Upvest with 30 million euro financing round

Upvest and BlackRock join forces to simplify investing in Europe. New partnership and €30 million in funding aim 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 aimed at simplifying investing for European investors.

The partnership was strengthened by BlackRock's participation in Upvest's €30 million funding round. Existing investors including 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 the leading investment infrastructure providers in Europe. 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 asset management platforms that offer efficient and transparent products like exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to get into investing at a low cost. Through their partnership, BlackRock and Upvest aim to enable fintechs, banks and asset managers to offer their customers easier access to investing. Upvest provides an application programming interface (API) that offers 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 develop contemporary investment solutions faster. Upvest's offering remains open to additional collaboration 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

Timo Toenges, 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 investing in financial markets, and more investors are expected to follow. New offerings provide low-cost and easy access to assets, with ETFs playing a role.

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

ETF fractions tradable

Upvest offers an infrastructure that enables trading of fractional ETFs, equities and mutual funds, allowing entry into various asset classes from small amounts. Collaboration with distribution partners aims to promote the use of ETF portfolios among end investors and help investors gradually build diversified portfolios.