Oana Coșman
Digital investment platform Bitpanda raises $263 million in funding at a $4.1 billion valuation. The company will use the proceeds to strengthen its team and design the organisation for scale, while doubling down on state-of-the-art technology, international expansion and growth.
Signed just 4 months after gaining unicorn status, the Series C round is led by Valar Ventures, with the participation of Alan Howard and REDO Ventures, as well as existing investors LeadBlock Partners and Jump Capital. The Series C was signed earlier this month and is subject as always to clearance by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).
Founded in Austria in 2014 by Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek and Christian Trummer, Bitpanda started as a crypto-trading company. Since then, it has grown into a well-rounded investment platform that gives everyone the freedom and flexibility to invest in what they believe in — commission-free fractional stocks, cryptocurrencies or precious metals — from as little as $1.
With 3 million users, Bitpanda is one of the fastest growing fintechs in Europe. The company is on track to achieve 6x customer growth year over year, while their revenues will increase sevenfold in 2021 as compared with the previous year.
Since closing its series B funding round, Bitpanda has made significant progress towards becoming a leading investment platform. In April, the company announced it is expanding its product offering with commission-free stocks that users can invest in 24/7. In June, it 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.
Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, Bitpanda now has a diverse team of 500+ people who represent more than 50 nationalities, as well as physical tech hubs and offices in 8 cities across Europe, including Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin, Krakow, London, Madrid, Milan, and Paris.
The company recently announced the opening of its remote-first Blockchain Research & Development hub, focused on uniting talent around Europe to build state-of-the-art technologies that leverage blockchain for the future, and it plans to open new offices in Europe.
Four key executive hires have joined the team to shape the future growth trajectory of Bitpanda: 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.
