Tencent has led a series E round that reportedly tripled LMU Munich-linked Scalable Capital's valuation to $1.4bn.
Scalable Capital, a Germany-based operator of an online wealth management platform co-founded by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU Munich) faculty, raised €150m ($183m) in a series E round led by internet and gaming group Tencent today.
Unnamed existing shareholders also took part in the round. TechCrunch identified BlackRock as a participant and said the round valued Scalable Capital at $1.4bn.
Founded in 2014, Scalable has built an online platform for digital wealth management services that allows users to trade stocks and exchange-traded funds at a flat rate of about $3.65 per month. It also recently introduced a brokerage product for trading cryptocurrencies.
The company will use the financing to develop its brokerage and wealth management divisions as well as launch its offering in France, Italy and Spain.
It is currently active in Germany and Austria, and continues to offer services to existing clients in the UK but no longer accepts new customers in that market.
The company is looking to recruit additional engineers, customer support and marketing staff. TechCrunch said the money would serve to expand into France, Italy and Spain, but Scalable made no mention of this in its press release.
Tengelmann Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of retailer Tengelmann, participated in a $58m series D round for Scalable in July 2020 that included HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, BlackRock, Monk’s Hill Ventures, German Startups Group, MPGI, Reiner Mauch, Rahul Mehta, Steffen Pauls and an undisclosed new investor.
The series D round valued the company at $463m post-money. It had secured $27.5m in a series C round in August 2019 featuring Tengelmann Ventures, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures and BlackRock.
BlackRock led Scalable’s $33.5m series B round in 2017, investing with Tengelmann Ventures and HV Holtzbrinck Ventures. The last two had joined Monk’s Hill Ventures, German Startups Group and MPGI in its $7.9m series A round the previous year.
The company had received $4.4m across two rounds in 2015 backed by HV Holtzbrink Ventures, Monk’s Hill Ventures, German Startups Group and MPGI as well as Mauch, Mehta and Pauls.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing. Feature image courtesy of Scalable Capital.
