It was all done on Zoom calls with no in-person meetings. That’s how smoothly the latest US$4-million fundraising call from crypto investment company Revix went.

Revix is one of South Africa’s standout crypto successes, and now it plans to replicate that success abroad, starting with German-speaking Europe.

Most of the capital raised will be deployed to its European expansion. Some will be used to launch Revix’s new mobile application, and for the launch of “fourth Industrial Revolution” investment opportunities.

Leading the investing round was serial entrepreneur Max Heinzle, founder and CEO of 21 Finance based in Europe, backed by a consortium of European investors and the Qatar Development Bank.

Revix has offices in Cape Town and London, and will soon add Frankfurt to that list.

“The reason we have decided to tackle the German-speaking world at this stage of our growth is that we have, through our funding partner JSE-listed Sabvest, established a partnership with a German bank that will give us a strong footing in this market,” says Revix CEO Sean Sanders. “Some 90% of our staff will still be based in South Africa, with the rest in London and Frankfurt.”

Bypassing

Revix made it possible for South Africans of limited financial means to enter the crypto market by completely bypassing the fund management and broker segments of the market. Anyone with R500 could purchase a pre-specified bundle of crypto investments at just 1% cost.

Its ready-made crypto portfolios, or bundles, function similar to exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, by providing low-cost diversified exposure to a broad array of the top cryptocurrencies through one investment product.

The company attracted more than $25-million in fund inflows over the last 12 months from both institutional and retail investors.

“We plan to blur the lines between investing in traditional asset classes like stocks as well as the emerging alternative investment space. We want to empower everyday people to safely invest in emerging themes, technologies and asset classes in an effortless way,” says Sanders, hinting at some of the theme-based investment concepts soon to rolled out.

“If you’ve ever been in a situation where you’ve wanted to invest in the fastest-growing sectors such as AI, biotech, 5G, e-sports or cryptocurrencies that are likely going to have a big impact on humanity’s future but don’t know how to get started, well soon you’ll be able to turn to Revix to assist you. Our main goal is to help people allocate their money to areas that they believe in.”

Revix was also one of 21 start-ups, and the only South African fintech, to be accepted into the world-renowned six-month Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator. Since launching, the accelerator has incubated over 45 companies that have raised a total of more than $30-million in follow-on funding.