Trading app Bux receives €6.1M in new venture round – focuses on Germany
Trading app Bux scooped up a third investment of 6.1 million euro, led by German VC Holtzbrinck Ventures, in January, the fintech startup announced today. The money will be used to expand the team, to develop their social network even further and to gain traction in Germany.
Other VC's participating in this round are Orange Growth Capital (NL/UK) and Velocity Capital (NL).
We wrote a lot about Amsterdam-based Bux before (launched in 2014), and not without a reason. The startup is aiming to make the trading world accessible to average Joe. So far the startup does so for 350.000 users in The Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Austria.
With this funding Bux will be able to expand its team from 20 to about 30 people, CEO Nick Bortot told StartupJuncture. The startup is looking for a German/Austrian media person, mobile developers, but also seeks growth engineers and data analysts. "When you start your business, you make decisions based on feelings. We now want to make decisions based on data."
Bux as a social network
Next to making stock market trading more fun, the fintech company has created a social layer in its app with features like groups (where people can debate Whatsapp style) and channels (sharing experiences in an one-way communication, like Twitter). "This layer proved to be very important for our users, even for experienced investors. A lot of users desire a 'sparring partner'. It gives rookies more confidence. For us, its an extra USP. And of course, every way users spend more time in the app, we profit indirectly", said Bortot.
Bux has the ambition to eventually roll out worldwide. "But right now we want to conquer Europe step by step and focus on Germany."
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