Alpaca Expands into Europe with WealthKernel Acquisition and Launch of European Equities Trading

This article was originally published on Alpaca.

Alpaca has completed its acquisition of WealthKernel, enabling it to offer investment and wealth management services in the UK and EU

In parallel, Alpaca is launching European equities trading, starting with Germany’s Xetra exchange, with additional markets to follow
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Alpaca is expanding into Europe and entering its next phase of global growth. Today, we’re announcing two key milestones.
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We have completed our acquisition of European fintech WealthKernel, which will now operate as Alpaca Europe, establishing a regulated presence in the UK and EU.
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Separately, we’re beginning the rollout of equities trading across European markets, enabling partners to offer cross-border investing through a single integration.

Alpaca Completes Acquisition of WealthKernel

With the acquisition complete, Alpaca Europe operates on an established regulatory and operational foundation, built on WealthKernel’s licensed brokerage infrastructure.

WealthKernel brings established UK and EU licenses, providing Alpaca with a fully authorized framework to operate as a broker-dealer in the region and expand its wealth management and investment product capabilities across Europe.

This includes local brokerage and custody infrastructure, as well as tax-advantaged products such as ISAs and SIPPs. Combined with Alpaca’s API-driven platform, this creates a unified infrastructure layer for financial institutions and fintechs building investment products across Europe.

“Completing the WealthKernel acquisition is a major step in Alpaca’s expansion into Europe,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO and Co-Founder of Alpaca. By combining Alpaca’s US-headquartered, fully licensed and self-clearing brokerage infrastructure with our licensed operations in the UK and EU, we’re making it easier for companies to build and scale investment products across regions and reducing the complexity of cross-border investing.”

Leading European financial institutions are supporting Alpaca’s expansion. BNP Paribas, through its venture arm Opera Tech Ventures, which participated in Alpaca’s recent Series D, commented via Vincent Baillin, Managing Director and Co-Head of Opera Tech Ventures: “We are excited to support Alpaca’s growing presence in Europe and look forward to helping expand access to modern, scalable investment infrastructure across the region.”

Karan Shanmugarajah Appointed CEO of Alpaca Europe

Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO of WealthKernel, has been appointed CEO of Alpaca Europe and will lead the company’s regional operations. He will oversee the expansion of Alpaca’s presence across Europe, bringing deep experience in building and operating regulated investment infrastructure in the region.
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The WealthKernel team has joined Alpaca as part of the acquisition, adding regulatory, operational, and product expertise to support partners entering and scaling in European markets.
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This combination of local leadership and global infrastructure provides continuity for existing partners while positioning Alpaca to operate effectively within Europe’s regulatory landscape.
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“This is an exciting step not just for Alpaca, but for the broader European investment ecosystem,” said Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO of Alpaca Europe. “By combining local regulatory expertise with global, API-driven infrastructure, we are well positioned to help partners build, launch, and scale investment products across Europe with greater speed and efficiency.”

Introducing European Equities Trading

Alongside the acquisition, Alpaca is beginning the rollout of equities trading across European markets, expanding its capabilities beyond the US markets.

As of today, Alpaca supports trading on Germany’s Xetra exchange, one of Europe’s largest equity markets, with additional markets, including Euronext markets and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), expected to follow.

Additional markets beyond Europe are also in development, including the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) and Middle Eastern exchanges, including the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), as Alpaca continues to expand its global market coverage.

Through a single API integration, Alpaca reduces the complexity of cross-border investing, including execution, custody, and settlement, enabling fintechs and financial institutions to offer investing across markets without the traditional operational overhead.

This infrastructure is supported by leading global financial institutions, ensuring reliability and scalability as partners expand internationally.

Scaling Global Investment Infrastructure

Alpaca powers trading infrastructure for hundreds of fintech companies and financial institutions globally.

In the US, the company has also emerged as a leader in tokenized equities, holding a 94% market share in tokenized US stocks and ETFs.

This growth reflects increasing demand for modern investment infrastructure that allows companies to build and scale investing products more efficiently.

Looking Ahead

Global investing remains fragmented across regions, regulators, and infrastructure providers. For most companies, expanding internationally still requires rebuilding brokerage, custody, and compliance capabilities market by market.

Alpaca’s approach is to reduce that fragmentation by building a unified, API-driven brokerage infrastructure across jurisdictions.

With a regulated presence in both the US and Europe, and European equities trading now live, Alpaca is laying the foundation for a platform that enables companies to launch and scale investment products across borders without rebuilding the underlying stack in each market.

For more information, visit: alpaca.markets