends’ stock trades. He was soon taken aback by the timing of Pelosi’s trades, which consistently exceeded the performance of top hedge fund managers, reports The New York Post.

This observation led to the establishment of the Pelosi Tracker on social media.

Also Read: Nancy Pelosi’s Portfolio Crushed Wall Street Hedge Funds With Jaw-Dropping Returns Last Year

Upon Pelosi’s retirement, Autopilot will cease tracking her trades. The company intends to transfer the approximately $500 million that people have invested following her trades into a “general insider trading” portfolio, which will monitor top politicians such as Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

Josephs asserts that Pelosi’s trading success has shed light on the often murky and dubious nature of congressional trades. He is a strong proponent of increased transparency and immediacy in the reporting of these trades.

Why It Matters: The success of Autopilot underscores the growing interest among retail investors in tracking the trading activities of notable figures. The app’s ability to manage $1 billion in assets and its three million downloads indicate a high level of trust and interest in its services.

This development also highlights the need for greater transparency in the trading activities of public figures, a cause that Autopilot’s founder strongly advocates for.

The app’s expansion plans suggest a promising future for similar platforms that offer retail investors insights into the trading activities of influential individuals.

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Image: Shutterstock/Dominic Dudley