Alpaca just raised $52m—Here’s how it plans to dominate global brokerage infrastructure

How Is Alpaca Using Its $52 Million Series C to Redefine Global Brokerage Infrastructure?

Alpaca, a US-based self-clearing broker-dealer and API-driven brokerage infrastructure platform, has announced the close of its $52 million Series C funding round. The investment marks a major milestone in the company’s strategic roadmap, aimed at consolidating its global footprint and extending its reach across key international markets. The announcement, made from its newly opened Manhattan office, underscores Alpaca’s ambition to become the de facto standard in brokerage technology infrastructure globally.

Led by a mix of returning and new investors—including Derayah Financial, National Investments Company (NIC), 850 Management, Unbound, and Portage Ventures—the Series C round signals growing institutional confidence in Alpaca’s ability to deliver scalable, regulatory-compliant brokerage infrastructure to fintechs and enterprises. The repeat participation from earlier backers affirms the company’s consistent execution and product-market fit in a rapidly evolving financial services landscape.

Why Is Alpaca Expanding Internationally, and What Markets Is It Targeting?

Alpaca’s global strategy comes amid surging demand for API-based trading infrastructure among both fintech disruptors and traditional institutions. With over 200 partners across more than 40 countries, Alpaca is already powering more than five million brokerage accounts through its institutional-grade APIs and self-clearing custody services. This latest funding will enable the company to deepen its presence in high-growth regions such as the Middle East and Asia while continuing to scale operations across North America.

The expansion comes at a time when international investor appetite for US-listed assets is peaking. According to the US Federal Reserve, overseas investors held $16.5 trillion in US equities by the end of 2024—equivalent to 18% of the total US equity market, the highest share on record. Alpaca aims to capitalise on this momentum by offering seamless global access to US stocks, ETFs, options, and fixed income securities.

The planned launch of 24/5 trading further aligns with this strategy, responding to rising retail and institutional interest in around-the-clock trading access. Such a move would differentiate Alpaca in a crowded brokerage API landscape by delivering a feature increasingly demanded by markets in different time zones.

What Products and Innovations Has Alpaca Launched Recently?

Alpaca’s product innovation has been instrumental in cementing its reputation as a high-performance, compliant, and modular brokerage platform. In 2024, the company rolled out several new features tailored to enhance investor access and flexibility, including instant funding capabilities, support for US options trading, and high-yield cash and IRA accounts.

These offerings are designed not only to appeal to retail customers but also to provide B2B partners with out-of-the-box, white-labelled infrastructure that meets the regulatory demands of multiple jurisdictions. The firm’s ability to offer custody, clearing, and trading within a single stack positions it as a critical enabler for fintech platforms seeking to launch investment services without the overhead of building proprietary back-end systems.

In addition to its technological capabilities, Alpaca’s regulatory status as a self-clearing broker-dealer in the United States provides a layer of reliability and compliance that’s especially crucial for cross-border partnerships and institutional clients. The streamlined onboarding and developer-centric approach also reduce time to market for fintechs, giving Alpaca a distinct edge over legacy broker-dealers and fragmented service providers.

Who Is Backing Alpaca’s Vision and What Does That Signal About the Industry?

The list of investors in Alpaca’s Series C round reflects a broad base of institutional support from both global venture capital firms and financial institutions. Returning investors such as Portage Ventures and Unbound have maintained their interest in the company’s mission, reaffirming their belief in Alpaca’s potential to scale sustainably in a sector undergoing rapid digital transformation.

Alpaca has now raised over $170 million in total funding since inception, with notable support from Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, SBI Group, Derayah Financial, and Y Combinator. This level of backing not only strengthens Alpaca’s capital position but also enhances its credibility in regulatory and institutional circles.

From an industry standpoint, Alpaca’s trajectory reflects the broader shift in brokerage infrastructure toward API-first, modular platforms that prioritise speed, scalability, and interoperability. The proliferation of embedded finance models, which allow non-financial firms to offer financial services, has further accelerated demand for such infrastructure. Alpaca is positioned at the intersection of these trends, catering to both fintech challengers and legacy institutions seeking to modernise their offerings.

How Does Alpaca Fit Into the Future of Brokerage and Embedded Finance?

As investing becomes increasingly digital and democratised, Alpaca is working to provide the plumbing that powers this transformation. By building what it refers to as the “global standard infrastructure for investing,” Alpaca is targeting a long-term position as the go-to partner for businesses that want to offer investment products without building in-house technology or navigating complex regulatory frameworks independently.

Its roadmap includes expanding asset class access, improving funding and trading flexibility, and integrating more deeply into global fintech ecosystems. The company’s push toward 24/5 trading could set a new benchmark for availability in retail investing, particularly in geographies with limited access to US markets during local business hours.

According to Alpaca’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Yoshi Yokokawa, the Series C capital injection is as much about product leadership as it is about geographic scale. He was quoted as stating that the funding would enable Alpaca to continue supporting partners and customers with the tools and infrastructure they need to succeed in evolving financial markets. Yokokawa also noted that this stage of growth is the result of the team’s sustained efforts and the collaborative support of their investor base.

As the brokerage industry becomes increasingly competitive, the success of infrastructure providers like Alpaca may ultimately rest on their ability to deliver compliance-first scalability, real-time access, and plug-and-play developer experiences. With the latest capital in hand, Alpaca appears poised to continue pushing the boundaries of what embedded investing can look like at global scale.