The Online broker Trade Republic has become the most valuable German start-up according to its own information. As the company founded in Berlin announced, it was valued at 12.5 billion euros in a share sale by investors from the company’s early phase. In the last financing round in 2022, the company was valued at around five billion euros. This means that Trade Republic is overtaking the Munich arms company Helsing, which had a valuation of twelve billion euros in the summer.
Trade Republic co-founder Christian Hecker particularly emphasized the strong growth of the German start-up. “In the past 18 months, we have doubled our customer base to more than ten million people who collectively manage assets of around 150 billion euros,” he said.
As part of the latest financing round, Trade Republic’s existing investors – including US billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund – took over shares from early backers. New investors also took part, including the US asset managers Fidelity and Wellington, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Aglaé, the investment company of the French Arnault family, which controls the luxury goods group LVMH.
Online brokers stimulate competitive business
Trade Republic was launched in 2019 as an online broker and, like many other financial start-ups, benefited from a strong influx of customers during the corona pandemic. The company has had a full banking license since 2023 and now also offers payment cards and checking accounts.
With favorable conditions for stock trading, comparatively high overnight interest rates and free savings plans for ETFs (exchange-traded funds), Trade Republic has developed into a competitor for established banks. However, the purely app-based company, which does not have a branch network, is repeatedly criticized for deficiencies in customer service.
The strong growth of Trade Republic has also stimulated traditional financial institutions to change: the savings banks want to counteract this with a simplified securities offering from the beginning of 2026. “From the turn of the year, the first customers will be able to buy stocks and ETFs directly in the Sparkasse app and set up ETF savings plans with just a few clicks,” said the President of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association, Ulrich Reuter, recently Handelsblatt.
