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Powering The Degenerate Economy - Alpaca Raises $52 Million in Series C Funding to Fuel Global Expansion and Category Leadership
Howard Lindzon
April 24, 2025
Good morning…
I am in New York working for a week. The Stocktwits Cashtag awards is here next Wednesday. I got in late last night and went to meet some good friends Steph Choo and Sheel Mohnot for a drink. We have been investing together in fintech for over a decade and travelled the world…
Yesterday, our fund 3 portfolio company Alpaca announced their series C, a $52 million investment (Stephanie’s firm Portage also an investor). We were seed investors back in 2017.
A little history…
Founded by Yokokawa, a former investment banker in the U.S. and Japan, and Hitoshi Harada (CPO), Alpaca started off selling software that financial services firms and fintechs could use to plug into and power trading for investing groups.
“We first needed to create a globally functioning infrastructure [in 2018] that would enable people outside the U.S. to create platforms similar to Robinhood or Wealthfront that comply with their local regulations and contexts,” Yokokawa told TechCrunch. “But someone has to do the tough, tedious work of ensuring that regulation and compliance are right and reported in the U.S. because, [ultimately], money and securities, as you know, flow to the U.S. if you want to have access to U.S. products. That’s what we do.”
Today, Alpaca serves over 5 million customers across 40 countries. Yoshi is inspired by Interactive Brokers ( $IBKR ( ▲ 0.04% ) ) which we see as the main competitor, a $20 billion company founded in 1978 - built on legacy technology systems.
What excited me back in 2017, when we invested, was the idea that there would be thousands of Robinhood’s needing Alpaca’s technology (pipes).
Today, Alpaca makes it possible for hundreds of financial clients to buy and trade US stocks.
I have been working closely with Yoshi since the early days and will be over in Kyoto next month (with the whole family) for their summit which will hosting their financial partners.
Social Leverage is also a seed investor in GoTrade, based out of Singapore, but powering one of the largest brokerages in Jakarta (over 1 million accounts). GoTrade is powered by Alpaca.
Norman, a founder and now the CEO was over in Scottsdale last week to catch up and brainstorm.
Have a great Thursday…
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