Alpaca raises $50 million and announces crypto offering

The series B round takes Alpaca’s total funds raised from investors to $72 million

Alpaca, the stock brokerage provider that offers APIs for fintech apps to connect and trade in US equities, has closed a $50 million series B funding round.

The round was led by Tribe Capital with participation from Horizons Ventures, Eldridge, and Positive Sum.

Alpaca’s existing investors, Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, and Social Leverage, also participated in the round.

The series B round takes Alpaca’s total funds raised from investors to $72 million.

Since its product launch in 2018, US-based Alpaca has enjoyed impressive growth, reaching more than 100,000 funded brokerage accounts this year and expanding partnerships across Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and North and Latin Americas, including a recent one with Plaid.

The Alpaca Broker API enables fintechs to build and launch commission-free stock trading apps. 

Alpaca also offers fractional shares through its app partners, allowing investors in any country to buy into the US stock market for as little as $1.

The stock brokerage provider is now taking the next step in its growth plan with a new cryptocurrency offering. 

Alpaca says the new crypto product will be made available for both retail consumers and B2B partners, and is made possible by partnerships with specialists Genesis, ErisX, and Silvergate.

Customers will soon be able to buy, sell, hold, and trade cryptocurrencies via Alpaca’s APIs. Interested developers and traders can join the Alpaca Crypto waitlist for alerts and early access to the public beta.

Commenting on Alpaca’s performance, Yoshi Yokokawa, its founder and chief executive officer, says: “By the end of the year, we’re going to see close to 100 global fintech apps built with our APIs go live with their stock trading platforms.”

“We’re unlocking the ability to invest in US companies in places around the world that have never had this opportunity and through fintech partners that share our vision of democratising investing.” 

Arjun Sethi, co-founder and partner at Tribe Capital, adds: “Our 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.” 

“Its crypto launch is just the first of many product iterations that will allow global investors to access US markets. We look forward to working with the company to scale its ambitious vision.”

Image: Shutterstock

Mark Dugdale