Peter Thiel-backed crypto broker Bitpanda triples valuation in five months to $4.1 billion

Peter Thiel-backed crypto broker Bitpanda triples valuation in five months to $4.1 billion

LONDON — Bitpanda, a European cryptocurrency trading platform, has raised $263 million in a fresh round of funding valuing the company at $4.1 billion. That's more than three times the $1.2 billion Bitpanda was worth in its last private financing round five months ago. The latest cash injection brings the company's total raised to nearly $500 million. The investment was led by Valar Ventures, the venture capital firm co-founded by U.S. tech billionaire Peter Thiel. It's the third time Valar has backed Bitpanda since its first major funding round, announced in September. "I don't like to do fundraising," Eric Demuth, Bitpanda's CEO and co-founder, told CNBC. "It's very time-consuming." "When you have partners you have a close connection with, and they have deep pockets, you don't have to do the whole roadshow," Demuth said. Valar "wanted to double down and we wanted to stay with them," he added. "It was quite an easy process." British billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard and REDO Ventures also invested in Bitpanda's latest round, along with existing investors LeadBlock Partners and Jump Capital. What is Bitpanda? Founded in 2014, Bitpanda is a Vienna-based brokerage firm that lets people buy and sell cryptocurrencies and precious