BlackRock Inc. has taken a minority stake in a German digital wealth business as the world’s largest asset manager seeks to broaden its reach to first-time investors in Europe.
(Bloomberg) — BlackRock Inc. has taken a minority stake in a German digital wealth business as the world’s largest asset manager seeks to broaden its reach to first-time investors in Europe.
The New York-based firm participated in a €30 million ($31.8 million) funding round for Upvest, a Berlin-based fintech founded in 2017 that provides settlement and custody infrastructure for digital wealth management. It invested alongside Upvest’s existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, HV Capital, Earlybird, Notion, ABN Amro Ventures and 10x Capital.
The investment will help BlackRock tap Upvest’s software platform, which enables investors with as little as €1 access products across asset classes, including exchange traded funds.
ETF savings plans have fueled a big part of the growth in a new generation of first-time investors, whose number is set to reach roughly 20 million by 2026 across Europe, from 4.9 million two years ago, according to BlackRock. Germany is one of the company’s main areas of focus in the continent.
Read more: BlackRock EMEA Boss Signals Private Credit as Top Priority
BlackRock, which oversees $9.4 trillion, has been increasingly seeking to transform itself into a one-stop-shop for investors across asset classes, as well as providing tech, data, analytics and financial markets advice to clients.
(Updates with Upvest’s founding in second paragraph. An earlier version was corrected to say BlackRock wasn’t the lead investor.)
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