Germany’s Trade Republic lands $900 million investment led by Sequoia

Startups • May 20, 2021, 7:10AM EDT
The Block

Berlin-based neo-broker Trade Republic, which recently branched out into crypto trading, has raised $900 million in a Series C round led by Sequoia.

The fundraise gives Trade Republic a valuation of over $5 billion, placing it among Europe’s most valuable fintech firms.

TCV and Thrive Capital also participated in the round as new investors in the startup, alongside existing backers Accel, Founders Fund, Creandum and Project A.

Launched in 2015, Trade Republic’s core offering is a trading platform for ETFs and fractional stocks. The startup expanded into crypto trading in late April, in keeping with a wider push among neo-brokers into the crypto sector.

“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,” said Trade Republic’s co-founder and CEO Christian Hecker in a statement.

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The firm currently offers trading in bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash, and said at launch that it would charge a flat fee of €1 to cover third-party execution.

Silicon Valley-based Sequoia, which led the round and has also backed the likes of Klarna and Stripe in Europe, opened its first office in Europe late last year and has been hiring to ramp up investment in the region.

Thomas Pischke, another of Trade Republic’s co-founders, said in a statement that half of the platform’s customers — more than 500,000 people — have never invested in capital markets before.

“We empower people to start with wealth creation, who have been neglected by big banks for too long, with high fees and opaque products,” he added.

Trade Republic currently has more than €6 billion in assets under management.

About Author

Ryan Weeks is deals editor at the The Block, focused on fundraising, M&A and institutional trends in the crypto space, among other things. He is particularly interested in investigative work — so please send tips! Ryan previously worked at Financial News, Dow Jones as a fintech correspondent in London. Prior to that, he wrote for several different publications, including Sifted, AltFi and Wired. Beyond journalism, Ryan is a keen reader and writer. He enjoys all things active, especially running, rugby, climbing and tennis.