Capitalise.ai’s platform enables users to trade in cryptocurrencies and other assets with orders in ordinary English.
US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is buying Tel Aviv-based startup Capitalise.ai in a deal estimated to be worth $40-50 million, “Globes” has learned. Capitalise.ai has a few dozen employees, and has raised no more than $6 million, from investors such as Leon Recanati’s GlenRock and StageOne Ventures. Ten years ago, it was valued at just $16 million, according to PitchBook. Capitalise.ai was founded by Amir Shiovich and Shahar Rabin. Among the investors on its board of directors are Prof. Dan Galai, and Yuval Cohen of StageOne Ventures.
Capitalise.ai is an artificial intelligence-based trading platform that facilitates trading in cryptocurrencies, stocks, foreign exchange, and contracts for difference without technical expertise. Users can give orders in plain English via an interface reminiscent of ChatGPT and similar applications, for example, “Sell the stock when it falls by more than 3% or when the return over the buying price exceeds 4%.” The platform also has an interface that enables users to simulate different orders and decide which is best, and to test different trading strategies over time.
The consideration in the acquisition deal is believed to be a combination of cash and shares in Kraken, a privately-held company based in Wyoming. It is about to raise $500 million at a valuation of $15 billion, according to a report on The Information website last month. It has benefitted from a rise in cryptocurrency trading thanks to regulatory relaxations by the Trump administration in the US. Last March, Kraken announced that it sought to acquire futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. It allows buying and selling of 230 cryptographic currencies.
