German fintech Upvest raises $42m in Series B round

Berlin-based fintech Upvest has raised $42 million in a Series B funding round, claiming it to be one of Germany’s largest this year.

Upvest bags $42m in Series B round

Bessemer Venture Partners is leading the round, with participation from existing investors ABN Amro Ventures and Earlybird, as well as Notion Capital, Partech, 10x Group, Speedinvest and Maximilian Tayenthal (founder and co-CEO of European challenger bank N26).

Upvest says the funds will be used towards building out its investment API, expansion plans and hiring talent.

Founded in 2017 by Martin Kassing, Upvest enables other fintechs to provide their end-customers with any type of investment product, through its investment API that can be implemented by fintech firms of any size.

Upvest claims its API and core banking system help challenger banks and other banking players to “significantly save on the cost side since they do not need to develop their brokerage and custody infrastructure from scratch”.

“Additionally, they also save costs as Upvest’s platform is fully automated and thus cheaper to operate,” Upvest says.

The firm adds that it also helps to reduce onboarding time for new customers and make investing possible “instantly”.

With the latest round of funding, Upvest’s total investment to date stands at $62.6 million.

Since March 2022, Upvest holds all BaFin licences for securities and crypto brokerage and custody and the company currently employs 90 people at its main hub in Berlin.