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Scalable Capital raises more than USD180m in Series E round

Scalable Capital, a fast growing neo-broker and one of Europe’s largest digital wealth managers, has raised more than USD180 million (EUR150 million) in a Series E funding round led by by China’s leading technology company Tencent. 

This purely primary investment round brings the total capital raised to over USD320 million (EUR260 million). Existing shareholders participated as well. The funding will be used to accelerate Scalable Capital’s European growth and to continue building an integrated digital wealth management and brokerage experience. Five years after go-live in February 2016, the company has over a quarter of a million clients and over USD5 billion (EUR4 billion) of client assets on its platform and is one of the fastest growing European fintechs.

“Tencent complements our existing long-term partners who already represent an international investor base. Our recent funding is a major step forward on our way to becoming the leading retail investment platform in Europe. The strong acceleration of our growth further validates our mission to empower investors,” says Erik Podzuweit, co-CEO and co-founder of Scalable Capital. “Anyone thinking of investing money should think of Scalable Capital. Whether you want to invest yourself via our broker or want our wealth management solutions to do it for you.”

Since its foundation, Scalable Capital has offered private clients digital wealth management and thus became Europe’s largest digital wealth manager. Just ten months ago, the company launched a neo-broker with a unique trading flatrate. More than half of the client assets in the broker are invested in over 1,500 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) available on the platform, the rest is spread across over 4,000 shares and 2,000 funds. In addition to Scalable Capital’s overall growth strategy the funding will be used for international expansion. It will also fund the company’s continued product development efforts.

“We see huge demand to invest money in the capital markets instead of leaving it in bank accounts. This comes against a backdrop of record-low interest rates, growing inflation and a widening pension gap”, says Florian Prucker, co-CEO and co-founder of Scalable Capital. “Our clients can access fully managed globally diversified ETF portfolios and – in the same app – self directed trading in shares, ETFs, crypto currencies and funds. We also provide a market-leading offering of ETF, stocks and crypto monthly savings plans. We are planning to launch derivatives trading next. We will continue on our mission to make everyone an investor”.

The Scalable Capital team has grown to over 230 employees. The team will continue to grow significantly from here. In addition to the headquarters in Munich and an office in London, Scalable Capital recently opened a location in Berlin to attract more talent, especially in the fields of engineering, client success and marketing. “We are also looking for talent to drive our international expansion across Europe. Employees can also work remotely – a flexibility that is highly appreciated and will therefore be maintained”, says Erik Podzuweit.

Tencent is one of the market leaders in communications, social, games, digital content, fintech and cloud services in China. Through its strategic investments, Tencent nurtures the growth of start-ups and helps building the ecosystem for the Internet industry, in China and in global markets. Examples include fintech companies such as Nubank, the largest financial technology bank in Latin America, N26, a leading neo bank in Europe and Futu, a Nasdaq-listed Chinese neo-broker.

“Demand for accessible solutions of personal investing is increasing in European markets, particularly among millennials. Scalable Capital excels in offering its customers a convenient and cost-efficient investing experience. We are delighted to be an investor and participate in Scalable Capital’s growth”, says Danying Ma, Managing Director of Tencent Investment.

The implementation of the capital increase is subject to regulatory approval.

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