Trading platforms

Estonian real estate investment platform EstateGuru has funded 100 million euros in Lithuania. It reaches this milestone only 5 years after entering that market. The platform has funded over 580 million euros in total.

Dutch online broker Bux is launching its mobile app in Italy. The investment platform now operates in 8 European countries, after setting foot in Ireland and Spain last year. Recently, Bux started offering cryptocurrency and fractured investing to its users.

Trade Republic, an online broker from Germany, has raised 250 million euros in funding. The company has now been valued at 5 billion euros. The capital will be used for product development, according to the investment platform.

European crowdfunding platform October is taking over its French competitor Credit.fr. As a result of the takeover, October now represents over 860 million euros in loans, which have been extended to 3.100 companies. The takeover is in accordance with October’s growth strategy, as the platform aims to expand its corporate lending business.

The top 3 platforms for investing in cryptocurrency in Germany are Kraken, Binance and German provider Bison, according to the Munich Institute for Asset Growth (IVA). The market for crypto investing continues to grow, but there are large quality differences between brokers, the research shows.

Real estate crowdfunding platform Bulkestate is launching a new investment feature: Flash. For lower risk investments, lenders partake in a draw to potentially win prize money on top of regular returns. CEO Igors Puntuss: “Real estate investing is quite conservative, but we introduce a gamified opportunity for increased profitability.”

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its final standards for crowdfunding service providers. These include disclosing information to investors and governance arrangements. The standards follow the new rules harmonizing crowdfunding across the European Union (EU).

Peer-to-peer investment platform Lendermarket is partnering with Credory, a real estate financing company from Estonia. It is the second loan originator on the p2p lending platform.

Equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has become the first platform to be approved under the new European Crowdfunding Service Provider Rules (ECSPR). It received the approval from Spanish regulator Comisión Nacional del Mercados de Valores (CNMV). The platform can now accept European investors.

Investment platform Scalable Capital sets foot in Italy, its fourth market in Europe. Italian investors will also have access to its newly launched crypto investments. Only last year, Scalable raised 165 million euros for international expansion.