Popular social trading app and website eToro became the latest FinTech firm to get a “unicorn” classification earlier this week, local publication Calcalist reported. The firm is now valued at over $2.5 billion.

eToro is an Israeli social trading and multi-asset brokerage company that focuses on providing financial and copy trading services. It has registered offices in Cyprus, Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. 

The firm said in a statement, “eToro has experienced significant growth over the past year and has garnered a lot of interest from global investors,” adding:

“The company doesn’t take an active role in secondary deals that are conducted from time to time by the company’s shareholders.”

eToro’s last public funding round was in 2018 when it raised $100 million led by China Minsheng Financial. According to IVC, other notable investors in the company include Chemi Peres of Pitango VC, Guy Gamzu, and Chinese insurance giant Ping An.

Interestingly, the advent of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic did little to stop the firm’s rise to a unicorn player. It reported a sharp increase in the number of users on its platform since the outbreak of Covid-19 and that the volume of trading in shares tripled compared to the same period last year. 

eToro currently employs over 1,000 people in 10 offices across the world, including 600 in Israel. It has recruited around 300 people since the start of this year alone, half of them in the Mediterranean nation alone. 

In 2018, the eToro’s valuation was $800 million. But a surge of new crypto, ETF, and stock products have pumped its valuation to billions of dollars. Sources said that the increase in valuation was also attributed to the recent purchase of shares in the secondary market by a U.S. institutional investor at a sum of at least $50 million, with the unnamed U.S. firm purchasing shares from previous investors and employees. 

A source also revealed to Calcalist that eToro’s valuation is expected to significantly increase further in its next funding round. 

The close of the recent round brings eToro’s total funds raised from investors to $162 million in five funding rounds. Its user base has increased similarly, with the platform now boasting over 16 million users who invest in stocks, commodities, and digital assets.

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