Israeli fintech company Capitolis has raised $56 million from several major banks, including Barclays, J.P. Morgan, and BNP Paribas.
This is the company’s second funding round using a SAFE-like structure, where the company’s valuation is not set up front but will be determined in a future round. A SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) works like a loan that later converts into shares when new investors come in.
In November last year, Capitolis—founded in 2017—raised $20 million in a similar SAFE-style round led by Citibank, with Morgan Stanley, UBS, and State Street also taking part.
Capitolis’ last regular equity funding happened in 2022, valuing the company at $1.6 billion. While the company hasn’t shared a formal new valuation, it says the recent SAFE rounds suggest its value is now even higher.
Capitolis has now raised a total of $350 million. Its investors include some of the world’s biggest venture capital firms, like Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.
The company works closely with global banks, many of which are also its clients. Capitolis’ platform helps these banks reduce the amount of money they need to set aside for regulatory purposes by balancing out their trading positions across different assets. This makes it easier for them to free up capital and increase their trading activity.
Capitolis was founded by Gil Mandelzis, Tom Glocer, and Igor Teleshevsky. Gil Mandelzis is the CEO and was also one of the founders of fintech company Traiana, which was sold to ICAP for $250 million in 2007.
Tom Glocer is the former CEO of Thomson Reuters, while Igor Teleshevsky was previously Executive Vice President at Traiana and later served as CIO at ICAP.
“We are thrilled for the continued support from strategic global banks, and we are excited to welcome Barclays and BNP on board and have J.P. Morgan reaffirm their commitment to Capitolis. It is also exciting to see a strong vote of confidence from our VC investors who participated in our Series D round and are now doubling down,” said Gil Mandelzis, CEO and Founder, Capitolis. “These investments will help us further accelerate our growth and expansion in the capital markets as we continue our strong business momentum.”
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