European investment and savings platform Trade Republic has topped up its 2021 Series C round with an investment of €250 million led by the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. The funding gives Trade Republic a valuation of more than $5 billion (€5 billion), and will enable the company to “double down” on its product.
“We are amid a transformation of pension systems in Europe,” Trade Republic co-founder Christian Hecker said. “The financing will help us to invest strongly into product innovation to empower millions of Europeans to put their money to work. Improving our valuation in the light of the current market environment is the true testament to our progress in the last twelve months and the large potential ahead.”
Trade Republic enables its more than one million European customers to invest in equities, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as fractional savings plans. With more than six billion euros in assets under management, Trade Republic offers investors the ability to invest in 9,000 stocks and ETFs; take advantage of 4,000 stock and ETF savings plans; and participate in more than 50 cryptocurrency-based savings plans. Trade Republic also provides access to 300,000 derivatives including warrant bonds, “knock-out products”, and factor certificates.
Trade Republic was founded in 2015 by Christian Hecker, Thomas Pischke, and Marco Cancellieri. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of international cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has raised $500 million to invest in companies that are “building Web3”. The capital comes from VC firms DST Global and Breyer Capital, and featured participation from a variety of family offices and corporations which remained unnamed.
The new fund arrives at a time when cryptocurrrency prices are in a significant retreat. Binance Labs has suggested that the current weakness in digital asset prices might provide an opportunity for investment in companies involved in everything from NFTs to blockchain infrastructure. “The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and founders with the potential to build and to lead Web3 across DeFi, NFTs, gaming, Metaverse, social, and more,” Binance Labs Executive Director of Investments and M&A Ken Li said.
The new fund will invest in projects in a wide range of development stages including incubation, early-stage venture, and late-stage growth. Binance Labs has invested in and incubated more than 100 projects from more than 25 countries. The firm’s portfolio includes companies such as blockchain research firm Dune Analytics, as well as blockchain networks such as Elrond, The Sandbox, and Polygon.
In other international fintech news, Canadian Finovate alum Buckzy Payments announced an expansion to the Netherlands and its plan to pursue an EMI (Electronic Money Institution) license. The company, which demoed its real-time cross border P2P payments solution at FinovateFall 2019, opened a new office in Amsterdam this summer. The firm also noted that an EMI license will enable members of the Buckzy Payment Network to leverage virtual account services and real-time payments across the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) of 36 European countries and territories.
“Europe is a mature, technologically advanced market that is also a hotbed of fintech innovation thanks to its adoption of open API technology,” Buckzy President and CEO Abdul Naushad said. “(This) has opened up the financial sector and created opportunities for innovative new companies to provide new products and services. More and more of our customers around the world want to send and receive real-time payments to and from Europe, and we are enabling them to do so.”
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Brazil went live with its public blockchain network this week.
- Reuters examined the enduring power of cash and its impact on fintech development in Mexico.
- Cross-border transactions company Bexs Pay inked partnership with Brazilian fintech Nubank.
Asia-Pacific
- China Bank launched its mobile app China Bank START.
- Green Link Digital Bank opened for business in Singapore this week.
- Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) partnered with Temenos to modernize its core banking system.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Grey, a digital banking startup based in Nigeria, announced a partnership with Cellulant that will enable the company to expand into East Africa.
- South Africa-based payments company Yoco introduced new payment solutions for small businesses.
- Visa and Kenya-based Safaricom collaborated to launch a virtual card to facilitate digital payments using M-Pesa.
Central and Eastern Europe
- German sustainability-as-a-service company ecolytiq secured $14.5 million (EUR 13.5 million) in funding.
- Froots, a Vienna, Austria-based investment and wealth creation company, raised $2.6 million (EUR 2.5 million) in capital.
- Credit Agricole Bank Polska launched its new app courtesy of a partnership with Efigence.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- MoneyGram partners with Mobily Pay to reach new users in Saudi Arabia.
- Israeli cryptocurrency startup SarkWare earned an $8 billion valuation upon securing $100 million in Series D funding.
- UAE-based wealthtech FinaMaze announced partnership with investment research firm Ned Davis Research.
Central and Southern Asia
- Indian fintech platform StrideOne announced $33 million in new funding.
- Pakistan’s Tez Financial agreed to be acquired by Swiss BNPL platform ZoodPay.
- An investment of $50 million has given Indian fintech Slice a valuation of $1.5 billion.