eToro, the Israel-based trading platform, announced on March 21 that it has secured $250 million in funding at a valuation of $3.5 billion. This marks the first time the company has raised capital since 2018, after failing to go public last year through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger.
The funding round saw participation from ION Group, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Velvet Sea Ventures and some existing investors. The funding stems from an Advance Investment Agreement (AIA) entered into in early 2021 as part of its proposed SPAC transaction.
An AIA is a legal agreement between an investor and a company under which the investor commits to investing in a company in the future. By signing an AIA, investors and the company agree on the key terms of the investment upfront.
For eToro, the investment would be carried forward two years after its signature and under certain requirements, such as not pursuing a SPAC transaction or raising additional capital. As both possibilities did not materialize, the AIA deal moved forward.
Last year, eToro and Fintech V announced a SPAC takeover valuing the trading platform at $10 billion. However, the downturn in cryptocurrency markets affected the firm’s plans, leading to a bilateral agreement terminating the merger in July.
