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Champ Titles Raised $18M from Point72 Ventures
Champ Titles Raised $18M from Point72 Ventures

Architect Partners was the exclusive Financial Advisor to Champ Titles.

Transaction Overview

On March 27, 2024, Cleveland-based digital title and registration platform Champ Titles announced an $18 million Series C equity round led by Point72 Ventures with participation by existing investors.

Company Description

Champ Titles provides a digital title and registration suite to streamline the vehicle titling process. Their platform enables the creation of legal, digital titles for easy transfer and verification, serving insurance carriers, lenders, state governments, auto dealers, and owners. Stakeholders, including state motor vehicle departments, lenders, and vehicle owners, benefit from a unified and transparent system, where all information is readily accessible and transaction times are markedly reduced. The governance of the digital platform is established through clear guidelines, ensuring all parties adhere to the updated processes and regulations.

Champ Titles’ success is measured by the elimination of more than 5 million pieces of paper annually on average per state; a reduction in processing time from 40-60 days to a matter of hours; increased productivity of DMV title clerks processing more than five times as many titles per day; and the improved experience for consumers in each state that has adopted Champ Titles’ solutions. Over the last twelve months, the company has successfully onboarded new states including New Jersey, Kentucky, and Illinois, and expanded its relationship with West Virginia by creating the first National Digital Titling Clearinghouse (NDTC). Through these efforts, the company has grown rapidly with revenue increasing by more than 300% year over year. 

Founded in 2018 by CEO, Shane Bigelow, the company now has 63 employees and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Funding

In this Series C funding round, Champ Titles raised $18M from Point72 Ventures and existing investors including W.R. Berkley Corporation, Eos Venture Partners, Guidewire Software, and Rev1 Ventures, bringing the total amount raised since inception to $45M. 

In the prior Series B round, Champ Titles raised $13M from Guidewire Software, Eos Venture Partners, and Ally Ventures.

Before that, Champ Titles raised $13.5M in 2021 in a Series A. Emergents, now Architect Partners, served as the exclusive Financial Advisor for that financing. 

Competition

Champ Titles’ biggest competitors are existing state DMVs deciding to be a software company and developing solutions on their own or via large systems developers.  However, they also compete with other digital title networks such as Cario and Oxhead Alpha/Tezos. In addition, technology-enabled DMV solutions such as Fast Enterprises are seen as competitive but don’t offer the same efficacy.

 

Architect Partners’ Perspective

Champ Titles’ SaaS-based solutions present a compelling example of blockchain-enabled infrastructure solving real-world problems.  By focusing on the needs and pain points of legacy auto title, registration, and lien processing, Champ has leveraged the power of blockchain to transform critical government services.  The result is exponentially accelerated processing time for DMV constituents, with improved accuracy and reduced cost.  Yet Champ’s solutions capture many key benefits of on-chain data processing – which include trust, transparency, data integrity, security, and efficiency – without users even being aware of their blockchain foundations.  

While much attention is focused on recent resilience in crypto asset prices, we believe 2024 will see significant growth in non-speculative enterprise applications for distributed ledger technology.  Champ’s successful raise demonstrates investor interest in practical and scalable solutions to real-world problems.

Alerts

Robinhood Acquiring WonderFi for C$250M

John Kennick
May 15th, 2025
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Transaction Overview

On May 13th, 2025, Robinhood, a leading online brokerage platform, announced a definitive agreement to acquire WonderFi Technologies, a Canada-based owner and operator of several regulated cryptocurrency platforms. The deal is valued at C$250M (US$179M) and is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

 

Target: WonderFi Technologies

WonderFi, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is a regulated digital asset platform that owns, operates, develops, and invests in blockchain-based financial products. The firm offers access to cryptocurrency trading, staking, and decentralized finance solutions for both retail and institutional clients. WonderFi’s core products include: 1) Bitbuy, a Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform offering trading, staking, and OTC services to advanced traders and corporate clients; 2) Coinsquare, a cryptocurrency trading platform catered more directly to retail investors; 3) SmartPay, a payment solution enabling businesses to accept crypto payments and convert them to fiat currency; and 4) WonderFi Labs, the company’s development arm focused on building future applications and expanding offerings, including Wonder, a layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum, and WonderFiWallet, a non-custodial wallet that will connect to WonderL2.

 

Since 2021, WonderFi Technologies has raised a total of C$114.1M through both public offerings and private placements. WonderFi is 78% publicly owned, with Mogo Inc., the largest single active investor, owning 13% of the company.

 

Buyer: Robinhood

Robinhood, founded in 2013, is a publicly listed brokerage platform headquartered in Menlo Park, CA. The platform has grown from allowing individuals to trade stocks and ETFs to stock options, index options, futures contracts, and cryptocurrency. Robinhood also offers cash management services such as direct deposit capabilities and debit cards.

 

In 2018, Robinhood established Robinhood Crypto, which enabled users to trade various cryptocurrencies on the exchange. Since then, Robinhood has steadily increased the number of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins available for trading on its platform, both in the US and abroad, a goal made evident by its June 2024 acquisition of Bitstamp, a European crypto exchange, for $200M.

 

Robinhood currently has a $46B enterprise value, with $3.26B in trailing twelve-month revenue ended March 2025 (14.1× EV / Revenue multiple) and $1.35B in trailing twelve-month EBITDA (34.1× EV / EBITDA multiple).

 

Transaction Parameters

The acquisition will be an all-cash buyout valued at US$179M. Shareholders will receive C$0.36 per share, representing a 41% premium on WonderFi’s May 12 closing price and a 4.0x valuation/revenue multiple based on ~C$62.1M in revenue following FY 2024, and a 20.8x EBITDA multiple based on ~C$12M in FY 2024 Adjusted EBITDA.

 

Notable similar transactions include Coinbase | Deribit for $2.9B (M&A Alert),  Hidden Road | Ripple (M&A Alert), NinjaTrader | Kraken for $1.5B (M&A Alert), FairX | Coinbase (M&A Alert), and

Robinhood | Bitstamp for $200M (M&A Alert). 

 

Strategic Rationale

This transaction offers Robinhood entry into the Canadian cryptocurrency market by leveraging WonderFi’s established user base, regulatory licenses, and platforms such as Bitbuy and Coinsquare, which collectively hold C$2.1B in assets under custody. Additionally, Robinhood’s revenue streams will likely be bolstered and diversified by WonderFi’s growth in crypto trading volumes, which increased by 28% in FY 2024. Finally, the acquisition allows Robinhood to enhance its crypto offerings by gaining advanced infrastructure in staking and wallet services, supporting Robinhood’s goal of becoming a comprehensive financial services platform.

 

Architect Partners’ Observations

The move is part of a larger “growth via acquisition” strategy that we’re seeing larger players enact, partly due to increased cash generation over the past several quarters and regulatory optimism.

 

Robinhood has been farther on the risk spectrum for crypto trading and is cementing its lead against TradFi brokerages (several large players do not offer crypto trading yet). While crypto is being treated as just another asset to trade, the volatility and the lighter regulatory best-execution frameworks mean it can be a more profitable segment for trading firms.

 

For Robinhood, it not only gives access to Canada as a market but can also boost its “share of wallet.” They can cross-sell trading in other assets to WonderFi clients, further eroding competitors that are slow to react. The price of the deal is a bit low at 4X; but considering it’s an all-cash deal, the premium can quickly decrease. It is at a 71% premium over the 30 VWAP (volume-weighted average).

 

Firms approach consolidation on an account basis, and Robinhood is paying ~$105 per account (regardless of activity) or ~$1,400 per active account. Coinbase, based on 2024 numbers, is roughly $550 per active account. So, considering lifetime value, this is a reasonable deal for Robinhood.

 

Stepping back and widening the aperture, we see larger players continuing to look for consolidation opportunities. Even though Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood have recently announced acquisitions, we feel there are more consolidation plays to come this year.

 

Sources

Robinhood Press Release, WonderFi, WonderFi Investor Deck,  2024 Q4 Report, Pitchbook, Factset