Alpian SA, a digital bank targeting the “mass affluent” has raised a Series B round of $18 million (CHF16.9 million). This latest funding round follows a Series A round in 2020 where Alpian raised CHF12.2 million. Alpian has been incubated by the Swiss banking group REYL & Cie Ltd.
Alpian integrates both banking and investing inside a single product. Alpian believes there is an opportunity in individuals with anywhere from CHF100,000 to 1,000,000 to invest. According to research undertaken by Alpian, mass affluent clients are typically under-served by retail banks and lack access to private banking services. Alpian states that in Switzerland alone, the segment of potential mass affluent investors represents a CHF660 billion opportunity.
Alpian integrates machine learning and real person advisors to create an offering that caters to personal preferences. The hybrid model of tech and individual wealth advisors is designed to provide a service normally reserved for clients of private banks. Besides the core private banking offering, each account will come with a debit card and multi-currency account in four currencies to facilitate everyday banking needs. Alpian says it is also investing in the creation of educational content on financial matters through its recently launched i-vest platform.
Alpian CEO Schuyler Weiss states they are taking a structured and careful approach to building and launching the bank.
“While the Series A fundraising was conducted to build the digital bank, the Series B fundraising is intended to be principally used to launch the bank in the Swiss market. This approach ensures that Alpian will be in a strong position to provide the best service to customers later this year subject to the issuance of a full banking licence by FINMA.”
REYL partner, Pasha Bakhtiar said the funding is an exceptional milestone and a testament to the capabilities of the Alpian management team:
“We are particularly proud that this incubated idea has flourished into a blooming company and has attracted broad investor interest as well as support from our strategic partner ISP-Fideuram. We look forward to continuing along this path as Alpian seeks to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to go-live later this year.”
Alpian has applied for a full banking license to Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and intends to launch its core product and services range in the course of 2021, subject to the issuance of a full banking license by FINMA.
Founded in 1973, the REYL Group is an independent diversified banking group with offices in Switzerland (Geneva, Zurich, Lugano), Europe (London, Luxembourg, Malta) and the rest of the world (Singapore, Dubai). The REYL Group manages assets in excess of CHF 13.5 billion and employs more than 220 professionals.
