Berlin-based firm Upvest has signed a partnership with BlackRock to open up Europe’s investment landscape to retail investors.
Upvest said BlackRock had participated in its €30m 2023 funding round alongside existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, HV Capital, Earlybird, Notion Capital, ABN Amro Ventures and 10x Capital. The company added that its Investment API helps institutions offer their customers access to a range of products including stocks and ETFs in nominal, portfolio and fractional form.
Timo Toenges, head of iShares EMEA Digital Wealth business at BlackRock, said: “Millions of Europeans are embracing investing for the first time to build a better financial future for themselves. BlackRock’s partnership with Upvest will drive innovation in how Europeans access markets and make it cheaper and simpler to start investing.”
He continued: “Across Europe, ETFs are at the core of these new propositions and often the default choice for investors, as a transparent, low-cost and easily understood starting point for a new generation of investors.”
BlackRock’s entry into the ranks of investors in Upvest comes at the end of a successful closing of its latest funding round. This follows a €40m funding round that closed around this time last year.
‘Making investing as easy as spending money’
Martin Kassing, co-founder and CEO of Upvest, said: “We are excited to embark on this next growth phase with the support of our existing investors and BlackRock. With this funding, we will be empowered to continue on our mission of making investing as easy as spending money. The funding and partnership with BlackRock enable us to double-down on building the leading investment infrastructure and accelerating retail investment adoption in Europe.”
This is not the only deal announced by Upvest in recent weeks. Last week, the firm said it had been chosen by Raisin Bank as the new investment infrastructure provider. That came a month after it announced it had been chosen to support Plum’s investment product expansion across the continent.
