Trade Republic

Overview

Trade Republic is a Berlin-headquartered mobile-first neobroker and fully licensed European bank. Founded in 2015 in Munich as Neon Trading by Christian Hecker, Thomas Pischke and Marco Cancellieri and relaunched under the Trade Republic brand in 2019, the company offers commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs, derivatives, bonds and crypto together with ETF savings plans and interest-bearing cash accounts on a single mobile app. As of December 2025 Trade Republic serves more than 10 million customers across 18 European countries with over €150 billion in assets under management and is valued at €12.5 billion.
Why this entity matters

Trade Republic is one of the defining European FinTech platforms of the past decade and the most valuable German startup at the time of its December 2025 secondary transaction. It has helped move a generation of European households from cash savings into capital-markets participation at a moment when European pension systems are under mounting pressure. Seventy percent of its customers are first-time investors, giving the company an unusually formative role in shaping how Europeans learn to invest. As a fully licensed bank operating across 18 European countries, it also demonstrates that a mobile-first challenger can graduate from broker to full-service bank without abandoning its consumer-app product culture.
Company and product background

Trade Republic began in 2015 in Munich as Neon Trading, a project by three co-founders combining philosophy, physics and computer science: Christian Hecker, Thomas Pischke and Marco Cancellieri. The consumer-facing Trade Republic brand launched in 2019 with a radically simplified mobile trading experience and low-cost ETF savings plans. The company subsequently expanded into derivatives, fractional shares, bonds, crypto and interest-bearing cash accounts, and introduced the Trade Republic card with 1 percent Saveback on card payments. In December 2023 the European Central Bank granted the company a full banking licence, placing it under the direct supervision of Germany's Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht and Deutsche Bundesbank. In 2025 Trade Republic localised its offering in France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria, launched child savings accounts, and expanded product lines into Private Markets, Fixed Income and a Crypto Wallet. The company reports three consecutive years of profitability.
Role in the DACH and European FinTech ecosystem

Trade Republic is a category leader in European mobile brokerage and is now among the largest retail investment platforms in Europe by customer count and assets under management. Its combination of a full banking licence, a broad multi-country retail footprint and a profitable operating model has made it a reference case for what a European neobroker can become at scale. The company frames its own mission around closing Europe's pension gap, positioning retail investing as a systemic response to the fiscal pressure on state pension systems.
Selected relationships and affiliations

Trade Republic was co-founded by Christian Hecker (Co-Founder and CEO), Thomas Pischke and Marco Cancellieri. Its principal investors, as of the December 2025 secondary transaction, include existing shareholders Founders Fund (which led the round), Sequoia Capital, Accel, TCV and Thrive Capital; and new investors Wellington Management, GIC, Fidelity, Khosla Ventures, Lingotto Innovation and Aglae (the technology investment arm of the Arnault family). Earlier institutional backers include Creandum, Project A Ventures, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (which led the Series C extension in June 2022) and Sino AG. Through Founders Fund, Trade Republic sits within the wider network of Peter Thiel. The company is licensed and supervised by the European Central Bank and Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht.
Startuprad.io relevance

Trade Republic is a recurring subject of Startuprad.io coverage of the DACH FinTech ecosystem and appears in Startuprad.io's Unicorn Atlas as one of Germany's most valuable technology companies. It anchors the Startuprad.io coverage cluster on European neobrokers, retail investing, and the transition from broker to fully licensed bank. As the leading vehicle through which Founders Fund and Peter Thiel are exposed to German consumer FinTech, it is also referenced repeatedly in Startuprad.io analysis of US venture-capital influence on the German startup ecosystem.
Public source context

Public information on Trade Republic is drawn from the company's own press releases (including the 17 December 2025 secondary-round announcement), its official https://traderepublic.com , the company's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Republic , its https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q97031814 , and public reporting in Financial Times, Reuters, Handelsblatt, Tech.eu and Finance Magnates.

Startuprad.io coverage of Trade Republic

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — February 2023
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-february-2023

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — January 2023
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-january-2023

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — September 2022
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-september-2022

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — Summer 2022 Wrap-Up
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-summer-2022-wrap-up

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — December 2022 Wrap-Up
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 27 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-december-2022-wrap-up

Bonus Episode: Trade Republic becomes Germany’s most valuable Startup with 5.3 bn US$ valuation
Published: 26 May 2021
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/bonus-episode-trade-republic-becomes-germany-s-most-valuable-startup-with-5-3-bn-us-valuation

Trade Republic: How Germany's Neobroker Navigated the GameStop Wave
Published: 31 January 2021
Last updated: 30 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/gamestop-reddit-and-fintech-trade-republic

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/trade-republic