The $900 million funding makes Trade Republic one of the biggest private fintech firms in Europe.
German stock-trading app Trade Republic has raised $900 in a Series C funding round, bringing the start-up’s value to $5.3B. Trade Republic enlisted Californian venture capital firm Sequoia to lead the round.
Investors Project A, Accel, Founders Fund and Creandum increased their stake and were joined by new investors TCV and Thrive Capital.
Founded in 2015, Trade Republic is Europe’s equivalent of Robinhood. Users of the app can trade in fractional stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for a set fee of €1 per transaction. Crypto trading was introduced to the app in late April. Currently, users can trade in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.
The $900 million funding makes Trade Republic one of the biggest private fintech firms in Europe. Co-Founder Christian Hecker revealed that the company, which currently operates in Germany, Austria and France, would be using the money to expand into new territory. He hopes that the Berlin-based start-up will be operating across the entire Eurozone within four months. The firm has upwards of 1 million users and a staff of over 400.
Hecker believes that everyone should be able to access Trade Republic’s services. He noted:
“At Trade Republic, we believe everybody should have the right to participate in economic growth. This requires an easy-to-use, accessible and affordable savings platform that is open to everyone […] It really hurts me to see that the those demographic or macroeconomic factors [that are impacting users in Germany, France and Austria] are basically burning all continental European countries. So I think that’s really, really important we launch in all of those nations.”
Trading platforms like Trade Republic, eToro, Bux and Robinhood have seen an increase in users due to increased mainstream interest in the stock market.
Trade Republic Co-Founder Thomas Pischke noted that ‘Fifty per cent of Trade Republic’s customers, over 500,000 people, have never invested in capital markets before in their life’. He added that they “empower people to start with wealth creation, who have been neglected by big banks for too long, with high fees and opaque products.”
Doug Leone, a partner at Sequoia, which has been investing in the fintech industry, believes that major shifts in the industry are to be witnessed in the coming years.
“The democratization of financial markets will be one of the most important consumer trends of the next decade. Trade Republic is on the leading edge of this trend and has attracted an untapped generation of European savers who demand increased financial accessibility. We’re thrilled to partner with Christian, Thomas, Marco and their team as they deliver a product and experience that customers love,” said he.
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