Alpaca has successfully raised $71.8 million over six funding rounds, positioning itself as a significant player in the fintech space. The platform offers API-first solutions for stock and crypto trading, catering to both individual traders and businesses globally.
Keep reading to explore the intricacies of Alpaca's fundraising journey and the investors backing this innovative platform.
What Is Alpaca?
Founded by Hitoshi Harada and Yoshi Yokokawa, Alpaca is a fintech startup based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company specializes in providing API-first solutions for stock and crypto trading.
Alpaca's technology empowers developers to build apps, services, and trading algorithms that can access U.S. financial markets. The platform supports both individual traders and businesses globally.
With a team of 201-500 employees, Alpaca continues to innovate in the financial services sector, offering a unified platform for investing, brokerage, custody, and post-trade processing.
How Much Funding Has Alpaca Raised?
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: $1,000,000
- Date: October 2015
- Motivation Behind the Round: To develop the initial version of their API platform.
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: $1,750,000
- Date: January 2017
- Lead Investors: D4V, Monex Ventures, MUCAP, Eric Di Benedetto
- Motivation Behind the Round: To accelerate the development of AlpacaScan, a platform that helps casual traders discover trade ideas.
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: $3,000,000
- Date: October 2018
- Lead Investors: Global Brain, Chihiro Asano, D4V, Eric Di Benedetto, Berkeley Angel Network, Archetype, Joshua S. Levine
- Motivation Behind the Round: To support the launch and development of Alpaca's commission-free trading platform.
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: $6,000,000
- Date: November 2019
- Lead Investors: Spark Capital
- Motivation Behind the Round: To hire staff for managing partnerships, support the developer community, and ensure compliance.
- Series A
- Amount Raised: $10,000,000
- Date: September 2020
- Motivation Behind the Round: To expand their market reach and enhance their technology.
- Series B
- Amount Raised: $50,000,000
- Date: June 2021
- Lead Investors: Tribe Capital
- Motivation Behind the Round: To rapidly scale their API-delivered equities trading business, hire more employees, and expand into the cryptocurrency market.
Total Funding: $71.8M
Current Valuation: $500M (~estimated)
Key Investors
- Tribe Capital
- Details: Tribe Capital is a venture capital firm that led Alpaca's Series B round. The firm is known for its data-driven approach to investing.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, financial services, consumer products
- Notable Investments: Carta, Bolt, Relativity Space
- Spark Capital
- Details: Spark Capital is a venture capital firm that has been an existing investor in Alpaca. The firm invests in early and growth-stage companies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, media, consumer products
- Notable Investments: Twitter, Slack, Oculus
- Portage Ventures
- Details: Portage Ventures specializes in fintech and financial services investments. The firm participated in Alpaca's Series B round.
- Investment Focus Areas: Fintech, financial services, insurance
- Notable Investments: Wealthsimple, Borrowell, Koho
- Social Leverage
- Details: Social Leverage is a venture capital firm focusing on early-stage technology companies. They have been an investor in Alpaca since the Series A round.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, fintech, consumer products
- Notable Investments: Robinhood, Rally Rd, Kustomer
- Horizons Ventures
- Details: Horizons Ventures is a venture capital firm known for investing in disruptive and technology-driven companies. They joined as a new investor in Alpaca's Series B round.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, biotech, consumer products
- Notable Investments: Facebook, Spotify, Zoom
What's Next for Alpaca?
Alpaca stands at the cusp of significant growth opportunities, driven by the expanding market for API-delivered trading services. The company's move into the cryptocurrency market and partnerships with fintech firms like Plaid position it to capture a broader audience. With a 1,500% increase in brokerage accounts and plans to secure 100 partners, Alpaca's potential is vast.
Future fundraising seems promising, given the recent $50 million Series B round. This influx of capital will likely attract further investment as Alpaca scales its operations and explores new markets. However, challenges such as high investor expectations, the need for skilled developers, and competition from other fintech firms could pose hurdles.
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