The Wall Street Journal has reported that CySEC-regulated retail forex broker eToro is close to finalizing a $15 million investment from Chinese insurance giant Ping An and Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank. The financing is strategic, with both Ping An and Sberbank to help eToro expand in their respective home markets, China and Russia, following the investment.
LeapRate confirmed with sources close to the situation that the investment is being made at a company valuation above $100 million for eToro,
LeapRate readers will recall that this financing (if completed) is not eToro’s first fundraising from outside investors. In 2012 eToro raised a similar amount ($15M) in a deal led by Boston-based VC Spark Capital.
Daniel Tu, chief innovation officer of the Ping An Group, was quoted as saying:
Ping An is an integrated financial group and we embarked on an online strategy. We are always looking into fintech startups and companies like eToro make for an interesting target for us. They can help us and our clients.
eToro has been around for a while and is, in the grand scheme of things, a medium sized retail forex broker. However eToro is clearly a leader and innovator when it comes to use of social media. eToro was one of the first brokers to introduce social networking among its clients, via its proprietary OpenBook. Indeed, eToro bills itself on its home page as the world’s leading social investment network.
eToro is also a leader in utilizing outside social platforms.
- Facebook – more than 900,000 likes
- Twitter – more than 60,000 followers
- Alexa – rank 3,200, lowest among all retail forex brokers
To see the Wall Street Journal article click here.