lemon.markets secures €12M for Brokerage-as-a-Service platform expansion

Berlin, 11th July 2024: Brokerage-as-a-service platform lemon.markets has secured an additional €12 million in funding as it aims to open 100 million brokerage accounts. 

Founded in 2020, the Berlin-based FinTech provides digital brokerage and custody infrastructure, enabling any company to offer investment products. 

Both traditional players and fintechs recognise the potential to innovate digital investment solutions, driving accessibility for consumers. In Germany alone, a significant portion of financial assets – 41.7 per cent, according to the Bundesbank — are held in cash and bank deposits, including overnight and fixed-term deposits.

Providing brokerage and custody infrastructure for ETFs, Funds, and in the future, Stocks, lemon.markets’ enables FinTechs, Banks and Wealth Managers to offer their customers access to capital markets. 

The lemon.markets platform is designed in a modular way to be configured based on the partner's use case, and its API-first architecture significantly reduces integration time.  

The company supports partners along the entire value chain — from migration projects to the launch of individual investment products. 

In January 2024, it obtained the necessary licences to operate as an investment firm from BaFin allowing the company to provide contract broking, investment advice, financial portfolio management, financial commission business, proprietary trading, and custody business.

Max Linden, founder and CEO of lemon.markets, shared:

"With CommerzVentures, we have found a strong partner who has impressed us with its deep understanding of our market. We share a common vision and philosophy for developing lemon.markets into one of the most influential players in the industry.

With the fresh funding, we will double down on the momentum in the market, bringing more partners and products to life over the coming months." 

CommerzVentures, Heliad, and existing investors, including Creandum, Lakestar, Lightspeed and System.one participated in the fundraise. 

Jonas Wenke, Principal at CommerzVentures, shared: 

"At CommerzVentures, we love partnering with the most talented teams that are solving financial services’ most complex problems. lemon.markets certainly ticks both boxes.

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." 

"I am convinced that expanding the range of digital investment products is crucial to encourage broader participation in the capital markets. Achieving this goal requires established players in asset management, banking, and brokerage to reevaluate their infrastructure. 

The lemon.markets team combines extensive securities services expertise with a deep technical understanding, uniquely positioning them to win both FinTechs and traditional players as clients," says Simon Schmincke, General Partner at Creandum.

With the fresh capital, lemon.markets will accelerate the extension of its platform and launch new partners.