Bux

Overview

BUX (operated by BUX B.V.) is an Amsterdam-based investing and trading app, founded in 2013 by Nick Bortot. BUX started as a gamified, low-minimum stock-trading app aimed at younger, first-time retail investors and expanded over time into a broader product family, including commission-free investing (BUX Zero) and leveraged derivatives trading, the latter product line later rebranded to "Stryk" according to the company's own newsroom, to better reflect its focus on short-term, active traders as distinct from BUX's long-term investing product.

Why this entity matters

BUX was one of the earlier European neobroker apps to target retail investors with a consumer-app experience rather than a traditional brokerage interface, predating the wider 2020-2021 wave of European neobrokers such as Trade Republic and Scalable Capital. Its multi-product evolution — and the later spin-off/rebrand of its derivatives-trading product into Stryk — is a useful example of a European fintech narrowing its consumer investing brand while separating out a higher-risk trading product under distinct branding.

Company or institutional background

BUX B.V. is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and was founded in 2013 by Nick Bortot. Public reporting (TechCrunch) describes early funding rounds including a $6.9 million raise in 2016 and a $12.5 million raise in 2019 tied to the launch of its zero-commission investing product, with Silicon Canals later reporting a €66.5 million raise. Silicon Canals also reported a leadership transition in which founder Nick Bortot handed the CEO role to then-COO Yorick Naeff; Startuprad.io has not independently verified the exact date of that transition and treats it as reported by press rather than confirmed on this record. BUX's investor base has been reported to include Prime Ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures and other European fintech investors across its funding history, per Crunchbase and Dealroom company data. The company's derivatives product, previously branded BUX X, was rebranded to Stryk per BUX's own newsroom announcement, positioning it as a distinct product for short-term traders.

Role in the ecosystem

BUX operates in the European neobroker / retail-investing app layer, alongside competitors such as Trade Republic, Scalable Capital and Revolut's investing product. Its history of iterating across several product lines (gamified stock trading, zero-commission investing, crypto, and leveraged derivatives) makes it a reference point in coverage of how consumer fintech apps in this category have tried to diversify revenue beyond commission-free equity trading.

Selected relationships and affiliations

Publicly reported investors in BUX across its funding history include Prime Ventures and Holtzbrinck Ventures, per Crunchbase and Dealroom. BUX has also been reported (TechCrunch) to have acquired the crypto investment platform Blockport as part of its expansion into digital-asset trading. Its derivatives-trading product operates today under the separate Stryk brand per the company's own newsroom.

Startuprad.io relevance

Startuprad.io referenced BUX in coverage connected to the wider DACH and European neobroker story, including a bonus episode on Trade Republic's valuation milestone that situates BUX among comparable European trading apps, and in a monthly GSA startup-news roundup. BUX is part of Startuprad.io's ongoing tracking of the European retail-investing and neobroker category.

Public source context

This record draws on BUX's own newsroom at https://press.getbux.com , and third-party reporting from TechCrunch, Silicon Canals, Crunchbase, Dealroom and Wikipedia's BUX (brokerage) entry. Funding figures, investor names and the CEO-transition timeline are as reported by these outlets and have not been independently re-verified against BUX's own corporate filings for this record.

Startuprad.io coverage

Bonus Episode: Trade Republic becomes Germany's most valuable Startup with 5.3 bn US$ valuation
Published: 27 May 2021
Last updated: 20 September 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/bonus-episode-trade-republic-becomes-germany-s-most-valuable-startup-with-5-3-bn-us-valuation

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — February 2023
Published: February 2023 (exact date unresolved — migrated from Medium; date_confidence: unresolved)
Last updated: 21 September 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-february-2023

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/bux .