Türkiye’s retail investing startup Midas raises $45 million

Fintech startup Midas, which brought retail investing to millions in Türkiye, announced Monday that it raised $45 million (TL 1.47 billion) in equity funding, allowing it to expand the scope of services and roll out new products.

The funding is dubbed the largest Series A fundraising by a Turkish fintech and the second-largest across sectors. It comes less than three years after Midas was launched.

The round was led by Portage, with participation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Spark Capital, the Earlybird Digital East Fund and Revo Capital, doubling down on their previous investment in the company’s $11 million seed round in 2022.

The new capital will allow Midas to expand and roll out three new products: cryptocurrency trading, mutual funds and savings accounts.

Since Midas launched in 2021, it has opened up Türkiye’s retail investment market to more than 2 million users. Previously, users faced onerous transaction fees and high minimum balance requirements, sometimes up to $25,000, to access U.S. stocks.

Midas is the first company to offer fast, seamless access to Turkish and U.S. equities with low commission fees via its app.

It has also invested heavily in educating the market by producing easy-to-digest financial content for free. These include real-time stock market data and news, detailed company profiles, in-depth documentaries, a daily podcast, and a weekly newsletter to help investors navigate the markets.

In doing so, it pioneers Türkiye’s most comprehensive localized financial content offerings for investors.

The new funding will allow Midas to grow its offering, including access to mutual funds, an interest-generating savings product, and cryptocurrency trading.

Midas also projects that it will expand beyond Türkiye in the next two to five years, with plans to target countries in emerging markets.

The raise also comes amid a global stagnation in fintech investments in the last two years, indicating continued investor confidence in Midas’ strategy of disrupting the market by prioritizing the customer experience above all and constantly improving its investment product’s usability and low cost.

Amid the news of Midas record investment, Nasdaq congratulated the fintech firm on a giant screen at Times Square in New York.

Egem Eraslan, CEO and founder of Midas, said: “We are delighted to announce our Series A fundraise, which is the biggest ever by a Turkish fintech. Just a few years ago, Türkiye did not have a strong investing culture and the market was stagnant, but thanks to Midas, that is changing.”

“We have already brought affordable, quick access to U.S. and Turkish equities to millions of people in Türkiye.”

“This fundraising will allow us to expand our product suite further, with mutual funds, savings products and cryptocurrency trading firmly in our sights. Longer term, we want to broaden our horizons and expand our geographic footprint beyond Türkiye to become a prominent regional player,” he added.

Paul Desmarais III, co-founder of Portage and CEO and chairperson of Sagard, commented: “Midas is leading a wave of transformation within Türkiye’s financial landscape.”

“Globally, Portage invests in transformational financial technology, and Midas is poised to lead that initiative in a region of early adopters. We are very pleased to participate in Midas’s development and to support this ambitious team in bringing financial inclusion and access to wealth-building tools to the Turkish people.”

The raise will also help Midas double its headcount. It currently has a team of 210 people working from its office in Istanbul, which is already triple the number of employees in 2022.

“We have a long-term view for this company, and short-term market conditions have not hindered that. The raise comes as a significant vote of confidence in our mission to transform investing in the region,” Eraslan noted.

According to information obtained from the company, the application and approval processes for the investment are ongoing with the Capital Markets Board (SPK) and the Competition Board (RK). When completed, the necessary announcements will be published on the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) and the Türkiye Trade Registry Gazette (TTSG).