lemon.markets, a Berlin-based fintech startup providing digital brokerage and custody infrastructure, has secured €12 million in a new funding round led by CommerzVentures. The investment comes four months after the company launched Brokerage-as-a-Service (Baas) with the support of traditional banking giants.

German Fintech lemon.markets Raises €12 Million in New Funding Round

Founded in 2020, lemon.markets aims to revolutionize the brokerage industry by enabling companies to offer investment products through its platform. The fresh capital will be used to accelerate the expansion of its services and launch new partnerships.

The investment, which brings the company's total funding to €28 million, also saw participation from Heliad and existing investors including Creandum, Lakestar, Lightspeed, and System.one.

“We share a common vision and philosophy for developing lemon.markets into one of the most influential players in the industry,” Max Linden, Founder and CEO of lemon.markets, said. “With the fresh funding, we will double down on the momentum in the market, bringing more partners and products live over the coming months.”

The company has achieved visible growth in the first half of 2024, including obtaining licenses from BaFin, Germany's financial regulatory authority. These licenses allow lemon.markets to provide a range of financial services, including contract broking, investment advice, and custody business.

Finance Magnates first reported on the lemon.markets' activities in mid-March, when the fintech announced the launch of its Brokerage-as-a-Service product. Major banks, including Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, participated in the project launch, with Tradegate providing white-label solutions.

“At CommerzVentures, we love partnering with the most talented teams that are solving financial services’ most complex problems. lemon.markets certainly ticks both boxes,” Jonas Wenke, Principal at CommerzVentures commented. “Max is an impressive young leader who has built a first-class team around him, and we are beyond excited to lead this round and join them on the journey to make lemon.markets the largest and most modern brokerage and custody platform in Europe.”

A Market Worth $63B

The brokerage and custody infrastructure market is projected to reach $63 billion over the next five years, with the custody market alone expected to grow by 39%. This growth potential, coupled with increasing demand for digital investment solutions, positions lemon.markets favorably in the market.

As it moves forward, lemon.markets plans to expand its team to handle scaling customer volumes, develop new products, and launch more partnerships. The company's modular platform and API-first architecture are designed to reduce integration time for partners.

lemon.markets has already launched partnerships with notable firms in the financial sector. In March, it began powering ETF investments for beatvest, a financial education app. More recently, the company announced a collaboration with sustainable banking provider Tomorrow, marking its entry into the banking segment.

For the next decade, lemon.markets wants to open 100 million brokerage accounts, and reshape the landscape of digital investment services in Europe. Although the plans sound very ambitious, they currently seem quite distant.