Bitpanda Founder Christian Trummer, Paul Klanschek, Eric Demuth | Image credit: Bitpanda
Austria’s first unicorn, Bitpanda, a fintech company that provides an exchange platform for digital assets such as cryptocurrency, announced that it has secured $263M (approx €223.35M) in its Series C round of funding.
The company had raised $170M (approx €142.56M) in March 2021, to earn the status of a ‘unicorn’ at a valuation of $1.2B (approx €1B).
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And with the latest round of funding after just five months, the company has more than tripled its valuation to $4.1B (approx €3.48B).
Investors in this round
The Series C round was led by Valar Ventures, a New York-based venture firm that manages over $1.3B in Assets Under Management (AUM). The round also saw participation from Alan Howard and REDO Ventures, as well as existing investors LeadBlock Partners and Jump Capital.
Speaking on Bitpanda’s recent growth, Andrew McCormack, Founding Partner of Valar Ventures, says, “We believed in Bitpanda’s potential from the beginning and we are impressed by the results the Bitpanda team have achieved. With more than 1.2 million users acquired in the first half of 2021, impressive net revenue growth and world-class executive hires, Bitpanda stands as the living proof that hypergrowth can be achieved in a sustainable way.”
“Invest in stocks, crypto, metals – all in one place”
Bitpanda was founded in 2014 by Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek, and Christian Trummer. The company’s mission is to break the barriers of investing by making easy to use financial products for everybody.
The platform removes complicated financial barriers through digitised assets and blockchain technology. It offers low fees, 24/7 trading, and real-time settlements. Everyone can start investing (from as little as €1) and take ownership of their financial future.
With a PSD2 (European regulation for electronic payment services) payment service provider license, security, and streamlined user experience, Bitpanda claims to have grown into a popular trading platform. It lets users trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, and over 100 other digital assets. Since its inception, the company has more than 2 million users worldwide and more than 500 team members.
Recently, Bitpanda announced the opening of its remote-first Blockchain Research & Development hub for uniting talent around Europe to build technologies that leverage blockchain for the future. In addition, it also plans to open new offices in Europe.
The company has physical tech hubs and offices in eight cities across Europe, including Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin, Krakow, London, Madrid, Milan, and Paris.
Capital utilisation
The proceeds from this round will enable Bitpanda to strengthen its team and design the organisation for scale, while doubling down on technology, international expansion, and growth.
Who can invest
Bitpanda is open to all users globally. However, some operations are limited. Currently, buying cryptocurrencies and investing in fractional stocks is only available for EU residents that are
within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). This means most EU members plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Monaco.
Users outside the EU can use their account to store and send crypto. They can also sell cryptocurrency or receive pay-outs via Neteller – an e-money transfer service used to transfer money to and from merchants.
Bitpanda is available in languages including German, English, French, Spanish, Turkish, Italian, and Polish.
Recent growth and developments
Bitpanda mentioned in a statement that it is on track to achieve 6X customer growth year-over-year, while their revenues will increase 7X in 2021 as compared to last year.
Earlier in June 2021, the company tapped into the potential of the B2B market with Bitpanda While Label, opening its infrastructure to fintechs or banks that want to offer trading to their clients. In April 2021, it had announced the expansion of its product offering with commission-free stocks that users can invest in 24/7.
Recently, Bitpanda also hired four key executives to help shape the future growth trajectory of the company. These include – Lindsay Ross, ex-Adyen and MessageBird, as Chief HR Officer; Irina Scarlat, ex-Revolut and Uber, as Chief Growth Officer; João Luís, ex-Farfetch, as VP of Engineering; and, Michael Keskerides, ex-N26, as VP Product.
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