– NETHERLANDS, Amsterdam – BUX today announced a $12.5M funding round led by venture capital firms Velocity Capital and Holtzbrinck Ventures, bringing the total amount in funding raised so far to $35M.
The funding round also included debt financing from Kreos Capital. The funding has gone to support the acquisition of online broker ayondo markets Limited (AML), BUX’s back-end provider for their current trading app. This funding round will also support both the launch and first stage of BUX’s soon-to-launch app, STOCKS, which will allow Europeans to invest commission-free starting July 2019.
The acquisition of AML marks the first acquisition by BUX since its founding in 2014. To-date, the partnership with AML has allowed BUX to fully focus on creating an app that removes the complexity from the financial markets and simplifies the trading experience. It has allowed BUX to reach a base of over 2 million users in just over four years across 9 European countries.
“This transaction gives BUX control over the full value chain including a full brokerage license, back-end technology, and operations,” said Nick Bortot, CEO and Founder of BUX. “It will take away any external dependencies and allow us to serve our customers even better and make it easier to introduce new features more quickly. We will additionally add 50% to our future revenues, as we will keep servicing other clients of AML.”
The funding round of $12.5M will also be supporting the launch of mobile investing app, STOCKS, which currently has over 100K users on the waitlist. To-date, there have been limited opportunities for Europeans to invest confidently in the brands and companies they care about. The launch of STOCKS seeks to lower the barriers of entry into the world of investing and empower Europeans to take control of their financial futures in an easy and affordable way.
“The future of investing is changing and BUX is uniquely positioned to shape the neo-brokerage space in Europe,” said Willem Willemstein, Investment Partner of Velocity Capital. “The fintechs that will succeed in this environment will be those who are able to specialize, localize and adapt to the varied cultural needs of the European landscape. BUX has a distinctive combination of experience scaling across Europe, combined with a vibrant lifestyle brand that will be unique to anything currently in the market.”
STOCKS will be offering a powerful combination of zero-commission investing, a clean user experience, smooth client on-boarding, a vibrant community as well as hyper-localized content.
The AML acquisition and continued funding rounds will help BUX to continue the mission to let Europeans explore new financial territories, connect with like-minded people and learn from experienced investors and traders.
BUX makes it easy and affordable for Europeans to do more with their money through its platforms which offer commission-free investing as well as leveraged trading, all powered by a vibrant community. Since launching in 2014, BUX has made the markets accessible for more than 2 million users across 9 countries in Europe. In summer 2019, BUX will be introducing STOCKS, where users will be able to invest commission free in the brands they care about. STOCKS will launch in the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria, followed by a broader rollout across Europe in the coming year. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the company is backed by Holtzbrinck Ventures, Velocity Capital, Finch Capital, and Initial Capital.
About Velocity Capital FinTech Ventures
Velocity invests in unstoppable fintech founders. The Fund provides early stage, no-seed capital funding to leaders with vision, determination, and strong business models. The Velocity team stands by these leaders as allies and trusted counselors to help them solve complex issues and achieve their goals.
About HV Holtzbrinck Ventures
Since 2000 HV Holtzbrinck Ventures has been investing in internet and technology companies across several fund generations and is one of the most successful, experienced and well-financed early stage and growth investors in Europe. HV has financed over 165 companies, such as Zalando, Delivery Hero, FlixBus and Scalable Capital. The total volume of all HV funds is € 1.05 billion. HV supports startups with investments from € 500,000 to € 50m. Hence, it is one of the few venture capital firms in Europe, which is able to support companies through all investment stages.
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