Introduction
Business intelligence platform Bux has announced today a $80m Series C funding round, bringing the total amount raised to $115m. Existing investors including Velocity Capital, Vitruvian Partners, and Orange Growth Capital led the round.
The investment is part of the company’s mission of making investing accessible, affordable, and simple. Bux aims to democratize investing by making it easy and cost-effective for anyone to start investing in the stock market.
This round of funding will be used to expand Bux’s presence in Europe.
Overview
Bux is an online share trading platform that enables users to trade over 6,000 global stocks, ETFs, indices and commodities with zero commission in a social environment. The company was founded in 2014 by Nick Bortot and Marley Zaal in Amsterdam. Bux has raised $80 million (€67 million) from new and existing investors to help accelerate the international expansion of the app-based service.
The company’s mission is to make stock markets more understandable and accessible while offering a fun and engaging way to invest. By utilizing high-grade technology and aligning all operations towards this goal, Bux empowers a new generation of investors who feel comfortable speculating with smaller amounts of money.
The platform currently has 2 million European users who can choose from over 2,000 German stocks listed in Xetra (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) and 4,000 UK stocks listed on London Stock Exchange’s London Electronic Exchange (LEX). Bux also allows beginner traders to access real-time stock prices and market data through their app.
Recently, the company has also integrated cryptocurrency trading into its trading app, allowing users to get exposure to crypto without purchasing it directly or using a crypto exchange platform. This gives users more options for diversifying their portfolios.
Overview of the investment
Bux, a Dutch fintech start-up that offers zero commission stock broker services, recently announced that it had raised $80 million (€68.6 million) from the venture capital arm of BlackRock, Inc. and existing investors. This primarily includes Holtzbrinck Ventures which acted as lead-investor during Bux’s Series C fundraising round.
Bux operates in Europe by allowing users to invest in stocks with zero commission and offering fractional investing, whereas limited access was previously given to freebies on stock indices. The $80m fundraising is designed to help the company expand its currently 3 million active users base and drive product innovation in Europe through acquisitions and other strategic moves.
According to Niek Van Leeuwen, CEO of Bux Germany GmbH, this investment will provide them additional resources to continue their development of exciting new investing applications optimized for both old and young investors alike who are eager to participate in financial markets.
Bux raises $80m to boost European zero commission investing app
Bux, a zero commission investing app, recently raised $80 million to fuel its European expansion plans. This infusion of capital is intended to help Bux bring its services to markets across Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
The investment round was led by existing investors Accel, Speedinvest, and Endeit Capital, who joined new investor Talis Capital.
Let’s take a look deeper into the details of this investment.
Amount of the investment
Bux, the online commission-free investing app, has announced the completion of a $80 million Series C funding round. The round was led by US venture capital firm Accel, with participation from existing investors Velocity Capital and OMERS Ventures.
The Amsterdam-based company is one of the leading players in Europe’s fast-growing commission-free trading industry, offering its users an app to buy and sell stocks without paying trade commission fees. The new investment brings Bux’s total amount to over $107 million. It will be used to fuel its mission of giving people easy, affordable access to both traditional securities and new asset classes such as options and cryptocurrency.
This new Series C investment round comes a year after Bux’s Series B raise of €40 million ($46 million), bringing up their total venture capital funding to more than $107 million. This cash infusion will give Bux a substantial competitive advantage as they continue to build out their offering of zero-commission products and financial education tools in Europe and launch into other markets around the world.
Investors involved
The €80 million in funding was raised from international investors, including Global Founders Capital, Accel, Creandum, BrightEye Ventures and ByFounders.
In addition to this substantial financing round, Bux raised €45 million in October 2019 as part of its Series C round led by Draper Espirit. This brings the total investment raised by the fintech that started life as block trading platform “Bux Zero” in 2014 to €128 million.
This international investor group is led by Global Founders Capital, the venture capital arm of German internet company Rocket Internet; Accel’, a venture and growth equity firm that has invested in companies such as Groupon and UiPath; Creandum, a Nordic based VC fund focused on deep tech investments; BrightEye Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing across Europe and North America targeting high-growth deep-technology companies and ByFounders, founded by six successful entrepreneurs from Scandinavia who have provided multiple exits to their investors.
Purpose of the investment
The investment aims to provide an injection of capital to help accelerate Bux’s growth in Europe and fuel product innovation as the company seeks to reshape and expand its presence in investing.
The funds from existing investor Speedinvest and new investors Macquarie Group, Piton Capital and Hearst Ventures are expected to drive Bux towards developing a series of new products that enable continuous engagement with customers and further support those who seek to take charge of their finances.
Fueling this vision are Bux’s core features such as zero commission trades, an intuitive beginner-friendly account opening process, and product innovations such as accounts options powered by a Machine Learning ‘Robo-Advisor’ engine that provide portfolio management advice tailored to individual users’ personal needs. These features will soon be complemented by educational resources to empower users with investing knowledge.
Benefits of the Investment
With Bux’s new $80 million investment, they have announced plans to boost their zero commission investing app in Europe. This comes with a wide range of benefits such as lower fees to trade and save, a simple and easy to use app, and access to various investments.
Let’s dive into the benefits of investing in the Bux app.
Increased market presence
With the raised $80 million, Bux can significantly strengthen its market presence in the European Commission Zero Investing landscape, allowing them to expand into new countries and regions while developing their product offerings.
The investment allows Bux to accelerate product development, including technology investments in algorithmic trading, expert investing advice and investment/interest-bearing products. Additionally, as it grows its user base, having increased capital will allow for greater marketing efforts, better customer service infrastructure and more human resources to provide further support for their users.
By bringing on several strategic partners including Optiver, NKB Group and Victor Mueller from Cofoundit Ventures IEG, Bux gets access to invaluable industry contacts which could potentially open up increased opportunities for collaboration or additional funding. The benefit of an additional round of funding is that it gives business owners greater control over operations and more flexibility when looking at fundraising initiatives.
Expansion of product offerings
With the new influx of funding, Bux has expanded its existing product offerings, allowing investors to access more products and trade more assets on the platform. This includes increasing the number of zero-commission stocks and ETFs to 6,000 across 12 European markets as well as adding options trading. Furthermore, this investment is paving the way for margin trading with leverage options on supported stocks and ETFs, through which users can increase their potential investment returns.
Moreover, this funding round will also facilitate new initiatives such as a rewards program where users can earn points that can be used towards fees, exclusive offers and benefits with partner companies; zero commission derivatives ranging from CFDs to Futures; additional support for cryptocurrencies; personalized investments recommendations powered by AI; and an integrated savings component where investors can set up automated monthly deposits into custom portfolios.
In short, this latest investment round will enable Bux to offer a comprehensive range of products for everyone – from entry level Investor accounts to more sophisticated Trader accounts. All these features are expected to contribute towards increased engagement among its users while also boosting profitability in the long run.
Increased customer base
The new funding round will help Bux expand its customer base and extend its product offering across Europe. The company also intends to develop new features and products tailored to customers’ needs, deliver more tailored user experience, and enhance existing products. This increased customer base could lead to improved revenues in the long run and a wider audience for Bux’s app.
The additional funding will allow Bux to expand into other markets and countries, such as Germany and France. This will greatly increase their reach across Europe by making it easier for users to access their services in different countries. Furthermore, it could open up new opportunities for marketing campaigns that target users from these countries.
Finally, the new capital will enable Bux to invest more heavily in research and development which could help make their investing app even better than it already is. Further investment into research innovation can be used to identify potential growth opportunities for its services and introduce more advanced features depending on what the customer base wants or needs.
Challenges
The Bux project has succeeded over the past few years, raising $80M to boost its zero commission investing app. While this is a major accomplishment, there remain several key challenges that the Bux team must overcome to ensure their product’s long-term success.
In this article, we will look at some of these challenges and what strategies can be employed to address them
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Regulatory hurdles
Regulatory hurdles can be a major challenge in the investment sector, especially for fintech startups launching new services. In Europe, the Commission des Opérations de Bourse (COB) and MiFID II are two pieces of regulation that dictate which types of financial services companies can offer and how their products must function.
For Bux, the Dutch-based investment platform that recently raised $80m in fresh funding, navigating toward regulatory compliance will be key to keeping pace with competition such as UK-based Moneybox and German-based Trade Republic. By adhering to standard norms while ensuring customer safety and data privacy, fintech startups like Bux may be able to secure more favorable positions with regulators when launching new products.
Moreover, consolidating data gathered from across services could allow companies like Bux to attain greater trustworthiness which would ultimately help them gain entrance into new markets faster — an important asset when launching a European-wide app. Depending on how successful its effort is during this process, Bux could represent a significant symbol of growth for both investor confidence and fintech innovation throughout Europe and beyond.
Competition from existing players
The Bux app faces stiff competition from existing online trading players in the European market such as eToro and Degiro. Both companies have established programs offering traders zero commission stock and ETFs trading. They also have wide selections of instruments, user-friendly interfaces, educational resources and helpful customer service offerings. Plus, they have a vast user base which could make it harder for Bux to gain traction among potential users.
Bux must find a unique angle to compete with these existing players that sets it apart from the competition beyond its stocks offering with zero commissions. To do so, they may need to partner with big financial institutions or focus more on providing educational resources tailored towards common investment objectives such as retirement planning or building wealth over short time frames. Additionally, Bux could use their recent funding to develop new features and tools designed specifically to improve the daily experience for their users.
Keeping up with customer demand
To keep up with the rapidly increasing customer demand, Bux must focus on scaling its operations efficiently. This requires the right mobile technology to ensure an easy-to-use and high-performing app is available for customers.
Further, as with every disruptive service provider, Bux must also strive to stand out from competitors in terms of pricing and features — such as advanced charting tools — that make trading smoother and faster for customers. Furthermore, the company’s use of artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping it to better understand individual customer needs, thereby offering a more personalised service. Additionally, technology must be used to reduce operational risk/fraud through identity verification process, as well as protect customers’ funds – this is particularly important given Bux’s recently launched zero commission trading product where investments are held in custody by SFM member Bunq Bank N.V., an independent regulated financial institution.
Finally, while existing users drive short term income stream through their activity on the app (such as launching campaigns or partaking in social challenges), retaining these users while getting new ones continuously is a key challenge that needs to be addressed by the business going forward.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Bux has seen immense success in raising $80 million to boost its European zero commission investing app. This will provide users access to various markets and instruments with zero commission fees, making investing more accessible and affordable.
As Bux continues to expand and innovate, more investors will be able to benefit from its services.
Summary of the investment
Bux, a Dutch-based fintech company, has announced that it has secured $80 million in fresh funding to expand its zero commission investing app across Europe. The investment round was led by Japanese investment firm Rebright Partners and U.S. venture capital fund Goodwater Capital, with two other firms joining in the investment.
The new funds will help Bux expand its popular trading app throughout Europe and increase its product offerings to include more comprehensive services such as investments in cryptocurrency and faster payments via mobile phones. The new funds will also help Bux to increase its customer base, develop innovations and technologies for the financial industry and increase marketing efforts for their products and services.
Ultimately, the recent funding round is a statement of confidence from major investors in Bux’s vision of providing easy access to greater financial wealth via zero commission investing opportunities for all European users. By unlocking the potential of trading and investing apps across European markets while simultaneously expanding product offerings through their platform, Bux strives to make personal wealth opportunities more accessible to everyone regardless of financial background or location.
tags = Bux, raises $80m, European zero commission investing app, Netherlands-based, neo-broker, Prosus Ventures and Tencent, bux europe prosus tencentlundentechcrunch, Nick Bortot, Bux Zero
