BUX (brokerage)
Amsterdam-based financial services company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BUX is a European mobile brokerage company, based in Amsterdam. Retail investors can buy shares and ETFs through the platform. BUX is a subsidiary of ABN AMRO.
| |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | July 18, 2013[1] |
| Founder | Nick Bortot[2] |
| Headquarters | , Netherlands |
Area served | Netherlands,Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Ireland |
| Key people | Marlou Jenniskens (CEO) |
| Services | Stockbroker Electronic trading platform |
Number of employees | 100 (2020[3]) |
| Parent | ABN AMRO |
| Subsidiaries | BUX B.V. BUX Technology B.V. |
| Website | bux |
History
BUX was founded in July 2013 by Nick Bortot, a former executive at Dutch online broker BinckBank.[4][5] The initial funding came from the founders and Orange Growth Capital.[6][7]
The company launched its first BUX app in September 2014 in the Netherlands and several months later in the UK.[8][9] It was based on CFD trading.[10]
In September 2015, BUX raised €1,700,000 from the American/British venture investor Initial Capital.[11][12][7] In February 2016, it raised another US$6,900,000 from Holtzbrinck Ventures, and existing shareholders Orange Growth Capital and Velocity Capital.[11][13] Also in February 2016, the app became available in Germany.[11][4]
In 2016 the company won "Accenture Innovation Awards".[14] Also Wired UK included the company into its "Europe's hottest startups 2016" list.[15] In October 2016, the company removed the BUX app from app stores for Belgium just 1 month after launch, due to local law prohibiting the commercialization of leveraged CFDs.[16]
In January 2017, the app was launched in Italy.[17] In October 2017, the firm raised another €10,600,000 from two existing shareholders, Holtzbrinck Ventures and Velocity Capital Management, as well as from a number of private investors (such as Arthur Kosten, the former CMO of Booking.com, BinckBank founder Thierry Schaap and the CEO and founder of Mollie nl:Adriaan Mol).[18][19] BUX also launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, where it raised an additional €1,400,000.[20][21]
By November 2018, the BUX app had 2 million users in 9 European countries.[22]
In May 2019, BUX partnered with ABN AMRO to utilize the bank’s blockchain-based technology for a planned commission-free trading application.[23]
In June 2019, the firm raised US$12,500,000 in venture capital funds.[24][25] A portion of the capital was used to acquire Ayondo Markets Limited (AML), a UK subsidiary of Singapore-based broker Ayondo, for an estimated £5,700,000.[26][27][28]
In September 2019, the company launched its BUX Zero platform in the Netherlands.[29][30] In June 2020, it was launched in Germany and Austria and one month later in France.[31][32] In August 2020, it became available in Belgium.[33][34]
In January 2020, BUX acquired Blockport, a European cryptocurrency exchange.[35] The firm registered it with the Dutch Central Bank, rebranded and launched as BUX Crypto in April 2020.[36]
The Financial Times and Handelsblatt reported that German neobank N26 wanted to acquire BUX for €200 million, but the deal collapsed after N26 pushed for new conditions and a lower price.[37][38]
In December 2023, it was announced that the company would be acquired by ABN AMRO for an undisclosed amount.[39] In July 2024, it was reported that the transaction had been completed.[40]