BlackRock has taken a minority stake in digital investment advisor firm Scalable Capital after leading a €30 million funding round.
Launched just 16 months ago, Scalable Capital has over €250 million of assets from more than 6,000 retail clients, with a strong demand for its services from financial institutions.
The firm said BlackRock’s funding round was one of Europe’s largest for a robo-advisor company to date, and the company has now raised a total of €41 million.
BlackRock said it has a ‘deep heritage in technology’, seen through the development of its risk management and analytics platform Aladdin, and the investment will complement these services.
Patrick Olson, chief operating officer of EMEA at BlackRock, explained the shift towards technological services in retail distribution has prompted strong demand from financial firms in Europe.
Adam French, co-founder and co-CEO at Scalable Capital added: “BlackRock shares our vision that technology is not just a competitive advantage but a requirement for wealth management businesses to be successful in the future.”
Olson will join Scalable Capital’s supervisory board as part of the deal, although it will remain an independent company.
The investment is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the third quarter this year.