CASUAL TRADING APP BUX RAISES $1.9 MILLION TO ACCELERATE EUROPEAN ROLL-OUT
London and Silicon Valley based VC Initial Capital invests in FinTech startup that makes stock trading more accessible through gamification
BUX, the trading app that makes playing the financial markets accessible to everybody, has closed a second financing round of $1.9 million to further accelerate growth in new markets across Europe. Since its launch 12 months ago BUX has welcomed over 200,000 users in the UK and the Netherlands. The company has managed to introduce trading to an entirely new audience: 79% of BUX users have little to no earlier trading experience*.
The largest investor of this round was London and Silicon Valley based Initial Capital, a VC with a focus on games that has played a key role in helping fast growth gaming companies like Space Ape, Super Evil Mega Corp and Supercell grow. Initial Capital’s participation endorses BUX’s mission to make the financial markets accessible to everyone by adding a gaming element to trading. The BUX app provides access to the world of trading to a generation that grew up in the age of mobile, games and social networks and is currently disengaged with the traditional concept of trading.
“Making stock trading more accessible through gamification isn’t easy. You need a unique team, consisting of members that don’t naturally find themselves working within each other’s vicinities: people with experience in brokerage and people who are into games. BUX has managed to build such a team. Because of this, and the traction that BUX has shown after just a year, we are genuinely excited to be involved with BUX turning the traditional brokerage sector upside down.”
“BUX is the result of a cross pollination between two different sectors: games and trading, which is an excellent starting point for radical innovation. I’m thrilled that as a fintech company, we can now draw on the knowledge of one of the leading VC’s in the games sector.”
Other investors that participated in this round were fintech VC Velocity Capital and VC 5Square. Fintech VC Orange Growth Capital and BUX’s founders funded the first financing round.
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About BUX
WHAT IS BUX?
BUX is a trading app that makes playing the markets super easy and relatively safe for everybody. You can now experience the excitement of the stock exchange, even if you don’t have tons of trading experience or wads of cash to spend. BUX brings the fun into finance and makes stocks trading accessible for everyone.
WHY DID WE START BUX?
Most people think the world of finance is super-complicated and mind-numbingly boring. But at BUX we know that the financial markets are, in fact, the most important, the biggest, the most influential and the most exciting game in the world. The financial markets are inseparably connected to international business, politics and our world economy, which makes trading stocks actually something super-interesting to do. But go and try to get this point across over a few drinks at a party: before you’ll know it, you’re the one standing in the corner, all by yourself, sadly trying to maintain a posture by nibbling on a party snack. We feel this needs to change. Now, finally, technology enables us to create an app which opens the markets for everyone and makes trading stocks as easy as liking a post on Facebook. Whereas traditional finance is as boring and elitist as classical music, BUX rocks the world of finance and let’s everyone experience how exciting trading stocks actually is. Enjoy the party!
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Four Dutch entrepreneurs founded BUX: Egbert Pronk, Nick Bortot, Robbert Bos, and Joost van de Wijgerd. BUX’s CEO Nick Bortot co-founded BinckBank, with over 550 employees, the largest online discount broker in the Netherlands, listed on the Euronext stock exchange. From the headquarters in Amsterdam, BUX sets out to rock the global world of finance. The team currently consists of 35 employees that have rolled out BUX in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Italy, with plans to expand globally. BUX has received the honour of being listed in the Fintech50 2015 – the annual list of Europe’s most promising fintech start-ups. Holtzbrinck Ventures, Orange Growth Capital, Velocity Capital and Initial Capital have funded BUX. BUX’s trading partner is Ayondo Markets Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).