Alpaca, the San Mateo-based fintech startup renowned for developing an API-driven brokerage platform, has announced a $52 million Series C funding round aimed at fueling aggressive international expansion. The new investment will enable Alpaca to extend its reach into Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, regions that represent significant growth opportunities for the company’s offering.
This latest round, which brings Alpaca’s total funding to date up to $170 million, saw participation from both existing and new investors including Derayah Financial, 850 Management, National Investments Company Kuwait, Unbound, and Portage Ventures.
Currently, Alpaca provides API infrastructure allowing financial institutions and fintech companies around the world to offer U.S. stock trading services seamlessly to their clients. According to the company, Alpaca now powers more than five million brokerage accounts spread across 200 institutional clients operating in approximately 40 countries.
To better align with its global ambitions, Alpaca recently established a new office in New York City. Additionally, the fresh capital will be directed toward obtaining regulatory clearances in other strategic international markets. Alpaca already possesses regulatory licenses in the United States, Japan, and the Bahamas, and it plans to pursue similar approvals elsewhere to foster its global strategy.
In remarks about this funding milestone, Alpaca co-founder and CEO Yoshi Yokokawa emphasized the importance of broadening the company’s global footprint. “This fundraising is critical for us,” explained Yokokawa. “It positions Alpaca to transition from being primarily U.S.-centered into a truly global financial infrastructure provider.”
The company also aims to use the capital injection to diversify its product offerings beyond U.S. equities by introducing European and Asian stocks and expanding their client capabilities to include 24/5 trading of American securities.
Founded by Yokokawa, who previously had experience as an investment banker both in the U.S. and Japan, alongside chief product officer Hitoshi Harada, Alpaca initially focused on software solutions enabling client firms to quickly integrate brokerage services. Yokokawa explained that early efforts concentrated on building an internationally applicable platform compatible with local regulatory requirements, ultimately allowing overseas companies to easily replicate brokerage applications similar to popular platforms like Robinhood or Wealthfront.
Since its inception, Alpaca’s portfolio has grown to cover not just stocks but also ETFs, fixed income products, options trading, and USD-denominated high-yield products tailored to IRA accounts. The startup recently entered a partnership with crypto exchange Kraken, enabling Kraken users in select states to directly trade U.S. stocks and ETFs on their platform.
This Series C funding follows an earlier Series B extension round 18 months ago in October 2023. In the period since that previous raise, Alpaca reported a threefold increase in both revenue and managed assets, while trading volumes quadrupled. Furthermore, Alpaca transitioned into a fully self-clearing broker-dealer equipped with membership at DTCC, allowing it to independently handle trade settlements, clearings, risk management, and compliance processes internally.
Yokokawa considers Interactive Brokers as the startup’s most direct competitor, yet he sees Alpaca’s advantage lying in its modern technology stack. Interactive Brokers, established in 1978, operates on legacy systems. Yokokawa believes this distinction makes Alpaca appealing to modern financial institutions and fintechs that seek innovative and flexible technological solutions.
Currently, Alpaca employs around 200 staff globally, most of whom operate remotely, underscoring the company’s digitally native corporate structure and global ambitions.
