Bitpanda, a European-based crypto exchange company, today announced it has closed Europe’s largest Series A funding round of 2020 by securing $52 million in a round led by Valar Ventures. The large-scale investment will be used to drive Bitpanda’s expansion and position the Vienna-based company as a leader in transforming Europe’s financial industry.
Currently doubling revenue annually with over 1.3 million users, Bitpanda has established itself as a popular European-based platform for trading blockchain assets and precious metals. Through its desktop site and mobile apps, users have access to 44 investment assets backed by state-of-the-art technology quickly, easily, and securely. In 2020, the company launched payments and savings platforms and will use the new funding to build more innovative ways of trading and investing, thus ensuring digital investing and trading of all asset classes is made available to everyone in Europe.
Eric Demuth, Co-Founder, and CEO of Bitpanda, stated: “This investment from Valar Ventures is a major vote of confidence in Bitpanda and our vision from one of the world’s pre-eminent investors in successful fintech companies. By using industry-leading technology and building innovative financial tools, we’re democratizing investing and giving everyone access to the financial markets, no matter their financial means. We are making it possible for everyone to take ownership of their financial future and are providing our customers with financial knowledge and education in the process. Our goal is to become the leading investment and trading platform in Europe, not only for the people who are already familiar with trading but for everyone. This funding will help us do just that and, crucially, continue to recruit some of the world’s leading talent to our team.”
Bitpanda expanded to France, Spain, and Turkey in 2020 and will enter additional European markets this year and next. The company will also launch new, industry-leading product offerings, including a completely new and innovative way of stock trading early next year. To support continued growth, the recruitment of 70 new team members is underway, increasing Bitpanda’s team to 300 employees by the end of 2020 and continuing to rapidly scale thereafter.
As part of the investment, Valar Ventures Founding Partner, Andrew McCormack, will also join Bitpanda’s board. Andrew has an extensive track record in growing digital champions, he joined PayPal in its early years and supported Peter Thiel during its IPO and eventual sale to eBay in 2002. Valar has overseen investments in multiple European fintechs turned unicorns, such as Transferwise and the Germany-based digital bank, N26.
Andrew McCormack, Founding Partner of Valar Ventures, said: “James and I are delighted to be backing Eric and Paul, as well as the Bitpanda team. Interest in investing has grown massively over the past few years and, with people spending more time at home as a result of the pandemic, this has only accelerated. We believe Bitpanda is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the opportunity by scaling across Europe and continuing to attract loyal users, which the team has already proven they can do profitably. Together, we’re going to ensure everyone in Europe has the power to access the financial markets and invest in their financial futures as we build Europe’s next fintech unicorn.”