Portage of Canada led a $45 million investment round for Midas, a fintech business that lets Turks buy U.S. and Turkish stocks.
The firm boasts over 2 million members and targets Turkey’s retail investment industry. It claims to charge Turkish investors in U.S. or Turkish equities far cheaper transaction and commission costs. It also provides financial material, real-time stock market statistics, news, and business profiles to educate a developing market.
Only 1.5 million investors were in Turkey three years ago. In an 80-million-person nation, Midas CEO and founder Egem Eraslan told Eltrys. “Capital market penetration was low. Turkish mobile banking is excellent, but infrastructural constraints prevented investment in equity products.
Eraslan claims that Midas changed that by establishing its own infrastructure and offering a good user experience. We used capital efficiently. With less than $500,000, we created most of the infrastructure product and licensing, launched it, gained momentum, raised financing, and broke the impasse. We may be the first new broker to provide self-clearing, self-custody, and self-execution.”
Midas is similar to Robinhood, which has become a behemoth by making financial markets accessible to regular investors. Eraslan says his business had to change tactics in Turkey.
“We launched multiple products with self-clearing, custody, and the value chain. Self-custody and self-clearing are optional for Robinhood.”
Midas wants to launch cryptocurrency trading, mutual funds, and savings accounts with the additional capital. The firm hopes to expand beyond Turkey into MENA countries.
The round included the International Finance Corporation, Spark Capital, Earlybird Digital East Fund, and Revo Capital. In 2022, the startup secured $11 million in early funding. Midas’ current financing, within three years of its creation, is one of the biggest by a Turkish fintech, behind integrated finance firm Param‘s $50 million in 2022.
Early investor Cem Sertoglu noted, “Having timed the explosion in demand in the Turkish investment market perfectly as the first digital-native investment platform, Midas has been executing flawlessly. Midas will succeed by winning the home market in the world’s 11th-largest economy, but it wants more.”
Paul Desmarais III, co-founder of Portage and CEO and chairman of Sagard, said: “Midas is leading a wave of financial transformation in Turkey. Portage invests in innovative financial technologies globally, and Midas will lead in an early adopter area.
