Upvest with 30 million euro financing round

Upvest and BlackRock are joining forces to simplify investing in Europe. New partnership and €30 million in funding to facilitate access to low-cost investment opportunities

Berlin/London, October 11, 2023 - Upvest, a Berlin-based fintech company, has announced a partnership with BlackRock that aims to simplify investing for European investors.

The partnership has been strengthened by BlackRock's participation in Upvest's €30 million funding round. Existing investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, HV Capital, Earlybird, Notion Capital, ABN Amro Ventures and 10x Capital also contributed to the funding.

One of the world's leading asset managers is partnering with one of Europe's leading investment infrastructure providers. We are incredibly proud of this partnership, which will make investing more accessible to millions of people.

Martin Kassing, co-founder and CEO of Upvest

More and more Europeans are using digital wealth management platforms, which offer efficient and transparent products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to get into investing at low cost. Through their partnership, BlackRock and Upvest want to enable fintechs, banks and asset managers to offer their clients easier access to investing. Upvest provides an application programming interface (API) that provides all the necessary trading, settlement and custody infrastructure for digital asset management.

BlackRock brings its expertise in asset management and ETFs to the partnership, while Upvest provides a powerful investment API to accelerate the development of contemporary investment solutions. Upvest's offering remains open to further cooperation partners.

More and more Europeans are now investing in the capital markets to build a better financial future. BlackRock's partnership with Upvest will drive innovation to enable European investors to access the markets and build a better financial future.

Timo Tönges, Head of Digital Partners Business in Europe at BlackRock

This partnership has the potential to make investing easier for retail investors in Europe. In recent years, millions of Europeans have started to invest in financial markets and more investors are expected to follow. New offerings provide low-cost and easy access to investments, with ETFs playing a role.

ETF savings plans, where a fixed amount is invested each month, are popular and could grow over the next few years. It is estimated that the number of ETF savings plans in Europe will rise from 4.9 million in 2021 to around 20 million in 2026.

ETF fractions tradable

Upvest offers an infrastructure that enables trading in fractions of ETFs, shares and investment funds, making it possible to enter various asset classes from small amounts. The cooperation with distribution partners aims to promote the use of ETF portfolios among end investors and to support investors in gradually building diversified portfolios.