Fintech infrastructure provider Alpaca has officially announced the completion of its $150 million Series D funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to $1.15 billion. Leading the round was prominent venture capital firm Drive Capital, with heavyweight participants including Citadel Securities, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, and the venture arm of BNP Paribas.
Unlike consumer-facing trading platforms, Alpaca operates as a "behind-the-scenes hero," offering trading infrastructure to a wide range of financial institutions. Through its API, partners can easily integrate trading services for stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and other asset classes.
01 Funding Overview
This Series D round raised $150 million, with Drive Capital as the lead investor. As part of the transaction, Chris Olsen, co-founder and partner at Drive Capital, will join Alpaca’s board of directors.
Beyond the lead investor, the participant lineup is impressive. Notable backers include Citadel Securities, Opera Tech Ventures (the venture arm of BNP Paribas), MUFG Innovation Partners from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
It’s also worth noting that several existing investors doubled down, including Portage, Horizons Ventures, and Social Leverage. Their continued support signals strong long-term confidence in Alpaca’s trajectory.
In addition to the equity raise, Alpaca secured a $40 million credit facility, further strengthening its balance sheet and providing ample resources for global expansion.
02 Core Business
Alpaca’s core business model centers on providing embedded finance and brokerage infrastructure. In simple terms, it offers a scalable API that enables other companies to quickly and compliantly deliver complex financial services to their users.
The company’s service coverage is extensive, spanning stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income products, and cryptocurrencies. Alpaca currently partners with over 300 institutions across more than 40 countries, supporting millions of brokerage accounts.
According to a recent tokenization report from Alpaca, its technology powers 94% of tokenized US stocks and ETFs in the market. This means that when you trade a token representing Apple or Tesla stock on a given platform, there’s a strong chance Alpaca’s technology is running behind the scenes.
03 Industry Impact
Chris Olsen, co-founder of Drive Capital, likened Alpaca to Stripe and Plaid in the financial infrastructure space. He believes Alpaca is redefining how global investment infrastructure operates, building the foundational layer that modern financial institutions will rely on for the next decade.
For the crypto industry, Alpaca’s rise is particularly significant. The participation of key partner Kraken highlights the strong demand among mainstream crypto exchanges to integrate traditional financial assets.
Alpaca’s "instant tokenization network," in collaboration with the Solana Foundation and leading real-world asset projects like Ondo Finance, is accelerating the onboarding of traditional assets onto the blockchain.
04 Use of Funds and Future Plans
Alpaca plans to use the proceeds from this round to strengthen its global investment infrastructure, with a focus on serving established financial institutions and institutional trading clients. The company aims to secure necessary regulatory licenses in key jurisdictions and establish a localized market presence.
On the product side, Alpaca will continue to expand its asset classes and enhance institutional-grade trading capabilities. Another priority is to bolster cybersecurity and platform resilience to address the increasingly complex financial network environment.
In 2025, Alpaca has already achieved several major milestones, including becoming a member of Nasdaq, gaining membership in the Options Clearing Corporation and a fixed income clearinghouse. These accomplishments lay a solid regulatory and clearing foundation for future expansion.
05 Insights and Relevance for Gate Users
Alpaca’s fundraising success and strategic direction highlight a core trend in finance: the convergence of traditional and crypto assets is accelerating through advancements in infrastructure technology. For users of global trading platforms like Gate, this means the range of tradable assets and financial products will become significantly broader.
For traders, keeping an eye on infrastructure providers like Alpaca helps you understand the roots of market innovation. As more stocks and ETFs are tokenized and traded in a compliant, efficient manner, platforms like Gate are likely to become key venues for these new asset types.
While Alpaca itself does not issue tradable tokens, its pivotal role as a "pipeline" could catalyze its partners—including major exchanges and fintech applications—to launch more innovative products, ultimately offering Gate users a wider array of investment options.
Special Note on the "Alpaca" Name
It’s important to clarify that the Alpaca completing this major funding round is a US-based fintech infrastructure company (alpaca.markets), entirely distinct from the DeFi lending protocol Alpaca Finance on BNB Smart Chain.
The latter’s ALPACA token is currently traded on several exchanges. According to CoinMarketCap data as of January 15, its price is approximately $0.00534. Please be mindful of this distinction when searching or conducting research to avoid confusion.
Outlook
Alpaca CEO Yoshi Yokokawa reiterated the company’s mission at the time of the funding announcement: "to open financial services to everyone globally." As the boundaries between traditional finance and the crypto world continue to blur, Alpaca’s foundational infrastructure is rapidly turning this vision into reality.
With $150 million in fresh capital, this $1.15 billion unicorn will continue to serve as an invisible bridge, profoundly shaping every transaction from Wall Street to crypto exchanges.
