Rails-based trading platform for impact investing
#finance rails #startup


I have worked with several technology companies over my career as an entrepreneur and I can say that Singlebrook has been one of the most professional technology companies I have contracted.

Mike Van Patten, Mission Markets

Mission Markets is a new company dedicated to facilitating investment in ventures that have a positive social or environmental impact. As part of their strategy, Mission Markets needed an advanced, responsive, application that allowed groups needing capital to meet like-minded investors in a secure online environment. Singlebrook was there to make it happen.

Complex Requirements, Modern Implementation

Singlebrook created the Private Capital Marketplace for Mission Markets. This application is an advanced online marketplace, utilizing the modern best-practices web development standards, including JQuery for quick, responsive interactions with the browser, and Ruby on Rails to enable rapid prototyping of new ideas from the Mission Markets team, as well as rock-solid stability and security of the platform itself.

The application includes such complex functionality as a complete authentication system built to follow federal FINRA and SEC regulations, advanced graphing and visualizations of data for users, and on-the-fly file generation for data portability.

Singlebrook Is Agile

Throughout the development of the project, certain requirements grew in importance, others became less so, and some new ideas came in right out of the blue. This was never a problem, because here at Singlebrook, our development process is Agile.

Agile means never locking in requirements before you see something in action. It means turning on a dime based on the current needs of the project. It means constant, close, communication between our clients and our team so there are never any unpleasant surprises. It means using modern web development technologies to help us develop faster, better applications for our clients.

Mission Markets Is On Rails

Ruby on Rails logo Part of how we stay agile is by using the right tools. For Mission Markets we used the advanced, open-source framework Ruby on Rails. Rails is a mature development platform that was designed from the very beginning to be agile. It helps us develop our applications faster because it handles of lot of the basics, freeing us to focus on implementing the overall behavior of our clients' projects.

Rails has been used in everything from academia to business to personal, and runs some of the most popular websites out there, including Twitter and Hulu. It was used with great success with Mission Markets, where we really took advantage of its abilities for rapid change and the testing out of new ideas.

Tested Code is Happy Code

Staying agile isn't just about using the right tools, it's about having the confidence that your code works after it changes. That's why we at Singlebrook utilize automated testing of our code. Testing checks to make sure our code acts the way it should, without having to run through every feature by hand. It makes code better, cleaner, and more robust. It also provides a layer of documentation for our clients or anyone else who cares to examine it. It's a key component of staying agile, and you shouldn't trust anyone who doesn't test.

For Mission Markets, we implemented an advanced suite of tests that check all aspects of the application. When the project grows and changes, our tests are right there, holding our hand, letting us know everything is all right.

On A Mission

Singlebrook works hard to find companies that have a larger purpose. It fits with our desire to be more socially and environmentally responsible ourselves. We here at Singlebrook live for this kind of thing: the fusion of a socially conscious company with the latest and greatest the web can offer.