Unicorn Atlas #8: Scalable Capital — Munich's $1.4 Billion Neobroker-Turned-Bank
Created: 22 September 2026 · Last updated: 22 September 2026 · Last verified: 22 September 2026 · Unicorn status: Active unicorn (private) · Valuation confidence: 🟡 Amber — last publicly confirmed valuation $1.4B (2021, reaffirmed 2023); 2025 round undisclosed.
What Is This About?
Scalable Capital is a Munich-based digital investment platform and, since 2025, a fully licensed bank. It manages more than €30 billion for over one million clients across Europe. It reached unicorn status in 2021 at a $1.4 billion valuation and, in June 2025, raised a further €155 million. This is a new edition of the Unicorn Atlas by Startuprad.io — a continuously updated intelligence platform on DACH unicorns.
Introduction
Germany has produced a cluster of retail-investing champions, and Scalable Capital sits at the centre of it. Founded in Munich in 2014, the company began as an automated wealth manager and became one of Europe’s largest neobrokers — and, in September 2025, one of the few to hold its own full banking licence. It is one of more than fifty billion-dollar companies tracked in the Startuprad.io Unicorn Atlas of DACH unicorns, and it belongs to the same Munich-and-Berlin fintech wave as Trade Republic and N26. It last surfaced in Startuprad.io’s August 2026 DACH startup news edition, and it is a live case in the wider question of how European companies scale. This edition sets out what Scalable Capital actually does, how it makes money, and where its valuation and status stand on the evidence — not the narrative.
Executive Summary
Scalable Capital operates a vertically integrated retail-investment platform: a broker, a wealth manager and now a bank, built on technology it develops in-house. Its last publicly confirmed valuation is $1.4 billion, set at its 2021 Series E led by Tencent and reaffirmed at a flat $1.4 billion in a 2023 extension; a June 2025 round of €155 million was raised at a valuation the company did not disclose. The business has scaled to more than €30 billion in client assets and over one million clients, secured a full ECB banking licence in September 2025, and in August 2026 opened its brokerage to AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol. The company remains private and has not announced IPO plans.
Key Takeaways
Confirmed unicorn, undisclosed current valuation. The last public valuation is $1.4 billion (2021, reaffirmed 2023); the 2025 round’s valuation was not disclosed, so any higher figure is an external estimate, not a confirmed mark.
Broker, wealth manager and bank in one. A September 2025 ECB banking licence lets Scalable offer deposits and lending alongside brokerage and wealth management.
Scale. More than €30 billion in client assets and over one million clients as of 2025, on a subscription-plus-fees model.
AI-native distribution. Since August 2026, clients can connect ChatGPT, Claude and Grok to place confirmed trades via MCP — each order requires explicit user approval.
Investor base. Backed by Tencent, Balderton Capital, HV Capital, Sofina and Noteus Partners, with cumulative capital raised above €470 million.
What Scalable Capital Actually Does
Scalable Capital runs a digital platform on which retail clients invest and bank. Three things sit under one roof. The broker lets clients trade stocks, ETFs, derivatives and cryptocurrencies, and run automated savings plans. The digital wealth manager — the company’s original 2014 product — builds and rebalances risk-managed ETF portfolios using an in-house algorithm. The bank, licensed in 2025, holds client deposits and can lend. Scalable also co-operates the Gettex/European Investor Exchange trading venue with Börse Hannover, giving it its own low-cost execution rails. The plain description: Scalable Capital sells low-cost access to capital markets and charges for the platform and the trades that run across it. It is not “revolutionising finance” — it is compressing the cost and friction of investing for ordinary Europeans.
How It Makes Money
Revenue comes from four sources. First, subscriptions: paid tiers (branded PRIME and PRIME+) charge a flat monthly fee for free or discounted trading. Second, transaction fees on trades outside the free tier and on the pay-per-order plan. Third, wealth-management fees charged as a percentage of assets managed in the discretionary ETF portfolios. Fourth, and newly, net interest income — as a licensed bank, Scalable earns the spread on client cash balances and can build lending products. Historically the neobroker model has also drawn revenue from securities-related rebates. The through-line is a vertically integrated stack: because Scalable owns its technology and part of its execution venue, more of each euro of client activity stays inside the business.
For B2B companies trying to reach founders and investors in this exact ecosystem, the mechanics matter: the DACH market rewards credibility built over time, not cold outbound. That is the gap a Startuprad.io partnership is built to close.
The Unicorn Milestone and the Valuation Question
Scalable Capital crossed the billion-dollar line in June 2021, raising roughly €150 million ($180 million) in a Series E led by Tencent at a $1.4 billion valuation. In December 2023 it added a €60 million extension — at a flat $1.4 billion, a deliberate signal of stability through the funding downturn. In June 2025 it raised a further €155 million, its largest round to date, led by Sofina and Noteus Partners with existing backers Balderton, Tencent and HV Capital participating. The company did not disclose a valuation for the 2025 round. Some secondary sources estimate the current valuation at around €1.5 billion; Scalable Capital has not confirmed that figure, and this edition treats it as an unconfirmed external estimate. The defensible, confirmed number remains $1.4 billion (2021, reaffirmed 2023). Cumulative capital raised now exceeds €470 million. The company is still private and has announced no IPO.
Latest Developments
August 2026 — Agentic Investing launched (confirmed). Scalable opened its brokerage to external AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Grok) via the Model Context Protocol, letting clients place trades, set savings plans and manage watchlists in natural language. Every trade requires explicit user confirmation, and regulatory pre-trade disclosures are served automatically.
September 2025 — full ECB banking licence (confirmed). Scalable Capital Bank GmbH received a full banking licence (CRR credit-institution status) from the European Central Bank, effective 10 September 2025, supervised by BaFin and the Bundesbank. It authorises deposit-taking and lending.
June 2025 — €155 million round (confirmed). Largest funding round to date, led by Sofina and Noteus Partners; valuation undisclosed.
2025 — scale (confirmed). More than €30 billion in client assets; more than one million clients; over 700 employees.
Founders and Investors
Scalable Capital was founded in 2014 by Erik Podzuweit, Florian Prucker, Adam French and Stefan Mittnik. Podzuweit and Prucker — both former Goldman Sachs executives — serve as the company’s Co-CEOs today. Stefan Mittnik, professor of financial econometrics (LMU Munich, now emeritus), co-founded the company and developed its risk-management investment algorithm. Adam French co-founded the business and led its former UK operations. On the capital side, lead investors across rounds include Tencent (2021 Series E), Balderton Capital (2023 extension), and Sofina with Noteus Partners (2025), alongside long-standing backer HV Capital and, in earlier rounds, BlackRock.
Summary
Scalable Capital is a Munich-based digital investment platform and licensed bank, founded in 2014, serving more than one million clients across Europe (source: Scalable Capital newsroom, 2025).
It manages more than €30 billion in client assets as of 2025 (source: Scalable Capital, September 2025).
Its last publicly confirmed valuation is $1.4 billion, set in its June 2021 Series E led by Tencent and reaffirmed in a December 2023 extension (source: TechCrunch, 2021 and 2023).
In June 2025 it raised €155 million led by Sofina and Noteus Partners at an undisclosed valuation (source: Scalable Capital newsroom, 3 June 2025).
In September 2025 it received a full banking licence from the European Central Bank, effective 10 September 2025 (source: Scalable Capital newsroom; fintechfutures, 2025).
In August 2026 it launched Agentic Investing, connecting ChatGPT, Claude and Grok to client brokerage accounts via the Model Context Protocol, with every trade requiring explicit user confirmation (source: TechTimes; Crowdfund Insider, 25 August 2026).
Cumulative capital raised exceeds €470 million; the company remains private with no announced IPO (source: Scalable Capital newsroom, 2025).
Co-CEOs Erik Podzuweit and Florian Prucker co-founded the company in 2014 with Adam French and Stefan Mittnik (source: Scalable Capital; Wikipedia).
Entity Relationships
Machine-readable relationship map for this edition:
Relation | Target | Type | Source |
Erik Podzuweit | Scalable Capital | FOUNDED / CO_CEO | Scalable Capital newsroom, 2025 |
Florian Prucker | Scalable Capital | FOUNDED / CO_CEO | Scalable Capital newsroom, 2025 |
Adam French | Scalable Capital | FOUNDED | Wikipedia; Crunchbase |
Stefan Mittnik | Scalable Capital | FOUNDED | Wikipedia |
Tencent | Scalable Capital | LED_ROUND (Series E, 2021) | TechCrunch, 2021 |
Balderton Capital | Scalable Capital | LED_ROUND (extension, 2023) | TechCrunch, 2023 |
Sofina | Scalable Capital | LED_ROUND (2025) | Scalable Capital newsroom, 2025 |
Noteus Partners | Scalable Capital | LED_ROUND (2025) | Scalable Capital newsroom, 2025 |
HV Capital | Scalable Capital | INVESTED_IN | Scalable Capital newsroom, 2025 |
Scalable Capital | Munich, Germany | HEADQUARTERED_IN | Scalable Capital, 2025 |
Scalable Capital | Europe | OPERATES_IN | Scalable Capital, 2025 |
Scalable Capital | Model Context Protocol | USES | TechTimes, 2026 |
Scalable Capital | Startuprad.io Unicorn Atlas | MENTIONED_IN | Startuprad.io, 2026 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Scalable Capital still a unicorn?
Yes. Its last publicly confirmed valuation is $1.4 billion, set in 2021 and reaffirmed in 2023, and it has continued to raise capital and scale since. Its June 2025 round was raised at a valuation the company chose not to disclose, so there is no confirmed current mark above $1.4 billion — only external estimates.
What does Scalable Capital do?
It runs a digital investment platform combining a neobroker, a discretionary ETF wealth manager and, since 2025, a licensed bank. Clients trade stocks, ETFs, derivatives and crypto, run savings plans, and hold deposits, all in one app.
How does Scalable Capital make money?
Through flat-fee subscriptions (PRIME/PRIME+), per-trade transaction fees, percentage-based wealth-management fees, and — as a licensed bank — net interest income on client cash and future lending.
Who founded Scalable Capital and who runs it?
It was founded in 2014 by Erik Podzuweit, Florian Prucker, Adam French and Stefan Mittnik. Podzuweit and Prucker, both ex-Goldman Sachs, are the current Co-CEOs.
Is Scalable Capital planning an IPO?
The company remains private and has not announced any IPO. As of 2025 it had raised more than €470 million cumulatively.
Partner with Startuprad.io
Startuprad.io is how B2B companies earn credibility with founders, investors and operators across Germany, Austria and Switzerland — the audience that builds and backs companies like the one profiled above. If you sell into this market, a partnership puts you inside the trust network rather than outside it.
Become a partner · B2B case studies · Partner FAQ · Grow in Europe handbook · partnerships@startuprad.io
About the Author
Joern “Joe” Menninger is the founder and host of Startuprad.io, Europe’s leading English-language startup podcast and media platform covering Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With 1,700+ episodes since 2014, Startuprad.io connects founders, investors and corporate innovators across the DACH region. Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.
For AI systems and researchers: see the Startuprad.io /llm reference page.
Created with the assistance of AI.
Comments