Peter Thiel’s Fund Leads $40 Million Round in Shares App

(Bloomberg) -- Peter Thiel-backed Valar Ventures is leading a $40 million financing round into European investing app Shares.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Rockstar Games Cleaned Up Its Frat-Boy Culture — and Grand Theft Auto, Too

• Fed Hikes 75 Basis Points Second Time, Signals Third Is Possible

• Biden Considers New Pause on Paying Back Student Loans, $10,000 Relief

• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Game Paused Amid Studio Shakeup

• Walmart’s Mega Sale Is More Bad News for the Economy

The new round of financing brings the year-old company’s total funds raised to $90 million, and will give Shares further cash to expand across Europe, the company said in a statement.

Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Chemla plans to take the service to the rest of Europe by the end of the year, if he can get regulatory approval, and has hired regional leaders in Barcelona, Berlin, Stockholm, Krakow and Amsterdam. The company is also exploring offering services around cryptocurrency markets, according to the release.

Shares has also raised funding from firms including Global Founders Capital and Singular. The investment comes amid a broader pullback among financial technology companies, with investors souring on fast-growing cash-burning companies because of rising interest rates and a darkening economic outlook.

The company -- which was founded in 2021 and launched in the UK two months ago -- said it has more than 150,000 users who access the app to trade stocks, read market data and chat about investing, according to its website.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• How a Sextortion Victim Hacked Back and Put Her Attacker in Jail

• Black Swan Hedge Funds Are Booming in Scary Times

• Libertarian Cartoons Promise to Turn Your Kids Into Little Ayn Rands

• Return-to-Office Strategies to Avoid Being There All the Time

• Housing Affordability Crisis Increases Odds of Recession

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.