Commission-free stock brokerage platform Alpaca has closed a $50 million Series B on the heels of driving 1500 percent year to date growth in brokerage accounts and expanding partnerships across Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, North and Latin Americas.<\/p>\n
Alpaca is an API-first stock brokerage platform that enables developers to build apps and trading algorithms. The company\u2019s platform powers fintech businesses globally to launch commission-free stock investing apps.<\/p>\n
The fundraising round was led by Tribe Capital with participation from Horizons Ventures, Eldridge, and Positive Sum. Alpaca\u2019s existing investors, Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, and Social Leverage, also participated in the round. Since its product launch in 2018, Alpaca has continued to accelerate worldwide growth and adoption of its developer APIs and is now expanding into cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur modern financial system runs on antiquated rails. Alpaca has established itself as the go-to developer-first API for investing by providing an easier, cleaner, and more scalable alternative to what exists today,\u201d said Arjun Sethi, Co-Founder and Partner at Tribe Capital. \u201cIts crypto launch is just the first of many product iterations that will allow global investors to access U.S. markets. We look forward to working with the company to scale its ambitious vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company also announced a new partnership with Plaid, a data network powering the digital financial ecosystem, allowing Broker API partners the ability to simplify the account funding experience for their customers. The partnership offers a seamless authentication and funding process and supports the acceleration and growth of new fintech startups and tech innovators.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccount funding is a critical part of customer onboarding for fintech apps and crypto exchanges,\u201d said Paul Williamson, Head of Revenue at Plaid. \u201cAlpaca\u2019s integration with Plaid will help companies streamline the account onboarding process for customers and improve funding success rates.\u201d<\/p>\n