Raiffeisen Bank International Invests Millions in Austrian Crypto Tax Software

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), through its venture capital arm Elevator Ventures, invested millions of euros in Blockpit, an Austrian startup specializing in crypto asset taxation.

Blockpit, headquartered in Linz and led by CEO Florian Wimmer, recently announced it had achieved profitability in 2024, making it an attractive target for investors seeking to capitalize on the growing demand for compliant crypto services.

The exact amount of RBI’s investment, as well as Blockpit’s valuation, remain undisclosed.

Simplifying Crypto Tax Compliance

The deal marks Elevator Ventures’ first foray into the crypto startup space.

Blockpit represents a “bridge between the traditional financial system and the crypto sector,” said Maximilian Schausberger, managing director at Elevator Ventures, in an interview with brutkasten, adding:

“If we succeed in enabling users and crypto traders to be compliant with tax issues and tax payments, then the topic will also become interesting for the masses. Financial institutions want to simplify the topic of taxes for their customers, among other things.”

With the investment, Elevator Ventures wants to support Blockpit in further expanding the services that have already been successfully rolled out in ten countries.

For Blockpit, the partnership bridges the crypto industry and traditional finance, an important aspect of its strategy.

Wimmer called the investment a “next step,” citing the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation as a catalyst for growing institutional investment.

Wimmer added that he sees RBI-backed Elevator Ventures, which manages €100 million (around $110 million) and has invested in 17 startups, as a valuable partner with experience in the TradiFi space.

Schausberger also believes that regulation is crucial for the crypto sector to reach the mass market.

However, he agreed that it’s still very difficult for crypto investors to file their taxes correctly when they have different assets across multiple wallets and perhaps even multiple countries.

That’s where Blockpit can provide a solution and make that step easier, according to Schausberger.

Blockpit’s Expansion Plans: Eastern Europe and Beyond

Blockpit will use the investment to expand into new European markets, specifically in Eastern Europe.

The company will also develop tools for proving the origin of funds for bank withdrawals and crypto exchange transfers.

Blockpit was founded in 2017 and currently employs 30 people. In 2021, the company raised $10 million in a Series A round led by MiddleGame Ventures.

In November 2023, following its 2020 merger with German competitor CryptoTax, Blockpit also acquired Swiss rival Accointing in a multi-million euro deal.

This latest acquisition, from Accointing.com’s former parent company Glassnode, a Swiss blockchain data specialist, solidified Blockpit’s dominance in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).

The acquisition was financed through Blockpit’s existing shareholder base.

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