France’s Bitstack has made waves with its recent $15 million Series A funding. As a serial entrepreneur in the Netherlands with experience bootstrapping my ventures, including the Fe/male Switch startup game, I find this move inspiring and deeply relevant. For European entrepreneurs, and particularly female founders, there are valuable lessons from Bitstack's journey that go beyond crypto.
The Purpose Behind Bitstack
Bitstack exists to make Bitcoin savings approachable and impactful. Unlike many apps that overwhelm users with complex crypto jargon, Bitstack simplifies things. Its main feature converts spare change from everyday purchases into Bitcoin automatically. This savvy approach targets anyone who wants a simple way to hedge against inflation.
The $15 million funding round will allow Bitstack to scale operations across Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The startup aims to offer localized services tailored to diverse markets. For instance, users in France can use a euro account with a French IBAN to send and receive payments while saving in Bitcoin seamlessly.
Lessons for Female Entrepreneurs
From my vantage point, this success story holds some essential strategies for women launching or scaling startups in Europe.
1. Focus on Simplicity
Bitstack’s interface and features are intuitive. It automates savings with minimal user input, making it easy for even non-tech-savvy individuals to use. As founders, simplicity should guide our product designs. Feminine problem-solving often leans toward creating practical, user-friendly solutions, a trait we should celebrate more in the tech space.
2. Leverage Industry Trends
Eurozone inflation has risen by over 23% since 2020, drawing more Europeans to Bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Bitstack capitalized on this trend by addressing a growing need for passive savings strategies. Female founders in Europe can similarly identify, and act on, economic, demographic, or technological shifts that align with our missions.
3. Don’t Shy From Regulation
Too many startups in crypto avoid the regulatory headache. Bitstack tackled this obstacle head-on by securing a MiCA license from France's AMF, ensuring it can legally operate across a dozen European nations. This is proof that diving into technicalities pays off. For women in tech, gaining expertise in compliance isn’t just helpful, it’s essential for lasting growth.
How to Scale Smartly as a Founder
Here’s a guide based on Bitstack’s approach combined with lessons I’ve learned over the years:
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Build With A Strong Core Team
Bitstack was founded by Alexandre Roubaud and Kabir Sethi, two individuals who leveraged their combined expertise to create a focused vision. Similarly, a startup’s initial growth hinges on handpicking the right people who align with your mission and complement your weaknesses. -
Raise Funds Strategically
Bitstack didn’t start big. First, it raised €1 million to launch its app and gather market feedback. This cautious approach minimizes risk and improves investor confidence when asking for more significant rounds later on. As a bootstrapping founder, I swear by prudent scaling before chasing larger rounds. -
Optimize Product Flexibility
Bitstack localized its app offerings by aligning them with country-specific needs, such as language support and euro accounts. Provide flexible, market-specific solutions when launching regionally, showing potential users that you value their unique needs.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Having grown my startups from the ground up, I also know what missteps look like.
Lack of Focus
Expanding into new markets is tempting. But don’t spread operations too thin or pivot before establishing your place in the region you started with. Bitstack worked on solidifying France first before scaling into neighboring countries.
Ignoring User Feedback
Too many apps fail when founders build what they think users want instead of listening to real feedback. User surveys, focus groups, and beta testing should always be a priority, especially in tech.
Overcomplication
Complexity can alienate users. Keep your solutions as simple as possible, just as Bitstack sidestepped the pitfalls of confusing crypto platforms.
Insights for Bootstrappers
While Bitstack raised external funds, their lessons are relevant to bootstrappers too. I like how their focus stayed on refining their core features and maintaining manageable growth. Having built Fe/male Switch through limited resources, I understand this approach well. Careful planning, lean operations, and maximizing ROI on small wins make the dream scalable, even with fewer resources available.
Understanding Why Bitstack Wins
Bitstack didn’t stumble onto success, it earned it. It tailored its offerings to European users, maintained regulatory transparency, and leveraged automation in ways no competitor could. Most importantly, they kept their infrastructure lean enough despite growing rapidly. Their forward-looking attitude sets a bar for any founder considering cross-border growth.
A Call to European Women
From my perspective, Bitstack’s journey is more than a crypto success. It’s a lesson for female entrepreneurs across Europe about identifying niche needs, simplifying processes, and outsmarting bigger players with clever adaptability. I plan to take these lessons to Fe/male Switch and inspire more women to innovate, regardless of industry.
We’ve seen time and again that thoughtful, steady growth leads to lasting success. Bitstack demonstrates how well this formula works in practice. Will you apply it to your startup?
FAQ
1. What is Bitstack, and how does it work?
Bitstack is a Bitcoin savings app founded in France in 2021. It automates savings by rounding up everyday purchases and converting spare change into Bitcoin through dollar-cost averaging. Discover Bitstack
2. What features make Bitstack unique?
Bitstack offers automatic Bitcoin savings, a euro account with a French IBAN, and Europe’s first VISA debit card with Bitcoin cashback rewards. Learn more about Bitstack’s features
3. How does Bitstack address inflation concerns?
By facilitating Bitcoin savings, Bitstack provides a tool for Europeans to hedge against inflation, which has risen by over 23% since 2020 in the Eurozone. Explore inflation trends fueling Bitstack
4. Who are Bitstack’s founders, and what is their background?
Bitstack was co-founded by Alexandre Roubaud, CEO, and Kabir Sethi, CTO, both with academic ties to McGill University. Learn about the founders
5. What strategies does Bitstack use for European expansion?
Bitstack leverages country-specific features, such as localized languages and euro accounts, and operates under the MiCA license for regulatory compliance across Europe. Find out about Bitstack’s European expansion
6. What are Bitstack’s future plans following the $15M funding round?
The funding will help Bitstack launch new features, expand its European footprint, and roll out a VISA debit card in early 2026. Check out Bitstack’s next moves
7. How does Bitstack ensure compliance with regulations?
Bitstack secured a MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) license from France’s AMF, enabling legal operations across multiple European nations. Learn about Bitstack’s regulatory compliance
8. How many users does Bitstack have, and what’s its growth trajectory?
Bitstack has over 300,000 active users, with €300 million saved in Bitcoin and revenue increasing tenfold in two years. Explore Bitstack’s growth story
9. What are the competitive advantages of Bitstack’s Bitcoin savings model?
Bitstack differentiates itself with automated savings, localized services, and innovative rewards like Bitcoin cashback, setting it apart from rivals like Revolut and Bitpanda. Compare Bitstack with its competition
10. How can female entrepreneurs apply lessons from Bitstack’s success?
Female founders can learn from Bitstack’s focus on simplicity, leveraging economic trends, addressing regulatory hurdles, and scaling sustainably. No applicable link available.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.