A home-grown app that gives investors up-to-the-minute information on share trades went live yesterday.

Spiking allows investors to make better sense of spikes in stock prices by sending instant information to their phones on trades made by company directors and substantial shareholders.

The app, which is free but by invitation only, also lets users "follow" tycoons like Oei Hong Leong, Banyan Tree founder Ho Kwon Ping or UOB Kay Hian managing director Wee Ee Chao. Users can view changes to the big players' direct or deemed interests in the stocks they hold as soon as the updates are published on the Singapore Exchange.

Spiking is the brainchild of Mr Clemen Chiang, a private investor of 15 years who also co-founded women's shopping portal CozyCot with his wife. Mr Chiang, 42, spent 20 months and about $250,000 from his own pocket developing the app.

He said: "When I read news reports from various sources...the doubt is always lingering in my mind, 'Is this a bluff? Is this gossip, rumour or speculation?'

"So I said, 'Why don't I chase the real guy who puts money on the table? We can't tell the future and we can't give advice, but we can try to connect the dots (with our data feeds)." Mr Chiang was involved in a well-publicised case in 2009, when people who had paid to attend his options trading seminars sued him for refunds after discovering his PhD was from an unaccredited university.

Mr Chiang said: "I paid the price for that mistake and lost my business and, worse, my credibility among some people...

"But I try to improve myself and I try to grow from there."

Spiking is backed by Quest Ventures and a grant from the National Research Foundation. Mr Chiang hopes to close a $1 million seed-funding round in the next few months to fund expansion into Hong Kong and Australia.

The app is available for iPhones and will be released on Google Play in the middle of next month.