Midas, a fintech startup that allows people in Turkey to invest in US and Turkish stocks, announced it has raised $45 million in a funding round led by Canada's Portage.
The startup targets the retail investor market in Turkey and claims to have over 2 million users. Its pitch is to offer significantly lower trading fees and commissions to Turkish clients who want to invest in U.S. and Turkish stocks. We also provide financial content, real-time stock market data and news, and company profiles to help you understand what many consider to be emerging markets.
“If you came to Turkey three years ago, there were only 1.5 million investors. This is in a country of 80 million people,” Egem Eraslan, CEO and founder of Midas, told TechCrunch. . “Capital market penetration was very low. Mobile banking in Turkey is very good and widespread, but the lack of infrastructure led to a lack of investment in equity products. ”
According to Eraslan, Midas was able to change that dynamic by building its own infrastructure and providing the right user experience. “We were very capital efficient. We built most of our initial infrastructure products and licenses for less than $500,000, so we could ramp up, gain traction, raise capital, and get stuck. We could be the only new broker in the world to launch automatic clearing, self-custody, and automatic execution.”
Midas is similar to US-based Robinhood, which has become a giant in the sector by offering retail investors an easy way to invest in financial markets. But Eraslan explains that his company had to take a different tack in Turkey.
“We needed to launch multiple products leveraging our unique self-liquidation, custody, and entire value chain. If you're Robinhood, you don't have to self-custody or self-liquidate.”
Midas now plans to use the new funding to roll out three new products: crypto trading, mutual funds, and savings accounts. The company has plans to expand beyond Turkey and aims to target countries in the MENA region.
International Finance Corporation, Spark Capital, Earlybird Digital East Fund and Revo Capital also participated in the round. The company last raised a seed round in 2022, when it raised $11 million in a seed round. Midas' latest funding, achieved within three years of its founding, is one of the largest by a Turkish fintech company in recent years, second only to embedded finance startup Param, which raised $50 million in 2022. Ta. .
Cem Sertoglu, Managing Partner of Early Bird Digital East Fund, an early investor in the startup, said: Winning the domestic market of the world's 11th largest economy would already be a success for Midas, but its ambitions go further. ”
Paul Desmarais III, co-founder of Portage and CEO and Chairman of Sagard, said in a statement: “Midas is leading a wave of change in Turkey's financial landscape. Portage invests in innovative financial technology globally and Midas is poised to lead the effort in a region of early adopters. .”