Israeli trading platform eToro has raised $250m in funding at a $3.5bn valuation, marking its first capital raise since 2018. The company failed to go public last year through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger, which led to a downturn in the cryptocurrency market. The funding comes from an Advance Investment Agreement (AIA) made with investors as part of its proposed SPAC transaction. The AIA is a legal agreement in which an investor commits to investing in a company in the future. As eToro did not pursue a SPAC transaction or raise additional capital, the AIA deal moved forward.
Participants in the funding round included SoftBank Vision Fund 2, ION Group, Velvet Sea Ventures and existing investors. eToro’s 2021 SPAC takeover, valuing the trading platform at $10bn, was terminated in a bilateral agreement last year. eToro’s revenue was $631m in 2022, down 49% from the previous year and up just 5% from 2020. Its SPAC filing had forecast revenue to reach $2.5bn by 2025.
Despite the market turmoil, eToro completed two acquisitions last year: options trading app Gatsby in August and social investing network Bullsheet in October.
