Online trading platform Webull, set to go public through a US$7 billion special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal this year, is gearing up to capture a new wave of individual investors in Asia as it intensifies its global expansion efforts.

The company aims to ride its success in the US market to vault to the top ranks of trading platforms worldwide, according to Anthony Denier, Webull's group president.

"We want to bring the success we've had in the US, the lessons we've learned, and the customer-experience tools we've developed to the global market," Denier said in Hong Kong.

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"My vision is that over the next two years, our brokerages will be ranking among the top three brokers in every country" where the company already has a presence, he added.

Founded in 2016 by former Alibaba Group Holding and Xiaomi employee Anquan Wang, Webull offers zero-commission trading services for retail investors, and operates in 15 markets in Asia, Latin America and Europe. It is affiliated with Chinese holding company Hunan Fumi Information Technology. The firm saw its popularity surge during the meme-stock frenzy in 2021, and accumulated 4.3 million funded accounts by the end of 2023, with US$8.2 billion of customer assets.

In February, Webull announced that it had reached a merger agreement with blank-check company SK Growth Opportunities to list its shares on the Nasdaq through a SPAC deal. The company has been profitable for the past two years, making it an opportune time to go public, Denier said.

The IPO, expected to raise US$100 million, is projected to value Webull at US$7.3 billion, according to the prospectus.

"Once we're public, we will not only have access to capital, but it will also give our customers more confidence in who we are in terms of our scale, size and dependability, which will help us get to that top three mark," he said.

While the US currently accounts for most of its business, Webull plans to diversify its revenue streams over the next two years. "The plan is for the US to represent only 50 per cent of revenue, with the rest coming from everywhere else," Denier said.

Southeast Asia is a key region the brokerage wants to focus on, because it has a young, mobile-savvy population. One of Webull's key features, an in-app forum where users can exchange their market views, could help young investors to build an online trading community and "democratise ideas", Denier said.