1. Tell us a bit about yourself / your co-founder(s)
I am a commercial entrepreneur with a significant exit (React News, now Europe’s largest paid commercial real estate news service). Tori Hutchinson worked with me there as an operational lead, and Richie Smith came onboard as a tech supplier who chose to invest into the business, work with us full-time and offer us engineering (and now full-time engineering employees) at cost.
We complement each other well, and together have the commercial, operational and technical expertise to drive this business forward.
2. The Thesis
£197bn of retail sales, or almost half of the UK’s annual retail sales in goods and services, are insurable. Amazon alone makes almost £1bn in insurance revenue, and most UK SMEs have never been offered the opportunity to distribute insurance.
Bolt Cover exists to help retailer make incremental revenue and customer LTV through embedded insurance, which projects to grow 25% per year through 2028 (Munich Re, 2023), especially in the UK market which is growing 8% per year (Statista, 2023)
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
Our target customers are UK SMEs turning over £500m or less who have never been offered the chance to sell insurance, in underserved markets such as furniture, eyewear, jewellery, high-end apparel, collectables, and power tools.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
Our competitors are either focussed on servicing the largest UK retailers (XCover, Domestic & General) or single-category legacy players (Staingard, Guardsman, Sundays) with legacy technology.
Bolt Cover’s efficient integrations, insurance ecosystem (3x TOBAs with A-rated insurers) and scalable technology are our USPs.
5. What is your current stage and traction?
Since incorporation in Feb 2023, we have acquired regulatory approval, raised pre-seed funding and secured our first insurance and repair network partners.
From product launch in April 2024, we have added significant projected revenue across our 3x launch categories (Bike, Furniture, Eyewear), and opened up a new home appliances category with agreed integration with Shark Ninja’s D2C online platforms for early 2025. As of August 2024, we have 120x retailers, 14x manufacturers and 3x insurers committed to our platform.
We have since written over 1,200 policies, established 20x online integrations, reached £100k ARR and have a sales pipeline worth over £1.1m in Bolt Cover gross profit.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?
Over the next 18 months, we plan to raise our £1.2m seed round, reach £1m in ARR, and expand geographically with partners such as Shark Ninja and World Duty Free.
The network can help with investment, retailer introductions, and advice on geographical expansion as we scale.
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink?
I’m currently reading “Think Again” by Adam Grant, after it was recommended to me by three different sources, so jumped to the top of my reading pile. It’s alongside The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Maxwell) and It Works (R. H. Jarrett) for my upcoming trip abroad.
My favourite coffee is my 7am at my desk, as I plan out my day, visualise success and re-iterate my goals. I love a drink normally – especially at a festival or a Burn – but am not drinking until I complete this fundraise.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself / your co-founder:
Riccardo Conti (CEO): Riccardo has a strong technical and business background with a degree in Computer Science and a master’s in Management, Finance & Entrepreneurship from EPFL. He has experience in entrepreneurship, having previously founded a move-to-earn startup, raised capital, managed a team, and launched a product that reached 30k active users. He also launched Cryptoro, an Alternative Investment Fund focused on digital assets. Riccardo has served in the Swiss Army Special Forces.
Marc Bickel (CTO): Marc is an EPFL engineer with a master’s degree in Computer Science and extensive experience in web development and project management. He has a passion for blockchain and basketball (top league referee). Before focusing entirely on Fume, Marc worked at a leading IT consulting company.
Why are we building this? The need for Fume protocol comes from the direct pain we’ve experienced managing our own investment fund in traditional finance. In a world where blockchain technology exists, we can’t stand trying to manage an investment fund paying enormous fees to fund administrators to perform tasks that could be automated. Nor do we accept the idea of paying 20-80 bps to move capital around. Finally, we were personally heavily impacted by the FTX collapse. We need to build a better alternative, where intermediaries are no longer the point of failure.
2. The Thesis:
Problem: Fume addresses inefficiencies and opacity in the traditional fund management industry, plagued by too many intermediaries, high costs, and slow processes. The market is enormous, with the total addressable market (TAM) for all collective investment schemes at $3.36 trillion per year, and a serviceable available market (SAM) of $690 billion per year for alternative investment funds. Trend/Market Shift: The trend towards on-chain asset tokenization is expected to reach $16.1 trillion by 2030, pushing the financial system towards innovative solutions like Fume. Moreover, 23% of crypto hedge funds plan to tokenize their funds, signaling a strong shift towards blockchain in fund management.
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
Fume solves the inefficiency and opacity in traditional fund management by removing intermediaries, automating processes with smart contracts, and enhancing transparency. The primary target customers are fund managers looking to create regulation-compliant on-chain investment funds, particularly those managing digital asset funds, Web3 VCs, and crypto hedge funds.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
Fume faces competition from platforms that try to improve the current model by connecting intermediaries or decentralizing databases but still rely on the legacy fund model.
USP: Fume’s unique selling propositions include on-chain fund management that eliminates traditional intermediaries, a strong compliance and regulatory focus, and broad asset support, including stocks, real estate, and commodities. These differentiators make Fume a pioneering solution in the on-chain fund management space.
5. What is your current stage and traction?
Fume has been live since Q4 2023, with its first on-chain fund pilot launched in Luxembourg. The platform now supports three tokenized investment vehicles.
Soon, Fume will introduce the first tokenized L-QIF (Limited Qualified Investor Fund) in Switzerland.
Additionally, a pilot project is being prepared in collaboration with an administrator in the UAE.
Fume raised capital from Tenity (a fintech VC), a fund manager, a blockchain-focused family office, and various business angels, including legal experts and professionals from the Swiss stock exchange.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?Over the next 6-18 months, Fume plans to focus on product development to audit our technology and expand its market presence. Support from your network could help in further fundraising efforts, business development with asset managers, and establishing strategic partnerships with fund administrators.
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favorite place for a coffee or a drink?
Digital bookshelf only, I’m a big fan of audiobooks. Mostly business-related (e.g. $100M Offers, Alex Hormozi) and biographies (e.g. Breathe, Rickson Gracie).
Battersea Park, London. Morning run followed by a walk in the park with a takeaway coffee.
Hi, we are Brian from Ireland and Zbi from Poland, both living in London. Together we have worked for 20 years in banking and in building technology solutions for enterprise. Brian was a director for UBS in Treasury in Zürich and New York in liquidity management, and before that in Bank of Ireland. Zbi has built technology for enterprise and financial services companies, such as IHS Markit. Outside work, Brian and Zbi have a daughter each (6 months and 4 years old, respectively).
2. The Thesis
Finteum is making it possible for bank teams to borrow and lend to each other for hours at a time, instead of overnight and longer (htttps://finteum.com). We have built a platform for interbank intraday lending, focusing on intraday FX swaps and intraday repo that settle very quickly and mature at a pre-defined time on the same day. We are an early-stage fintech startup with 17 people. We will be going live in July 2024 with intraday FX swaps. (Edit: see the announcement here). Primarily, we compete with workaround solutions that banks employ, such as withholding outgoing payments (known as throttling). We are based in London, which is the European hub for FX, and we also travel to meet prospective clients in Frankfurt, NYC and elsewhere. We enjoy explaining how they can save up to €40m per year using our solution.
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
The largest banks globally need to monitor their liquidity in real-time. This means they must ensure adequate intraday liquidity balances, not just at the end of each day. After the 2008 global financial crisis, regulators enforced this requirement to make the banking system more robust. Banks have two choices to meet this requirement: hold an excessive liquidity buffer, or improve their cash balances during the hours of large net outgoing payments, to mitigate the impact of these payments on their liquidity. The former choice creates a significant opportunity cost, tens of millions pounds per large bank. The latter choice is preferable, but banks do not have the right tools available to them. Banks can delay outgoing payments, but by doing so they pass the problem to their clients and counterparties, instead of solving it. Our solution is intraday interbank borrowing (intraday FX swaps and intraday repo), which enables banks with an excess to transfer liquidity to banks that have a shortage. Finteum has built a software system for bank treasury, FX and repo teams to negotiate and pre-agree intraday FX swaps and intraday repo transactions with each other, “the Finteum Platform”.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
Finteum primarily competes with internal workarounds that the banks employ to improve their intraday liquidity. However, Finteum is often compared with other trading platforms. In FX swaps Finteum is often compared with London Stock Exchange Group’s LSEG FX (formerly Refinitiv / Reuters), which has a popular platform for banks for FX swaps in tenors longer than intraday (overnight and longer), 360T (Deutsche Boerse’s platform), EBS (CME’s platform). In repo, Finteum is often compared with Tradeweb (majority owned by LSEG), BrokerTec (CME’s platform), Eurex (Deutsche Boerse’s repo platform), GLMX, among others.
Companies with existing intraday repo offerings include JPMorgan (Onyx), Broadridge (DLR), Eurex and Wematch. These initiatives have helped to validate the case for intraday transactions, but also differ from Finteum’s approach in some key ways. Currently, banks trading on JPMorgan’s Onyx intraday repo platform can only trade with JPMorgan, whereas Finteum is a bank-to-bank network. Additionally, with the Onyx platform, both the securities and the cash are tokenised, which is not required by the Finteum Platform.
Finteum’s USP is in the application of DLT to reduce the time needed for banks to execute interbank deals, decreasing risks involved and making regulatory reporting easier. Finteum also has a unique rule book that governs the behaviour of bank participants on the platform, which is specific to intraday markets.
5. What is your current stage and traction?
Finteum has signed an initial group of banks that are working towards go-live with the intraday FX swaps product in July 2024. These banks – UBS, NatWest and a third large bank, are already completing their integration work, to integrate the Finteum Platform into their other systems in the bank. Finteum has also engaged a group of banks that are starting to work towards go-live with the USD intraday repo product. Finteum hopes that intraday repo will be live by the end of 2024.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?
Our plans for the next 6-18 months are to go-live with both our intraday FX swaps and intraday repo products and to quickly grow the number of banks actively trading on the Finteum Platform. To support the growth, Finteum will make some hires in sales and tech.
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink?
For Brian, the Economist. There is a lot going on in geopolitics and in central banks and it’s important to stay informed. For Zbi, it’s “An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management” and “Ealing and Hanwell Past”.
Alex Lu – 9yr trading Fixed Income derivatives with Barclays Capital & JP Morgan; 6yr private market investing with a Private Family office. Engineering & Math background.
Tom Whale – ex-head of engineering at a large listed company, scaled a platform from 0 to 8 million users.
2. The Thesis
Every financial service company that works with or invests in companies needs to track their portfolio. There are many great legacy tools like iLevel/eFront,
But portfolio management requirements have significantly changed over the past few years because of the rise of sustainability regulations, which require seamless integration of sustainability data into financial decisions, risk management and reporting, and existing solutions fall short of. In addition, these legacy solutions are clunky, costly, difficult to implement and inflexible to the ever-changing sustainability landscape.
That’s why we built PortF. PortF is the next-generation portfolio management system for the alternative asset class with Sustainability at its core.
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
The portfolio management market is estimated to be 10bn by 2030. the segment we are in today is 2bn. PortF has gone to market serving clients with high volume and high impact requirements, such as government-backed funds and impactful PE/VC. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Sooner or later, all the players in the financial industry need to report financial and non-financial information holistically.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
We come across customers churning on iLevel/eFront, and competed and won in tenders against Dynamo/Finbourne. Our USP is:
a. Holistic solution – covering both financial data tracking and non-financial data under one roof
b. Workflow automation assisted by AI data extraction
c. Highly flexible that address the needs for changing nature in ESG/Sustainability reporting requirements
5. What is your current stage and traction?
Serving currently in the UK funds and national investment bank, with over £1m booked revenue.
Won £1m project from Innovate UK. Also won grants with EIT Digital/Horizon.
Partnership with an international law firm on ESG regulatory solutions, currently piloting with live clients.
Partnership with a dominant industry player for the portfolio management solution, in discussion.
Exclusive partnership with a distribution partner for the listed market in the UK, launching in Q4.
Short-listed by a European bank for ESG solution.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?
We are looking to grow outside the UK:
a. serving government-backed funds needing to track ROI return and social impact/sustainability
b. PE funds need to track financial and non-financial metrics cost-effectively to their LPs and regulators (tier 2&3)
c. Distribution partner
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app?
Book: Crossing the Chasm; Debt;
Podcast: Prof G; FT briefing; Economist; Pivot; Odd Lots; Hidden Brain; a16z; Ted Radio Hour; Fast Money
I am Assel Arif Mahfouz Hannen, the sole founder and CEO of Flash Digital Bank. With seven years of administrative and technical experience, I specialize in investment, business management, and development. My focus is on building significant new economies in my country, particularly in technology and finance, through Flash Digital Bank.
My investment vision is to establish the first Islamic digital technology bank and a network of supporting companies, aiming to develop the Arab world’s economy by 2035. I plan to build economies in technology and AI, financial technology, innovative credit, manufacturing, modern industries, global trade, capital markets, asset and wealth management, and business intelligence
.To achieve this, I will create companies such as Flash Financial Company (Flash Digital Bank), an investment management company, a technology project management company, a medical and accident insurance company, a national trade and industry company, an asset and wealth management company, a company managing complexes, airports, and entertainment cities, a hotel and tourism management company, an international stock market company, and an innovative national telecommunications company.
My strategic objectives include establishing the Islamic Digital Technology Bank to finance projects and support the economy, developing integrated commercial investment companies, and improving the economic and technological infrastructure of the Arab world.
2. What is your startup all about?
The goal of my startup is to transition customers from the complex, slow, and expensive traditional financial model to an easy, fast, secure, and affordable digital financial model. This is achieved through a modern banking system that addresses market and customer problems, meeting their needs, requests, and desires.
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
We address several problems: delayed salaries, slow and complex banking transactions, overcrowding in banking branches, dependence on the internet for transactions, inability to purchase online, lack of a modern credit system, high cost of banking transactions, difficulty in counting money for simple transactions, need for advanced infrastructure for digital systems, traditional banks’ need for a digital system to expand operations, customers’ need for an integrated, easy, fast, safe, and stable banking system, and gaps in forward selling systems, integration with other technical systems, and an integrated payment network system.
Our solutions include establishing an integrated Islamic banking system that is easy, fast, and secure, an innovative payments system, the first innovative credit system, the first and largest payment network system, a system for exporting virtual payment cards, an innovative banking system supporting integration with other systems, creating the first API digital payment gateway, modern points of sale (POS), self-services without the internet, relying on AI (IVR), and the largest network of Smart ATM self-service machines.
Investment opportunities include the first integrated payment system provider, the first instant payments provider, a provider that meets customer needs and addresses their problems, the first digital bank offering B2C + B2B2C services, the first bank providing all Islamic financing services, the first digital bank specializing in investment and technology in the Arab world, and a market need for modern financial services with high demand.
Key criteria for success include compatibility with Islamic Sharia, security and privacy, ease of use, innovation and technology, and strategic partnerships.
Target customers include individuals with smartphones aged 16-55, employees, foreign minorities, marginalized segments, shops and stores, business owners, companies, and other private sectors.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
Competitors include traditional banks and traditional exchange companies.
Our unique selling proposition (USP) lies in our business model. Unlike modern banks or exchange companies, we provide an easy, fast, luxurious financial experience that enhances economic growth through a digital banking system focused on customer experience. We introduce the first payments network in the nation, the first credit banking system, and the first integrated banking system with all sectors and technologies. We offer an easy and fast international payment system, accessible from anywhere without traditional branches.
Temporary competitive advantages include 24-hour automated banking services using AI (IVR), portable and instant POS systems, innovative payments network systems, easy and fast digital payment gateway APIs, instant VISA virtual payment cards, payment features using multiple technologies (NFC, QR, FID, VisaCard), employee loyalty systems through credit accounts and automatic salary transfer, access to smart and automated BOT WhatsApp chat for quick customer service, and continuous high-quality technical support.
Permanent competitive advantages include the speed and security in registration and financial transactions, fast and easy automation systems for contracts and financial transactions, complete credit account setup for employees in less than two minutes, special payment and service points incentive system, unique UI/UX providing a luxurious customer experience, banking financial integration with other parties, management’s focus on development, innovation, and AI for easier and faster services, use of advanced data and analysis for decision-making and risk prediction, NFC contactless payment, international payment card (VisaCard), credit account features, business account features, investment portfolios, self-service kiosks, advanced ATM devices, digital and automatic currency exchange, presence anywhere with withdrawal and deposit capabilities from any service, sales, or ATM point, fast and secure money transfers, and simplified bill payment services.
5. What is your current stage and traction?
We are in the early pre-seed stage. We have built international relationships with companies and individuals and caught the attention of many financiers, but have not secured financing due to external conditions and restrictions. The attraction lies in the investment opportunities, although it is difficult to find quantifiable attractive factors at this stage. Our great opportunity is evident, as many countries in similar situations have succeeded remarkably.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?
Our primary goal is to secure an investor or financing partner who believes in our vision and recognizes the opportunity. We seek full financing with a 40% ownership share to build the bank, including legal papers and basic infrastructure, and launch it into the market. Your network can help by connecting us with the right investors or business partners, aiming to obtain $4,300,853 in financing without imposing restrictions or early commitments on us.
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favorite place for a coffee or a drink?
I enjoy reading and listening to podcasts about professional experiences, wealth building, and the economy. Currently, I am reading a book on banking risk management and attending courses on the same topic. I strive to build a knowledge base through extensive real experiences. My favorite place for coffee is any quiet spot where I can focus on gaining knowledge.
I hope this conversation marks the beginning of building a great future in the Arab world. Since childhood, I have had an ambition to build modern economies and hope to find someone who appreciates and nurtures this unique ambition.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself / your co-founder
Seasoned financial engineer, with 10+ experience in financial markets and banking as a structurer and quant for Tier 1 institutions (HSBC, BNP, Lloyds…). Expertise in designing derivatives and structured products, models, and transactions. Live by Mandelbrot’s motto: “I find order in chaos and chaos in order”.
2. The Thesis / Big Idea.
Cryptocurrencies markets are following the exact same pattern than traditional markets have in the 70’s and 80’s. With the emergence of derivatives markets, the next step will be structured products, the most profitable banking business line since the 80’s and my personal expertise. The recent evolution in products, such as ETF Spot BTC in the US, is the proof that this asset class is becoming more institutional and that traditional products and practices will be increasingly adopted in this area.
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
Nobody denies the opportunity that digital assets represent. What is a massive problem is risk management: asset managers are helpless when it comes to hedging their portfolios, because adapted instruments do not exist or are too expensive. Most asset managers decide then to leave their portfolios un-protected to downside risk and suffer massive losses in adverse market conditions.
Phalanx mission is then to develop those products and give an easy and user-friendly access to professional and institutional asset managers so they can manage their digital assets portfolios in a professional fashion.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
Very few competitors globally, with roughly 5 or 6 companies proposing those instruments. They are based in the US, the UK, Singapore and HK, but none of them is active in the EU and only one is regulated. They all adopted a very traditional distribution mode, with a classic trading room and a heavy cost structures, with numerous people (sales, traders, structurers) with high salaries. Most of them are unable to distribute to regulated entities, cannot accept trades under 250,000 USD (so for portfolios around c. 50 millions) and takes hours, if not days to execute.
Phalanx decided to leverage technology to make the process faster, simpler, smoother and for a wider audience. We have developed a platform where asset managers can:
– Build and execute products in under a minute, vs. hours
– Operate in a regulated environment, in France, the EU, and partnering jurisdictions
– Trade as little as physically possible
This allow Phalanx to not only offer innovative products, but to make the experience trustworthy and comfortable for customers and remain profitable no matter the size of a trade.
5. What is your current stage and traction?
– Tech: v2 90% complete
– Traction:early adopters across Europe (Switzerland, UK, France, Germany and Luxembourg). Partnering with one of the to launch the very first CPPI on BTC globally
– R&D: all pricing and risk models developed and validated
– Regulation: framework and roadmap ready
Funding: Seed round, the objective is to launch operations and obtain the trading agreement from French regulators
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?
– Operations: launch trading on a sandbox mode, accordingly with French regulation
– R&D: launching the BTC CPPI we are currently working on with our customer
– Regulation: applying and obtaining the status ‘Investment Company’ from ACPR
We worked hard on finding the quickest and most effective way to get the trading status, but it remains a costly step in our development roadmap. We are now looking for funding to help us cross this hurdle and scale up our solution.
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink?
– Bookshelf: 2 books at the moment.
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco. I have read it once a year since I am 15, and always find something new in it. Generally speaking, I am fascinated by the way erudition can be a source a happiness, how knowledge is built and how reasoning is formed, how truth can be a source of mistakes and the other way around. A humbling read that helps me to constantly question my knowledge and certainty about things.
Stock exchanges, financial markets or temples for speculation, Bernard Belletante, 1986. A small and old book about financial markets in France in the 80’s by a French economist. Much less political than the clickbait title would suggest, it is a well documented source of info on how exchanges were working 50 years ago and allows me to understand the massive (r)evolutions that occurred since then, technologically-wise for instance. I am passionate about history of finance, as I usually identify in history mechanism, evolutions and phenomenons still at work today. It helps me build a bigger picture, beyond my own experience, and better understand the current situation.
Best place to have a drink: nothing can beat a London pub. My preferences: Ye Olde Watling in the City, for an afterwork drink in the heart of financial markets, surrounded with fascinating history about the town and people who made it. The Sun of Clapham for a moment with friends and family, in my favourite neighbourhood in London.
I’m Mark Whitcroft, the Co-founder and CEO of PlannerPal, an AI assistant transforming financial planning. With over 20 years in finance, I’ve funded and helped scale more than 50 fintech and data management startups, including early investments in wealthtech leaders like Nutmeg. I was also a Founding Partner of the fintech venture firm Illuminate Financial and currently serve on the advisory board of an innovative wealth management firm. I’m passionate about enhancing adviser productivity and broadening access to financial advice through advanced AI.
My co-founder, Shoomon Perry, leads our product and technology efforts. He has built digital financial guidance tools used by 10 million customers and has managed digital banking and wealth management products at three major UK banks.
2. The Thesis/ Big Idea
PlannerPal aims to revolutionise the productivity of financial advisers through advanced AI technology. The platform addresses the significant operational inefficiencies within financial advice firms, where advisers spend 70% of their time on non-advisory tasks and up to 40% on client administration. Outdated legacy systems, heavy compliance burdens, and manual processes exacerbate this problem, stifling growth.
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
PlannerPal addresses the inefficiencies that create scalability barriers for financial advisers. Typically, an adviser can handle a maximum of 100 clients and requires 2-3 support staff, leading to inflated operational costs and capping growth and reach. Only 8% of the UK population currently receives financial advice, leaving 29 million adults desiring advice but unable to access it due to high costs. Our target customers are financial advisory and wealth management firms looking to enhance productivity and serve more clients efficiently.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
PlannerPal’s main competitors are Aveni and Saturn. Our unique selling points include:
Product Led Growth: We deliver a product that drives organic growth, enabling efficient and rapid scaling. This data-led product flywheel ensures faster feedback loops, leading to better product decisions, more users, and consequently, more feedback.
Voice First: Our platform prioritises voice integration, enhancing the user experience through seamless voice-to-text capabilities for client conversations. This approach serves as the single source of truth for client data, significantly improving data quality.
Productivity Led: PlannerPal is designed to significantly boost productivity for financial advisers by reducing administrative tasks, allowing them to focus more on client engagement.
Prosumer Tech Design: Our platform is both powerful and user-friendly, meeting the high standards expected by both professionals and tech-savvy users.
5. What is your current stage and traction?
PlannerPal made its debut at the ‘Empowering Advice Through Technology’ (EATT) conference in mid-January and won a ‘Best in Show’ award at the Tech Battle.
Key milestones include:
Onboarding over 300 financial advisory firms within 23 weeks since launch.
These firms have generated more than 3,000 documents, with document creation growing at an impressive 110% month on month rate.
Achieving these milestones with only £175k spent and no marketing.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?
Over the next 6-18 months, PlannerPal plans to:
Expand its market presence by onboarding more financial advisory firms.
Explore international expansion, focusing on the US and Europe, particularly Germany.
Explore adjacent adviser opportunities to broaden our service offerings.
Release enhanced product offerings, moving us deeper into the adviser workflow.
We seek support from your network in strategic partnerships around the German and US market opportunities, introductions to potential clients, and interest from angels, family offices, and venture firms in our next funding round to further accelerate our growth and development.
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink?
Book: Chip War by Chris Miller. This insightful book explores how modern power – military, economic, and geopolitical – is built on the foundation of computer chips.Coffee Spot: Coffee Island in Covent Garden, London. They serve an excellent double espresso!
1. Tell us a bit about yourself / your co-founder(s)
Tom:
I come from a technology and insurance background, with experience in both building and delivering innovative insurance propositions across the globe. Today, I am the CEO of Bind, leading our business along with Daniel, delivering on our strategic priorities as a business and focused on the future of the insurance industry.
I’ve always been fascinated by new technologies, geography and economics. For me, understanding the interplay between these three factors and how technology can serve not only as a means of increasing productivity, but also as a conduit to improving sustainability, equality and access to information.
When I am not working you can find me making the most of the nature Switzerland has to offer, from skiing in the winter, hiking in the spring and taking advantage of the lakes in summer. I love art, particularly impressionism, travelling with my partner and cooking with friends and family.
Daniel:
I have been building startups since the age of 19 and have a self-taught computer science background that began its roots as a teenager, starting from building apps and websites to then becoming experienced in a broader and more full-stack spectrum, ranging from backend development, AI and more.
I find myself excelling at bridging the highly technical aspects of building a tech startup with the commercial / business side, which truly makes me appreciate that I caught onto computer science and started building startups from a young age.
I am driven by building innovative things together with a great people that can positively change lives and provide long-lasting value to the world. I am also an avid tennis lover, sports enthusiast and health focused.
2. The Thesis
Institutions struggle to proactively connect customers with relevant insurance products, leading to missed opportunities for enhancing customer satisfaction and generating new revenue streams.
Advice is scarce, as brokers are actually good at understanding customer needs, but isn’t scalable nor catering to a digital self-serving solution.
3. What problem or opportunity do you address, and for which target customers?
Bind is AI-Powered insurance targeting that makes it easy for businesses to better understand and target customers with relevant insurance products at scale.
Bind essentially utilizises AI to make advice scalable, providing accurate and timely insurance product recommendations, effectively addressing customer needs and driving new revenue streams for businesses.
Target customers are insurance ecosystem players, banks, telcos, brokers, financial services and many other businesses.
4. Who are your competitors and what is your USP?
Our competitors are traditional insurance brokers and incumbent insurers and their tied agents. Agents and brokers understand individuals’ needs well, but the process is neither scalable nor aligned with the shifting of customer demands away from face to face interactions to seeking a digital light touch process.
5. What is your current stage and traction?
We have a signed commercial contract with a large insurance ecosystem player who have hundreds of millions of customers projecting over $9M USD in ARR from this contract alone and have many other partners in our pipeline.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-18 months and how can our network help?
Our immediate need of action is to finish raising our seed round. We have 40% of the round committed already but in need of a lead investor.
As mentioned, we have a signed commercial contract, projecting over $9M USD in ARR accessing upwards of 220M customers from this contract alone. With many other partners in our pipeline, raising this capital is crucial to mature our AI models and launch our technology at scale later this year.
Your network can help by putting us in touch with investors who can help us fill up this round, as well as access to potential commercial partners.
7. What’s on your bookshelf or podcast app? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink?
Daniel:
I love to read and hear podcasts when I am on the move or doing something trivial. At the moment I am reading “Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To” by David Sinclair, which explores the science behind ageing and presents groundbreaking research on how we can potentially slow down, stop, or even reverse the ageing process, arguing that ageing is a disease that can be treated.
Favourite place to go for coffee or a drink would be in the centre of Zurich at one of the rooftops with a stunning lake view.
Tom:
I love to read biographies. There’s something quite special and intimate about being able to read the stories of individuals’ lives and how they were developed both by their own actions and circumstances over time. The two books which I am currently making my way through are “The Last Tycoons”, by William Cohan, which is a biography of the history of the Investment Bank Lazard and “Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World” by J. Doyne Farmer, a book focused on asserting that through the development of more sophisticated computer models to account for individual rationality, we can in turn progress our understanding of the economy.
My favourite place for a coffee is the Monocle café in Zurich, conveniently located around the corner from the office. For those who visit the City of London, I’d strongly recommend paying a visit to Rosslyn Coffee, which was my go to for the years I worked in The City.
In the run-up to the WatchIT Forum on 17th Oct. 2023 at the DHBW Mosbach, we are excited to feature Prof. Wolf Wössner‘s Q&A with Frank Schwab on the digital transformation of banks. If you are a FinTech founder or investor, this is a quick journey through nearly 3 decades of European banking and FinTech.
Q: Frank Schwab, the digital side of banking has been a common thread throughout your career from the very beginning. One of your first positions was “Head of Online Banking” at what was then “Deutsche Bank 24” around the turn of the millennium. Was that already “digital transformation” or was it more of a fancy appendage in the Deutsche Bank Group, which was characterized more by investment banking these days?
A: From my point of view, this was already the second step in the digitalization of private customer banking. Four years earlier, in 1995, there was Bank 24, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. Bank 24 already offered digital banking via telephone, fax and BTX, which many people forget or don’t know. Its use was still reserved for technology-loving customers because it wasn’t really easy to use. But many services were already available online and were actually used. This was significantly accelerated in 1999 with Deutsche Bank 24. With the breakthrough of the Internet, Deutsche Bank was able to attract around 100,000 existing and new customers to online banking every month. From this point on, daily banking was used by customers 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Interestingly, back then, Sunday mornings around 3:00 a.m. were often the busiest. Back to the question: at the turn of the millennium, private banking was a business area that contributed significantly less to Deutsche Bank’s profits than investment banking. However, Deutsche Bank 24’s online banking was a win for private customers in Germany. At that time, Deutsche Bank’s market share in German online banking was >16%, roughly double the market share in the entire retail banking market at the time.
Q: “Digitization” has moved from the sidelines in German Banking to the very center of the action. To start with a look on the bright sight: What progress and which breakthroughs have already been achieved in the German financial services industry so far?
A: There is a lot of talk about the theme. This is progress. And in some places tangible progress is being made, such as opening a new bank account via cell phone in just a few minutes including authentication, concluding savings products in seconds, or making instant transfers between banks. Overall, the number of digital services and products has increased significantly. Many things can be done using a computer or cell phone, regardless of bank opening times. But from the point of view o a customer, many banking transactions could still be perceived as slow and often paper-based.
Q: What are the most important digital challenges the financial services industry has to tackle the years ahead?
A: In my view, it is necessary to automate all banking processes and business transactions that can be thought of as automated. In addition, it is about integrating banking transactions (payments, savings, loans, investments) into the original business processes. Daily banking in particular is a service and not an end in itself. The automotive industry is showing the way. Car dealers not only sell cars, but also provide financing through their automobile banks. John Deere, for example, does a similar thing when selling its tractors and harvesters. – In both cases, traditional banks play minor roles, if any. And tech giants like Amazon and Apple will continue to advance their highly integrated banking services. Therefore, the traditional financial industry must redefine its role in an increasingly digitalized world.
The biggest digital challenges of the next few years will be identifying and processing the right target groups and achieving a correspondingly very high data quality. Agile developments are necessary, as is the effective use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence for the next level of automation. Ultimately, it is important to establish error-free and smooth digital customer experiences across all products and services.
Q: On October 17th, at the WatchIT Forum at DHBW Mosbach, you will not only talk about the status and challenges, but also take a look at areas of action and implementation strategies. Without giving much away here: What do you think will be a high priority in the coming period?
A: An average German bank has a cost-income ratio of 75%. This means that German banks are significantly less profitable in international comparison and have limited ability to invest in order to safeguard their financial future. Many German banks still offer all products (accounts, payment transactions, loans, investments, …) across all channels (branch, self-service, internet, mobile phone, API, …) to all customer groups (private customers, SMEs, companies, corporations, …) of all industries. It is unclear where they differ. Medium-sized traditional banks in particular need to reconsider and reevaluate their unique competitive advantages in order to retain their existing customers and attract new ones. And they´ll have to find out what products and services these customers need, when and where. It will be important to make these products and services available in a cost-efficient and scalable manner in order to significantly improve the cost-income ratio.
Q: Frank Schwab, your advice is in demand far beyond Germany; You know the inside view of fintechs, challenger banks and international banks from both a management and consultant perspective better than almost anyone else in this country. In your opinion, what can established banks in this country learn most from these players?
A: For me there is no universal role model. If you look closely, you can pick up individual aspects of some players. You can learn from some neobanks and FinTechs how to reach certain target groups digitally and how the digital interface to the customer should be designed. Some (online) payment players are particularly agile and adapt very quickly to customer requirements, markets and new regulations. And tech giants are even creating new customer needs, such as mobile payments. You can also learn from them how to develop digital ecosystems and platforms.
About Wolf Wössner
Wolf Wössner is a banker-turned-professor, who startet his career in 1985 as a strategist for European Fixed-Income Markets in the Capital Markets division of Dresdner Bank. Later on he acted as an Investment Adivsor to private and institutional Clients. In 1993 he moved from the Capital Markets division to the then newly-formed Retail Banking department. During this time he was responsible for the design and the development of Germany´s first fully-automated and fully-scalable investment fund-based asset management solution for retail clients in the 1990s. This product turned out to be quite successful, attracting up to 20 bn Euro assets under management.
In 1996 Wolf Wössner moved to Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University at Mosbach (DHBW Mosbach), where he headed the Department of Banking until his retirement in 2022. In 2015 Wolf Wössner and his colleague Prof. Dr. Jens Saffenreuther pioneered a new approach in the course of studies, integrating digital topics into the more traditional lines of banking and finance.
About Frank Schwab
Frank Schwab is a strategic advisor in the financial industry, co-founder of the Frankfurt FinTech Forum, member of the supervisory board of Addiko Bank in Vienna and Hauck & Aufhäuser Innovative Capital in Frankfurt, member of the board of directors of Gulf International Bank in Bahrain and of the Risk Advisory Committee of PayU in Amsterdam. Over the last 10 years he has invested in several European FinTech and blockchain startups. His focus is on the intersection of innovation, transformation, technology and banking. Frank Schwab previously worked, among other things, as managing director and CEO of GIZS (paydirekt/Sparkassen), CEO of Munich-based Fidor Solutions, senior advisor for McKinsey and chairman of Hufsy in Copenhagen. He began his career with an apprenticeship at Deutsche Bank, where he worked for a total of 21 years.
The global finfluencer Brett King says about Frank Schwab: “If Frank comes your way, take the opportunity to work and learn from him!” On October 17, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. he will speak at the Watchit Forum of the DHBW Mosbach about the status and challenges and implementation options for the digital transformation of banks and financial service providers.
About WatchIT Forum
„WatchIT“ was set up as a joint and interdisciplanary project of the Departments of Banking and Applied Information Technology at DHBW Mosbach. This project is devoted to topics on the interface on banking and finance and information technology. WatchIT aims to build a platform for interdisciplinary research and for high-profile annual conferences („WatchIT Forum“), where academics, experts and students can meet and share their views on trends and developments in „digital banking and finance“. WatchIT is sponsored by Deutsche Bundesbank.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am the founder of Curiosity, a new community-driven VC firm that invests in AI software companies that aim for a positive impact on businesses ánd society. I’ve always been intrigued by new technology and aim to support entrepreneurship, education, sustainability and equality. I am married with an amazing art historian, writer and personal coach. We have three unique (adult) children and live just outside Amsterdam, along the river Amstel. I love live music, movies, vintage design and slow food with friends and family.
2. What are your focus areas, overall and within the (B2B) FinTech / InsurTech space?
With Curiosity we focus on early stage investments in AI-driven B2B software companies, created impact across 4 social-economic themes: – Sustainable living (PropTech, Energy, ClimateTech) – Trusted Society (Cybersecurity, Privacy, LegalTech) – Future of Work (Enterprise software, HRtech, DevOps) – Future of Commerce (Fintech, Marketing, Logistics). In Fintech we see a lot of AI applications in the KYC and fraud detection space. In Insurtech there is much to gain from more intelligent risk assessment and robotic process automation.
3. Any recent deals that you would like to share with us, and why you invested or partnered?
We recently made a second investment in Deeploy, a Utrecht-based software company that has developed an AI oversight system, allowing for the deployment of machine learning models in a transparent and explainable manner. This is especially relevant for financial companies that need to explain the use of algorithms to their customers and the regulator. For example Neobank BUNQ, asset manager PGGM and pension bank BrandNewDay are using Deeploy’s software. The upcoming European AI Act has clear requirements on the transparency and explainability of AI, so this will only become more important.
4. What are the trends to watch out for in Europe/ EMEA in the next 6-18 months?
Although the economic outlook in Europe is still uncertain, driven among others by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, we are seeing a boom in Artificial Intelligence. The emergence -building on decades of research and development- of powerful Large Language Models (LLMs), and the breakthrough adoption by a mainstream audience via the launch of ChatGPT, is a key trend which will create a massive impact on people and society, in Europe and elsewhere. We expect to see an ongoing explosion of AI-powered innovations and growth companies across sectors and applications. Other key trends are the renewable energy transition, plant-based food transition and photonic and quantum computing where European companies are creating breakthroughs as well.
5. What’s on your bookshelf, and what’s your favourite place for a coffee and/ or a drink? I like to read biographies, preferably of inspiring people in music or tech, my two main passions. The last book I’ve read was ‘Wild Thing’, an amazingly written biography of Jimmi Hendrix, a true legend that was ahead of his time in many ways. This summer I plan to read ‘The Code Breakers’, by Walter Isaacson, a portrayal of Jennifer Doudna, Nobel prize winner and co-inventor of breakthrough DNA editing method CRISPR. I don’t really have a favourite place for coffee or a drink as I like to try out new places and Amsterdam is full of them!
We believe that everyone deserves access to reliable investment opportunities that can help them build a brighter future. This is how we came up with Nectaro – an online investment platform that offers an easy, safe, and reliable way for savvy investors to back their futures with passive investments in financial instruments. Nectaro was developed by Dyninno Group of Companies – a technology conglomerate with almost twenty years of experience in fintech, travel, and entertainment technologies. The team of experienced professionals at Nectaro leverages their expertise to provide these solutions.
2. Tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I have quite extensive experience working in the finance and banking industry, and now I’m responsible for leading our company, implementing our strategic vision, and managing our financial and operational aspects. Experience in the banking industry has made it clear how rigid the process of change is; however, this now allows me to be more innovative and creative in my approach to solving financial problems. Fintech companies are more agile and can adapt to changes in the market faster than traditional banks, which makes the work more exciting and challenging. Additionally, fintech companies tend to have a stronger focus on customer experience, which aligns with my values as a professional.
When I’m not working, you can often find me in the stables either taking care of horses or horse-riding and enjoying the outdoors. I tend to take up new hobbies every 1-2 years as I find the learning experience both interesting and valuable. For instance, last summer, I tried my hand at longboarding, whereas the year before that, I focused on learning archery.
3. Which product or service do you offer, and who are your competitors?
Our new product, Nectaro, is an alternative investment tool, designed to help tech-savvy investors to back up their futures through passive and easy financial instruments – Asset-Backed Securities (ABS). In late March, Nectaro successfully obtained an investment brokerage company license (License number – Nr. 27-55/2023/3) from The Bank of Latvia, a regulatory body known for its rigorous compliance procedures. Securing this license attests to Nectaro’s adherence to all the necessary regulatory requirements in the jurisdiction.
With the rise of the gig economy and remote work, many are pursuing a more flexible lifestyle, and this has created a desire for alternative sources of income that can be earned remotely. The younger generations are also more financially savvy and aware of the need to plan for their future, particularly given the economic uncertainties of recent years. With access to a wealth of information online, they are exploring new investment opportunities and seeking to diversify their income streams for greater financial security. This is exactly why an “aha” moment came – we realized we could offer a new product that would be backed by nearly 2 decades of experience with the Dyninno Group of Companies. A new product line seemed like a natural and logical solution that would add to its already-rich financial portfolio of Dyninno.
In terms of competition, there are quite a number of alternative investment platforms, however, our goal at Nectaro is to make the investment as seamless as possible – we are committed to continuously improving our platform that would make the investment process seamless, smooth, clear, and transparent.
4. How did you get the business idea and take it from launch to the current stage, including fundraising?
The business idea was inspired by the rapid development of the fintech sector and the increasing interest in investing among younger generations.
I believe that a good business always starts with two things – by building a top team and having a clear plan. As every business building book tells you, having the right people in place is the most critical part of any startup, and I am confident that we’ve settled that. When it comes to a business plan – this could include creating a to-do list for launch, using task management systems, tracking progress, planning sprints, and documenting decisions and steps made. While it might seem like a lot of work at first, taking a systematic approach will save you time and help prevent miscommunications in the long run. Luckily, we are also done with that.
To keep everyone focused on the end goal, we have implemented the OKR goal-setting system. We believe it keeps us going by having our eyes focused on the goal.
5. Any key lessons from your scaling and fundraising journey?
Developed by Dyninno Group, a leading technology conglomerate with nearly two decades of experience in fintech, travel, and entertainment technologies, Nectaro leverages the expertise of its team of experienced professionals to offer innovative investment solutions that can help investors achieve their financial goals. We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the “bigger family”, and to be able to leverage the expertise of experienced professionals.
Our team is small but highly professional, with each colleague possessing extensive experience working with other licensed platforms. This enables us to work with ease, as we have a clear understanding of the best practices in such platforms and how to avoid common mistakes. Our experience is valuable to investors, as we are all highly skilled professionals and not novices developing a financial platform for the first time in a garage. Fortunately, we did not need to fundraise to establish our company, as we have a fantastic team of professionals and access to the know-how of the Dyninno Group of companies.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-12 months, and how can our network help?
We are on our way to launch the platform towards the end of this summer, and to finally be able to provide diversified investment opportunities for anyone in the European Economic Area. We aim to actively grow our customer base while also adding new features to our platform to meet the evolving needs of our clients.
As an investment platform, we understand the value of building strong relationships with key stakeholders and partners, which is why we are open to exploring potential partnerships and/or collaborations.
In addition to that, I would like to take this chance to invite everyone who is interested in alternative investment to sign up to become a part of our community by getting an early access to the platform. All you need to do is to sign up with your email and stay up to date with the news!
7. What’s on your bookshelf? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink?
My affection for physical books runs deep, and I have a lot of books on the bookshelves. Although I’ve heard that collecting books and actually reading them can be two separate hobbies, I’m thrilled to engage in both. Two particular reads that I found captivating and informative about human behavior in business were “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman and “Black Swan” by Nassim Taleb. If only I had more hours in a day, I would undoubtedly devote more time to reading. In fact, I’d love to revisit “Steppenwolf” by Hesse for the third time.
All places are great for coffee and drinks if you are with the right people. I have my friends, family and colleagues that I love to enjoy spending time with – not places 🙂
The Big Idea / your startup “in a Tweet”: In the ever-volatile global economy, it can be difficult to accurately predict the best time to buy or sell currency. This can lead to a huge amount of risk and uncertainty, leaving businesses vulnerable and unable to protect their bottom line. Businesses that don’t have the right tools or data to make informed decisions about currency are putting themselves at a major disadvantage. Without a holistic approach to currency management, companies may miss out on potential savings or, worse, lose money due to unpredictable market forces. With Monetor’s Currency as a Service platform, businesses can streamline their currency management process and reduce uncertainties while protecting their bottom line. With Monetor’s analytics, businesses can make smarter decisions on when is the best time to buy and sell currencies with confidence.
Tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure. I have worked in FX for about 17 years and have had the pleasure of working with CFOs in many industries globally, helping manage their currency risk. I have been fortunate to be able to travel a lot with work which has exposed me to a lot of interesting cuisines to fuel my appetite for cooking and I enjoy physical exercise like football, rugby and going to the gym.
Which product or service do you offer, and who are your competitors? The product, Monetor, stems from my background in FX, where I saw the need for businesses to approach currency in a structured manner, today it is frequently, ad hoc coupled with a lot of guesswork, Monetor creates the . Like any other area, there are competitors out there, although this is a fairly new, and large field.
How did you get the business idea and take it from launch to the current stage, including fundraising? We started this journey (as many do) with a terrible presentation and a rough idea before joining an accelerator where we won our first investment. Our first tests were simply built in a spreadsheet where we proved our broad hypothesis before hiring technical aspects and started to build the MVP. We felt it was important to bring in pilot customers asap, in order to build something that worked for what we thought would be our “perfect” customer. We applied for grants to match investor funding and avoid too much dilution. These customers are still with us today, as paying customers. The early pilots have not only helped form the product but have also become really important in defining messaging and have frequently been used as reference customers for new customers.
Any key lessons from your scaling and fundraising journey? There are certainly a few lessons, that have been learned. I would have sold the first product earlier if I could. Another thing that would be high on my list (it’s a big list), would be to define roles and responsibilities, early as well and hold people to account, and set targets.
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months, and how can our network help? 2023 for Monetor, will include the rollout of our brand-new solution, which we are really excited about. The front end is new and so is the back and the product is more stable, secure, and scalable and we will be in a position to roll out new functionality more rapidly. The new solution will be able to support new sales globally as we branch into new geographies, naturally, we’d need to increase headcount.
What’s on your bookshelf? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink? I am an avid reader, and my bookshelf contains a variety of topics relating to work and cooking. I do have the need for some escapism and I like to read fantasy or sci-fi at the cabin.
The Big Idea / your startup “in a Tweet”: Natural catastrophes have increased by 345% in the last 50 years because of urbanization and climate change, creating an aggregated economic loss of $ 5,2 trillion. Our solution leverages satellite data and proprietary ML algorithms to forecast the probability and impact of specific climate risk events to improve insurance policy creation and prudential disclosure on ESG risks.
Tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure. I am an innovation enthusiast that has a simple goal: help the companies of today understand the planet of tomorrow. I am the co-founder of Eoliann, a start-up that leverages satellite data and machine learning algorithms to estimate climate risks probability and impact worldwide. I graduated from the MSc in International Management from Bocconi and USYD, after which I developed both strategy (as Associate @ strategy&), corporate entrepreneurship (as Innovation Consultant @ Corporate Hangar, open innovation infrastructure of Prysmian Group) and project management skills (as PM @ Paserio & Partners). But work it is not all and cultivating one’s own passions is as important. During the last few years, I participated to Radio programs, Theatre Courses and volunteering activities while feeding my greatest passion: traveling.
Which product or service do you offer, and who are your competitors? Eoliann offers an API to banks and insurance companies that, given a specific address, estimates the probability and impact of natural catastrophes (right now just flood, but we aim to become the first complete climate suite) worldwide leveraging satellite data and machine learning algorithm.
How did you get the business idea and take it from launch to the current stage, including fundraising? The idea was developed during Vento (Venture Builder). Our challenge was to understand how we could leverage the power of satellite data. We analyzed many different sectors from fishery to renewable energy. We decided to enter into the natural catastrophes prediction market for the increasing estimation error made by the leading players and for the amount of losses generated globally, both from a human and economic perspective. We structured our work in different stages:
Problem exploration
Ideation
Validation
Prototyping
After that, we created the company and we opened our seed fundraising, focusing our effort on the product development. We closed the round in November 2022, and now we are working hard toward the release of the beta version of our API.
5. Any key lessons from your scaling and fundraising journey? I would highlight two main lessons learned:
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Choose the right people, they are the secret source for success.
6. What are your plans for the next 6-12 months, and how can our network help? Our goal is to launch our product on the market ready for commercial use and start to work on our Series A round.
7. What’s on your bookshelf? Your favorite place for a coffee or a drink? I read many different books, from Yuval Noah Harari to Thomas Piketty. As a good traditional Italian, I’m a big fan of espresso; but enjoying it in a historical coffee place in downtown Turin has a completely different flavor.
The Big Idea / your startup “in a Tweet”: Valutico provides the financial services industry with groundbreaking data-driven tools so that they can conduct their analysis more efficiently and in a methodological fashion. Valuation advisory is complex, however Valutico’s integrated valuation solution reduces the time it takes to do a valuation from days to merely hours.
Tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure: When I’m not working I spend the weekend with my family either in the mountains or in the city. I am based in Vienna and though we are a remote working company I like to go to the office. I try and play a game of tennis during the week and go on a long bike ride on the weekend. It’s important to get out and exercise when you’re so engrossed with work. Sadly finding the time to read has become rare but if I can squeeze in a few pages a week I’m happy.
Which product or service do you offer, and who are your competitors? The powerful platform is popular amongst professionals in advisory roles such as in Corporate Finance, M&A, and Tax and Audit, as well as Investment Managers in Private Equity, Venture Capitalists, and Family Offices. Large corporations also use Valutico for Strategy, Financial Reporting, and Investor Relations. Excel / the spreadsheet is our main competitor but as you may know its prone to human error, time consuming and hard to consolidate etc.
How did you get the business idea and take it from launch to the current stage, including fundraising? Whilst working M&A Deutsche Bank I was frustrated with the status quo in Corporate Finance and Investment Management: That due to lack of data and know-how, professional equity valuations were only available to the world’s most sophisticated advisors and investors. There was no tool other than Excel at the time so my co-founder and I came up with a solution.
Any key lessons from your scaling and fundraising journey? Key lessons- Don’t do it too late, fundraising takes several months and there can always be delays- Explore non-dilutive options, such as grants and revenue-based financing
What are your plans for the next 6-12 months, and how can our network help? Plans- Increase efficiency in our go-to-market teams – Professionalise and hire into engineering & product teams- Execute our product roadmap
What’s on your bookshelf? Your favourite place for a coffee or a drink? Books / Places- Currently “Amp it up” by Frank Slootman- Coffee: I am lucky to be based in Vienna, where we have a long coffee culture and many coffee houses; i try to mix it up and not go to same one all the time
Early stage European FinTech deals: Devego “Only 11% of payments in the SEPA regions are instant. In Spain, this number goes up to 46,89%, way above the European average.”; Eoliann “Extreme weather events have increased by 345% in the last 50 years because of urbanization and climate change, creating an aggregated economic loss of $ 5,2 trillion.”; Atoa “merchants then receive funds in their bank accounts instantly instead of having to wait 1-2 days as is the usual case with card machines and debit cards.”
If you are an early stage startup building the next big thing in European FinTech (or know somebody who is), get the word out to our network of investors and financial institutions via our Q&A: email contact@fintechforum.de or reach us via LinkedIn: Frank Schwab & Samarth Shekhar.
Q&A with Virginia Bassano of Eight Roads Startups should plan ahead and be smart: create a set of leading indicators (could be linked to ARR, growth, #sales, pipeline, number of clients, monthly burn, etc) to guide them through their growth and plans and adjust the future roadmap accordingly. http://www.fintechforum.de/virginia-bassano-of-eight-roads/
Ahead of upcoming EU regulation, instant-payments fintech Devengo raises €1.2M
Devengo, a Spanish fintech that provides payment infrastructure services, has raised a €1.2 million Seed financing round. The instant payment API developed by this fintech helps its clients to orchestrate mass payouts programmatically and instantaneously
Now, with the help of this fresh capital, Devengo wants to support more companies unleashing the power of real-time payments. To do that they are hiring go-to-market specialists, compliance experts, and more developers.
The financing round was led by TheVentureCity, a global early-stage venture fund, investing in product-centric startups across the US, Europe, and Latam. Also participated in the Seed investment the Spanish entrepreneur Felipe Navío and the Chilean entrepreneur Leo Soto.
This comes at a time when only 11% of payments in the SEPA regions are instant. In Spain, this number goes up to 46,89%, way above the European average. Thanks to the Spanish experience and its benefits, the EU is working on a law that would make it mandatory for banks in the region to provide instant payments in euros 24/7. The main objective of this is to modernize the European payments infrastructure.
It is also the case that in an inflationary environment such as the current one, increasing the frequency of payments through instant payments could provide some protection against inflation. Although the Devengo API has many uses. For example, payroll companies can develop real-time salary and salary advance value propositions. Insurance companies, can make pay claims faster and as part of their validation process. For lenders, Devengo also helps them to provide credit faster and allows them for programmatic settlement given that money gets transferred and settled instantaneously.
Devengo is in the process of getting a Payments Institution license from the Bank of Spain, a regulatory approval that is going to happen in the next few months. Nevertheless, they have already been working with top clients Spanish unicorn Jobandtalent as well as the salary advance startup Payflow.
Fernando Cabello-Astolfi and Alberto Molpeceres, co-Founders of Devengo, say: “We live in a real-time world. Payments should be too. This is just the start of exciting times to come. Anything that is not an instant payment would be considered ancient history in the next few years. Money should not stay in limbo for 1 or 2 business days. It is not Pareto optimal. Real-time money increases efficiency and allows for new value propositions to be developed”.
Devengo has been co-founded by Molpeceres, founder of Besepa, and leader of the team that got the first payments institution license in Spain, and Cabello-Astolfi, a serial fintech entrepreneur since 2010 and a business angel with more than 30 active investments all around the world mainly in fintech (Latam, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East). Prior to Devengo, Cabello-Astolfi founded Aplazame in 2014, a leading Spanish BNPL acquired in 2018 by Wizink Bank.
Eoliann, an Italian benefit corporation that makes climate risks more predictable, has snared €1.35m in a funding round.
The investment was made by Primo Space, a fund managed by the investor Primo Ventures SGR.
Extreme weather events have increased by 345% in the last 50 years because of urbanization and climate change, creating an aggregated economic loss of $ 5,2 trillion. Eoliann labelled the company ‘a team of dreamers’ who are making the unpredictable more predictable.
The firm’s solution leverages satellite data and proprietary ML algorithms to forecast the probability and impact of specific climate risk events to improve insurance policy creation and prudential disclosure on ESG risks.
The company intends to use the new investment to continue to expand operations and its development efforts.
Fennel, an ESG-focused platform that gives retail investors access to tools to better engage with companies, recently launched its mobile investing app.
According to Fennel, the key feature of its app is its in-app ESG data and rankings, which the firm says provides unprecedented information to retail investors on public firms’ ESG practices.
Atoa Payments, a London, UK-based provider of payments solutions, raised $2.2M in Pre-Seed funding.
The round was led by Leo Capital and Passion Capital, with participation from Matt Robinson, and Moon Capital Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth, expand operations and its business reach.
Co-Founded by Sid Narayanan, Cian O’Dowd and Arun Rajkumar, Atoa Payments provides solutions for small and mid-sized UK retail merchants to accept payments via SMS, Pay-by Link or by displaying a QR code on their app or physical QR stand next to their till. Businesses download the app and connect their merchant bank account in less than 5 minutes. Following the set up, any customer with a UK mobile banking app on their phone can securely pay a merchant who is using Atoa. The merchants then receive funds in their bank accounts instantly instead of having to wait 1-2 days as is the usual case with card machines and debit cards. Using Atoa involves no contracts (pay as you go), no hardware fees and no chargeback fraud risk (all payments are approved via bank app and have Strong Customer Authentication). https://www.finsmes.com/2022/11/atoa-raises-2-2m-in-pre-seed-funding.html
Taktile raises $20M to help fintech companies test and deploy decision-making models
The logic behind many fintech companies’ automated decisions — decisions that determine whether a customer is approved for a credit line, for example — is hard-coded into their app’s backend. This means that if a head of credit, for example, wants to make a change to the lending criteria, they have to raise a ticket with the IT department.
To make changing this type of automated logic a more self-service process, Maximilian Eber and Maik Taro Wehmeyer founded Taktile in 2020. The two met while studying at Harvard and were both a part of the leadership team at QuantCo, a company building AI-powered apps for enterprise customers. While there, they found that many automated decisions were poorly designed, hardly ever tested properly and required a lot of engineering capacity — ultimately leading to guesswork.
“Based on our experience, we decided to build a platform — Taktile — to empower experts, such as a head of risk, to design, evaluate and deploy decision flows on their own without the need for developers,” Wehmeyer said in an email interview. “By using Taktile, fintechs can adjust their risk selection in a data-driven way and ensure they only underwrite the risks that match their strategy.”
When asked about the size of Taktile’s customer base and financials, Wehmeyer declined to comment, citing competitive reasons. But investors apparently see growth potential. Taktile today closed a $20 million Series A round co-led by Index Ventures and Tiger Global, bringing the startup’s total raised to $24.7 million. Tiger’s participation is especially notable considering that the VC firm recently scaled back investments, targeting $6 billion for its next fund — half the size of its prior investment vehicle.
“The round was preempted by Tiger Global and Index Ventures as they saw strong indications of product-market fit and believed that the time was right to start scaling the business,” Wehmeyer said. “This round will help us further accelerate our ongoing expansion in the U.S., where we have seen rapid growth, increasing our client base by 4x since the end of last year.” To customers, Taktile offers a no-code interface that allows nontechnical employees to build, adjust and evaluate decision flows. Wehmeyer gave an example: Say a bank wanted to tweak its lending criteria by moving the minimum age to apply for an account from 25 to 21. Taktile would let the head of credit at the bank back-test the change and analyze its impact before actually implementing it.
Users can also leverage Taktile to experiment with off-the-shelf data integrations and monitor the performance of predictive models in their decision flows, Wehmeyer said, performing A/B tests to evaluate those flows. He claims that Branch, Moss, Rhino, Novo and Vivid Money are among the fintechs using the platform to power 280,000 decisions every day.
“From the very start, our technology has been used by advanced lenders that host machine learning models on our platform, which process thousands of variables from alternative data sources to assess creditworthiness of potential borrowers,” Wehmeyer added.
It’s a lot of sensitive data that Taktile handles. To allay the fears of privacy advocates, customers and regulators, Wehmeyer says that Taktile built technology that enables its clients to host decision flows in their country of choice and process data locally — a requirement for many regulatory agencies.
That won’t likely solve the different but related problem of algorithmic transparency. As a piece in The New York Times recently detailed, some lenders are increasingly drawing on outside-the-box data sources to evaluate creditworthiness, presenting opportunities to consumers historically barred from certain financial products but at the same time amplifying the risk of perpetuating biases or making inaccurate predictions.
Taktile puts the onus on its fintech customers to communicate the types of data and models they’re hosting and deploying via the platform. “The decisioning needs of the financial industry are rapidly evolving, especially when it comes to infusing decisions with machine learning and applying data-driven optimization of decision flows,” Wehmeyer said. “These needs are not really met by legacy players in the market so we mostly compete with in-house solutions built by sophisticated teams.”
Wehmeyer also sees Noble, a platform that provides a rules-based engine to edit and launch credit models, as a rival. But he asserts that Taktile, which went through Y Combinator, has a “healthy” cost structure and plenty in the way of capital to hire talent.
“Before the slowdown in tech, fintechs were mainly driven by customer growth at any cost. Now, however, investors expect a clear path towards profitability, which makes sophisticated risk decisioning a hard requirement,” Wehmeyer said. “Building a complex decisioning system takes years of work and costs millions of dollars, so instead of going down this path, customers are turning to platforms like Taktile to quickly adapt to this new, volatile market dynamic.”
Spanish bank BBVA, Toscafund and Infinity Investment Partners are joining the funding round.
The investment follows a £75m funding round in February this year and takes the total capital investment during 2022 to more than £100m.
Atom plans to use the proceeds to support customers such as homeowners, first-time buyers and small and medium-sized businesses.
The lender, which began operation in 2016, said the funding also marks a development in Atom’s future initial public offering (IPO).
Atom bank has no physical branches and its savings, mortgage and loan services are offered through an app. Atom CEO Mark Mullen said: “In recent weeks we surpassed £4.5bn in retail deposits having made waves with the pricing of our fixed and instant savers, opening up a void between banks such as Atom that pay a fair return on savings and those that are simply unresponsive to the market.
“Alongside continued growth in our mortgage and business lending books, the bank is proving that our clear focus on being fast, easy, and value for money is something that will keep benefiting both our customers and shareholders.”
Atom is also in talks with several entities including private equity firms to garner at least £50m in 2023, the Financial Times reported, citing sources.
The additional funds will be raised in the first half of next year and could be the last private capital raise before the bank goes public.
Atom’s IPO plans have been delayed due to volatile market conditions and now the bank plans to launch its IPO in 2024, a source aware of the bank’s plans said. https://www.retailbankerinternational.com/news/atom-gets-30m-capital-boost/ – :~:text=UK-based%20digital%20lender%20Atom,are%20joining%20the%20funding%20round. Cobee closes €40 million in a new series B round to bring the benefits revolution to new markets Exciting stuff! At Cobee, we’ve just closed €40 million in a new series B round as part of our benefits revolution. Our objective is clear: to work every day to improve well-being in companies through flexibility, innovation and attracting the best talent.
At this point in our journey, we are proud to be supported by two great British investment companies that will help us to achieve even more. They are Octopus Ventures, an investment fund closely linked with tech start-ups such as ManyPets or Cazoo, and Notion Capital, which also has an interest in fintechs like Currencycloud or GoCardless, amongst others.
This new injection of capital comes at a crucial time for Cobee, following a busy year in which we’ve improved our product, developed new services and, above all, committed to strengthening all our business areas with the best talent. And what is our objective? To continue to grow in Spain and Portugal and begin to operate in other countries, as will soon be the case with Mexico. More innovation and talent to improve well-being in companies “Although the current market situation is complicated, we also know that if there is an ‘investable’ company around right now, then it is Cobee, due to our good metrics and efficiency we have demonstrated in the process. With this efficient growth and the market opportunity available to us, we simply required the additional capital to seize the opportunity before anyone else did,” states Borja Aranguren, co-founder and CEO of Cobee. Since the latest round in 2021, a lot has happened at Cobee to justify this new leap forward. We have completely renewed our platforms in order to make them much more user-friendly, both for human resources departments and the thousands of users who have now activated their services with our company. Due to all these improvements and all our teamwork, we have managed to triple our business in just 12 months. Yes indeed: triple!
As we know that our benefits revolution still has a lot further to go, so fat this year we have committed to improving our business areas through new hirings. Some new colleagues have worked previously in other companies which at some stage have been in the same position in which Cobee finds itself today, such as Binance, Cabify and Gympass. All their experience will help us scale our products at an international level in the most satisfactory way.
“Both Octopus Ventures and Notion Capital had already analysed our market and other European start-ups, but were still not convinced. However, with us, it was a perfect match,” says Borja. Furthermore, he adds that “for Cobee, it’s very important for investors to understand our market and share the vision of what we want to build.”
For his part, Nick Sando, Principal at Octopus Ventures, points out that “the increase in competition and mobility in the employment market has transformed employee benefits. They have gone from being a ‘pleasant’ to ‘necessary’ tool for attracting and retaining talent. Cobee can play a crucial role in the employee benefit markets.”
Furthermore, Itxaso del Palacio, a partner in Notion Capital, states that “we are delighted to work with Cobee on this journey to help employees make the very most of their benefits. What is unique about Cobee, in comparison with other competitors in the sector, is their infrastructure. Cobee has built a flexible and scalable platform, which can be expanded to countries with tax benefits and highly regulated benefit schemes.”
Internationalisation, integrations and new products What will we do at Cobee with the €40 million from the new round? Above all, continue to achieve our main ambition: extend the benefits revolution to the greatest number possible of companies.
Until now, Cobee has focused on localised products with a tax exemption, such as the `popular meal vouchers or travel tickets. The following step is to focus more on other macrotrends that are increasingly present in the benefits market for companies, and which don’t necessarily have to offer a tax advantage. This is the case with all the services linked to physical or emotional well-being, for example.
In our plans for the immediate future, we want to include this new benefits catalogue within our platforms in order to be increasingly aware of the needs of employees.
For that reason, we hope to continue to grow in terms of staff. In the next 18 months, there will be over 200 of us: highly qualified professionals who will help us promote this benefits revolution.
Our diverse and multicultural teams are ready to make the international leap to Latin America with our arrival in Mexico, and to continue to grow in southern Europe, beyond Spain and Portugal.
In this internationalisation, it is crucial for us to continue in our commitment to a simple, user-friendly and integrable platform with other technological solutions. We have just established a partnership with Factorial and Personio. In the mid-term, we will announce new integrations at both a national and international level in order to facilitate the work of human resources departments in Spain and abroad.
Cobee was founded in 2019 by Borja Aranguren, Nacho Travesí and Dani Olea and we have succeeded in getting this far thanks to all the people who have believed in our company. We are delighted to continue to grow with the support of our customers and employees who use our card and also with the support of our investors. https://cobee.io/blog/cobee-40-million-series-b-round/
Startups are expected to “always be raising”- but when reaching out to potential investors, it is less about the quantity and more about the quality of the pitch, as well as the fit to the investor’s criteria or thesis. So how do you get to know the investors investing in (early stage) FinTech & InsurTech deals in Europe?
FinTech Forum’s Venture News includes a short overview of the investment firms behind (almost) all financing rounds < €10m in the previous week- to help you understand the investor landscape and prepare your own, tailored target list. This week’s Venture News features Dutch Founders Fund, Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland, Shapr Companies, Super Venture Capital, La Famiglia LEA Partners, Collective Ventures, Eldridge, Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, Oxford Sciences Enterprises, Odyssée Venture and Financière Vecteur.
If you are an early stage startup building the next big thing in European FinTech (or know somebody who is), we would love to help- get on the radar of our network of investors and financial institutions e.g. via our 7 Questions interview series or our events. Email contact@fintechforum.de or reach out to us (Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar) via LinkedIn.Tilvest raises €500,000 for crypto service dedicated to financial advisorsTilvest just finished financing round of 500.000 Euro. three-color start financial advisors to suggest access to crypto to them customers officially launched service.
Since he registered PSAN with AMF last month, Tilvest announced on Tuesday commercial launched service.
After more than a year of work and a PSAN registration in September, Tilvest is launching its offering for private banks, family offices and asset managers to provide their clients with simple and secure access to crypto.
The digital asset management services company collected 500,000 euros to realize its project with a few business angel like Claire Balva and Alexander Stachchenko, Co-founders of Blockchain Partners, Bilal El Alamy, co-founder of Dogami, and Brian O’HaganGrowth of Sorare.
Established in the capital this year, Tilvest accompanies financial advisors to enable them to present investment in crypto to its customers.
“This fundraising will allow us to accelerate our commercial deployment by supporting all financial advisors in the structuring of their offerings in crypto assets,” said Tilvest boss Julien Romon.
Amsterdam’s legaltech startup Govin bags €1M for its one-stop Governance platform
Amsterdam-based Govin, a legaltech startup that aims to bring legal insights and structured information to its users, announced that it has raised €1M in a pre-Seed round of funding. Govin says the funds will help advance its beta and bring the product to the masses. The round was led by the Dutch Founders Fund (DFF) with participation from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland. A group of Angel investors, including Jelle-Jan Bruinsma (Endeit Capital), Thijs Clement (NorbruisClement), Jaap van den Broek & Quirijn van Veen (INGEN-HOUSZ), and Max van de Blaak & Sander van Woerden (Lexar Partners), also joined the round.
“One-stop governance platform” Govin was founded by Jesse Grift and Tony Nguyen at the beginning of the year because they were frustrated that many legal processes remained unnecessarily complicated and intransparent. Important procedures, including resolution management, distributing investor rights, and compliance, were only taken seriously after it was already too late.
Govin saves time that would otherwise be spent looking for documents and examining legal clauses. Investors and founders can now make informed decisions and comply with regulations in a simple and confident manner, thanks to the centralisation of all governance data and workflows. Grift, who has experienced the legal hotchpotch first-hand while working at a VC, says, “So many precious hours were lost digging through legal paperwork, hours better spent on scaling the company. With new regulations like the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) rolling out in 2024, reporting on your non-financial data such as your ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) becomes mandatory for all alternative investment funds.”
Grift adds, “We noticed that the “E” of Environmental and the “S” of Social were often accounted for, yet the “G” of governance remained overlooked.”
In simple terms, Govin is a network effects-driven startup that aims to make the G of ESG (governance) more transparent and actionable in order to make life easier for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Safeguarding continuity Dutch Founders Fund (DFF) founding partner Hidde Hoogcarspel is aware of the difficulties that come with being a member of the supervisory board and an investor. DFF was one of the platform’s early adopters and one of the first to gain from it.
Hoogcarspel says, “As a supervisory board member at Shypple, we have drafted and signed more than 30 resolutions in the past eight months, including more than 200 signatures from 10+ co-investors. Govin allowed everyone to make an informed decision in a matter of clicks instead of reading through dozens of pages of legal documents, saving hours of time.”
Govin protects the continuity of governance inside venture capital firms and their portfolio businesses through its distinctive managed governance trail. The platform ensures a speedy and safe decision-making process for every business choice that has to be made by enabling investors and founders to view any relevant legal papers.
Govin aims to be the top governance and legal compliance solution for alternative investment funds. “Before the upcoming SFDR regulation is fully effective in 2024, Govin is keen to become your go-to platform to be compliant in a simple and confident way,” adds Grift. https://siliconcanals.com/crowdfunding/govin-bags-1m/
Dutch Founders Fund The Dutch Founders Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund from Amsterdam, started by a group of successful Dutch entrepreneurs like Laurens Groenendijk (Just Eat, Treatwell, Miinto, Hiber), Patrick Kerssemakers (fonQ), Bas Beerens (WeTransfer), Hidde Hoogcarspel (Spacebuzz) and Remco van Zanten (ex Booking.com, Zalando, BCG). We know from experience what it’s like to deal with many different stakeholders and how to overcome early-stage growth pains. Starting a company is easy; building a company is something else. We believe in intense mentoring, from ideation to your series A. What we like.Marketplaces that disrupt or reimagine traditional supply-chains.Products or services with strong network effects.Marketplace enablers. This includes any technology that facilitates frictionless marketplace transactions, from FinTech solutions to web3 applications.SaaS enabled marketplaces.Wildcards. We will never say no to truly exceptional ideas.
What we Look for. Companies that provide a sustainable solution to society’s challenges by providing transparency and efficiency. Whether it’s freight forwarding or employee benefits, we invest in overlooked markets and platforms that cut out the middleman. And our founders? We look for go-getters, a builder mentality and people with infinite curiosity. What we expect from you. You are willing to get your limits pushed and ideas challenged. You are willing to dream big and do big. You are not afraid to hit the gas. You are headstrong, but coachable. Our Commitment. The founders pledge. We dive deep and get dirty. We talk tactics and look at the nitty-gritty details of your business case. Partner with us and see how we provide far more than just capital. https://www.dutchfoundersfund.com/about
We stimulate and support innovative projects in SMEs within the province of North Holland In the phase in which you want to prove your ideas, collaboration with knowledge institutions and other companies can be of great importance. Our contribution will hopefully also help you to achieve follow-up financing if you have proven your idea with our support and want to develop it further towards market introduction.
Financing Convertible loan up to a maximum of 300,000 eurosProof-of-Concept project op Technology Readiness Level 3-5SME entrepreneur or starterLocated in the Province of North Holland https://www.innovatiefondsnoordholland.nl/proof-of-concept-fonds The start-up Finovox raises 1.9 million euros » Economic and political letter from PACA Finovoxa French start-up specializing in the detection of fake documents, today announces its €1.9 million Seed fundraiser.
In fact, led by Shapr Venture, SuperCapital, successful entrepreneurs like Jérôme Proust, founder of Glady (ex-wedoogift), and Christophe Henner, ex-president of Wikipedia, and supported by BPI.
In front of a document fraud explosion (+80% increase worldwide in 2020 and +86% in 2021) exceeding 40,000 million euros in annual damage In France, Marc de Beaucorps, Théophile du Portal and Pierre-Alexis Gouzien have developed Finovox, a solution to detect false documents. Applicable to any type of document (DNI, invoices, receipts, diplomas, etc.) without language or format restrictions, its tool analyzes, detects and explains fraud by less than 5 seconds.
With its own technology, the start-up offers a two part solution :
– an API integrating itself into the information system of each company and allowing continuous and automatic analysis of all documents.
– A SaaS solution analyzing suspicious documents to provide maximum information about fraud through its investigation tools (3D views, area highlighting, document version history, etc.).
Faced with the resurgence of fraud that is expected in a global context of economic tension, Finovox wants to allocate the funds collected to accelerate your development, both from the functional point of view of the product and R&D. after recruitment a dozen expert profiles (doctors, specialized data scientists, technology marketing manager, etc.), the company aims to create the most effective and comprehensive anti-fraud solution on the market.
Finovox is already working on obtaining ISO27001 and ISO27701 certifications guarantee of technical and organizational security, as well as the company’s commitment to its customers.
Marc de Beaucorps, CEO and co-founder : “The entire team is proud of this fundraising, not only for the opportunities that we will be able to achieve thanks to the financing, but also for the quality and skills of our shareholders. Each investor is a real contribution to the company, both at the product and market level. Having quality investors is what makes young entrepreneurs like us progress and transform an innovative project into a revolution in the sector! »
Vincent Bobin, Shapr Enterprises: ” With Finovox, we are pleased to invest in a very good team and innovative technology that addresses a deep market. We are delighted to be part of the adventure to accompany you as far as possible. »
About Finovox
Founded in 2019 by Marc de Beaucorps, Théophile du Portal and Pierre-Alexis Gouzien, three experts in anti-fraud development, the Finovox start-up has developed a simple and secure software solution capable of detecting false documents. With its technology, Finovox allows document fraud to be divided by 6. The start-up counts among its clients large groups such as Bouygues Telecom, but also ETIs such as iCover, neoinsurers such as Luko and Parachut or even small companies/start-ups such as Codetek , Alvysion or Goodliz.
Shapr Ventures is a seed fund targeting technology start-ups from all sectors (except biotech) and post-revenue. They invest tickets ranging from €300k to €1M as the main investor with a follow-up clause in the next rounds. Shapr is a startup that funds startups. Raising funds with Shapr Ventures gives access to its entire ecosystem (Shapr Talent, Shapr Founders, Shapr Community…). Why Shapr Ventures?
“Because we deeply believe in people and not everything is about numbers. Because we have experienced their problems (search for market fit products, pivot, scaling, etc.) on a daily basis for 15 years in France and the USA. Because we have built a powerful ecosystem to achieve your wildest ambitions. Because we will feel more like co-founders than investors. » https://shapr.co/en/
Super Capital VC launched in January 2021 with over 200 international investors to provide financing and support to high-potential startups. His portfolio includes more than 100 startups, in which he has invested from €50,000 to €300,000, including Even Pas Cap!, Mobile.Club and TeamOut.
“We like ambitious, passionate and rigorous entrepreneurs. We primarily invest in broader digital businesses (SaaS, platforms, marketplace, DNVB, apps), both B2B and B2C, often with international potential. We also support less scalable but more mature companies to help them gain a leadership position in a niche market. » https://www.supercapital.vc/
Util Raises $6M in Seed Funding Util, a London, UK-based sustainability data platform provider, raised $6M in Seed funding.
The round was led by Eldridge, with participation from Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, and Oxford Science Enterprises.
The company intends to use the funds to expand global footprint and accelerate hiring needs.
Led by CEO Patrick Wood Uribe, Util is a provider of sustainability intelligence to financial institutions. Its evidence-driven analytics capture the performance of 50,000 listed companies relative to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and thousands of other sustainability concepts, empowering investors to understand and optimise their real-world impact.
Customers, including PGIM Quantitative Solutions, Nuveen (a TIAA company), Danske Bank Asset Management, Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM), and a.s.r., work with Util to research companies, report on portfolios, and create differentiated financial products benchmarked against material sustainability issues.
The announcement comes as the team accelerates hiring in key senior roles. Most recently, Util appointed Riaz Shaikh to lead product development. Shaikh was previously Global Head of Data Analytics Strategy, Investment Banking, at Credit Suisse, where he spearheaded strategy and product in relation to alternative, ESG and sustainability data. Earlier this year, Mike Goynes joined Util as CTO, prior to which he was Chief Data Officer at supply-chain AI unicorn Interos.
Eldridge Eldridge manages businesses across diversified industries Headquartered in Greenwich, CT, with offices in New York, London, and Beverly Hills, Eldridge is dedicated to growing market opportunities into significant businesses. We are interested in providing businesses and management teams with capital and resources to help experienced leaders and their teams execute their strategic plans. We provide debt and equity capital along with perspective, relationships, and a network of supportive businesses with a shared commitment to growth. Excellence We love what we do and are grateful and humbled by our freedom to pursue ideas with capital. As such, we strive to be responsible citizens, respecting each other and our planet, and to be excellent in all that we do. Our goal is to win. We believe winning together is better than winning alone. Sometimes we lose. When we do, we dust ourselves off and learn. We persevere. We strive to be better. We evolve.
Flexibility Experience has taught us that the best path may not be the most direct as humans often take time to warm up to ideas. Sometimes a setback may prove to be an advance. We reevaluate and we are comfortable changing directions with new information. When we must make hard decisions, we communicate such with as much empathy as possible.
Inclusivity We encourage inclusive environments and believe teams with varied backgrounds, perspectives, skills, and experiences make better decisions. We seek honest and thoughtful conversation without targeting individuals. We don’t gossip. We do share. We seek to leverage our collective knowledge. AQ, EQ, and IQ are all celebrated. https://www.eldridge.com/about/
Luxembourg Stock Exchange The Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) is the gateway to access international investors with a unique and integrated service offering covering listing, trading, information services and reporting.
Unlike other exchanges, our core focus is on the listing of international securities. Our 90-year experience, combined with our established listing procedures, attract a wide range of issuers to Luxembourg. With 37,000+ securities listed, including 33,000 debt instruments, from 2,000 issuers in over 100 countries, we understand the needs of international capital markets and their participants.
We operate two markets: an EU-regulated market, called the “Bourse de Luxembourg” market, and the Euro MTF, an exchange-regulated market. All securities are tradable on Euronext’s Optiq platform.
In 2016, we launched the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), which remains the leading platform dedicated exclusively to green, social and sustainable securities. In 2020, LGX was recognised as “Environmental Finance’s Exchange of the Year” for the 4th consecutive year at the Environmental Finance Bond Awards. Later that year, LGX was also awarded the prestigious 2020 UN Global Climate Action Award for its contribution to accelerating financing for climate-friendly investment.
In 2019, we launched LuxXPrime, a dedicated window on our trading platform dedicated to retail-sized orders. With EUWAX AG as Prime Liquidity Provider, LuxXPrime makes it simple and secure for private and professional investors to trade retail-sized bonds, including Green, Social and Sustainability Bonds. https://www.bourse.lu/about-us
Chicago Board Options Exchange Cboe Global Markets is a leading provider of market infrastructure and tradable products, delivering cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to market participants around the world. We provide trading solutions and products in multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives and FX, across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
We operate a trusted, inclusive global marketplace, providing leading products, technology and data solutions that enable participants to define a sustainable future.
Our associates come to work inspired, ready to be part of the next market-defining breakthrough. Everyone has value and we believe in celebrating defining moments together. We pride ourselves on our legacy of championing innovation and revolutionizing markets to benefit all investors.
We’re a group of hardworking, passionate people who value teamwork above all else. We give credit where credit is due and don’t hesitate to recognize a job well done — no matter how big or small the task. We care about one another and our communities and frequently find ways to give back individually and as a team.
Together, we are working to build one of the world’s largest global equities and derivatives trading networks.
Oxford Sciences Enterprises Our Model We partner the best scientists from the world’s #1 research university with the best business brains to create and build world-changing businesses capable of solving society’s biggest challenges.
In addition to long-term investment capital and business-building expertise, we provide access to a global network of entrepreneurs and advisors, and state-of-the art lab and start-up space essential for our companies to thrive.
Our Unique Partnership with Oxford University The University of Oxford is home to some of the world’s most innovate science thinkers and is renowned for its world-leading research. We receive an automatic stake in all science spinouts from the University and the University owns a stake in us.
This unique partnership enables us to work with Oxford’s brightest academic minds tackling the world’s toughest challenges and guarantees us unrivalled access to their scientific research and IP.
A key player in Oxford’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, we are highly motivated to foster an environment that catalyses pioneering research and steers it to commercial success. We are committed to doing this in an inclusive and sustainable way.
Our Investment Approach We are an investment company, not a fund. Our evergreen structure means we are not constrained by restrictive timelines and can adopt a flexible, long-term investment approach, recognising the path from ground-breaking research to global markets takes time and resilience.
This gives us greater flexibility to make decisions based on the nature of the challenge and the needs of the business. Allocating capital in ways that allow innovation to flourish:
We invest in original research and breakthrough scientific ideas early to solve the world’s toughest problems. We invest from initial idea to IPO and beyond, to maximize the impact of the science. We invest in the specialist lab and start-up space needed to nurture our businesses. Our Business-Building Expertise We match Oxford science with exceptional business-building talent from around the world – seasoned C-suite executives, entrepreneurs and advisors, who want to make a difference. https://oxfordscienceenterprises.com/about/
Paris-based Teamstarter bags €7M for its intra-company crowdfunding platformParis-based Teamstarter, a platform for intra-company crowdfunding, announced on Wednesday that it has secured €7M from Odyssée Venture, Matters, and Financière Vecteur (an investment vehicle of the Banque Populaire group).
Several business angels also participated in the round. They include:Benoît and Bertrand Leclercq (President of Créadev and Founder of Abor et Sens and Chairman of the Abilways group) Nicolas Petrovic (former CEO of Siemens and Eurostar)Benoît Queyrel (serial entrepreneur and founding chairman of AptiSkills)Patrick Dixneuf (former Managing Director of Aviva Europe and Chairman of the Cercle Turgot) Fund utilisation The French company aims to accelerate its annual growth and prepare for its international expansion. The company is developing new features to attract talent, engage employees and continue providing a unique, personalised experience for employees.
With 45 employees, Teamstarter intends to recruit 40 more people to strengthen its product, marketing, and sales divisions.
Teamstarter: What you need to know Ségolène Mouterde and Vincent Desmares founded Teamstarter in 2019 in Matters startup studio. It is a crowdfunding platform that allows a company’s (clients) employees to create or finance internal projects using a budget allocated to them by the company.
The company aims to make humans the strength of tomorrow’s companies with the first intra-company participatory financing platform.
Teamstarter claims it is tackling Europe’s brain drain and talent war by enabling its clients to make their employees into actors and intrapreneurs within their companies. The company believes this will help them to move the lines at their level and create a more engaged workforce.
Ségolène Mouterde, CEO of Teamstarter, says, “Our tool enables employees to become active players in their company by allowing everyone, regardless of their job or seniority, to change things at their level by choosing and implementing impactful initiatives that they will carry out from A to Z, thanks to the trust placed in them by the company. The aim is to mobilise collective intelligence with employees working hand in hand to put their ideas into shape, make their project known in their company, and, once the funds have been reached, deploy the initiative themselves. So it’s not foosball that engages, and Teamstarter activates the right motivational mechanisms: taking the initiative, trust, empowerment, bottom-up, collaboration.”
Teamstarters: How does it work? Companies allocate a monthly budget to each employee through Teamstarter. With this amount, employees can propose projects that are important to them and in which their colleagues can participate.
According to studies carried out on more than 30,000 users, 82 per cent of employees say they are more committed, claims the company.
Over 3,000 projects with a societal, environmental, quality of life at work, customer, or employee experience impact have been carried out.
The French company has witnessed an annual growth of 400 per cent and attracted hundreds of clients, including Sopra Steria Aeroline, Razel-Bec, Avanade, and Natixis Wealth Management, to attract, motivate and retain their talents.
“We are delighted to support Teamstarter, a company with which we fully share the desire to combine growth and positive impact. Teamstarter has already proven the relevance of its offer to deeply transform companies and involve employees more at a time of Big Quit and loss of meaning in work”, says Sébastien Sassolas, head of Odyssée Venture.
For Benoît and Bertrand Leclercq, “Teamstarter has a vision that we share and find useful in the business world. Companies that win in the long run are those where the employees seen by their customers are happy and thus give their best. Covid, yellow vests protests, working from home, and calls for a transformation of our business models to commit to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees … are all challenges to which Teamstarter and its teams respond. We are proud to support its development, which makes complete sense to us.”
“I am convinced that success can only come from a committed team culture, as I have experienced at Eurostar and Siemens. Therefore, I believe in Teamstarter, which offers a perfect solution for strengthening company commitment, focused on action,” says Nicolas Petrovic. https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/paris-teamstarter-bags-7m/
Odyssée Venture
THE GROWTH BUSINESS SPECIALIST ODYSSEE is one of the historical actors of Private Equity in France and one of the first independent management companies of private equity funds (FIP – FCPI – FCPR) approved by the AMF. It is the specialist in growth companies since 1999: 550 million euros raised since the creationThe trust of more than 50,000 subscribersMore than 170 SMEs supported in diversified sectors and at all stages of developmentMore than 20,000 jobs created in affiliated SMEsA team of experienced professionalsSeveral investment and divestment cyclesSupport for entrepreneurs at all stages of development of their business: from seed toIPOhttp://les-fip.com/ Aiming to be the transaction platform of choice for B2B merchants, Fintecture closes €26 million round Seeking to eliminate the limitations caused by a half-century-old system that was built around multiple intermediaries, B2B transaction platform Fintecture raises €26 million round in a Series A round. Paris-based payment infrastructure provider Fintecture has raised €26 million in a Series A funding round. The startup is seeking to eliminate the limitations inferred in the half-century-old B2B transactions market that was built around multiple intermediaries.
The new capital was provided by new investors Eurazeo, RTP Global, HEC Ventures, and Allianz Trade, alongside angel investors including Olivier Pomel, founder and CEO at Datadog, and Huey Lin, ex-PayPal exec and founding COO at Affirm, and existing investors including Target Global, Samaipata and Société Generale.
The €26 million is expected to help the startup in all areas of operations.
Capitalising on technological and regulatory changes in the banking industry, one being 2018’s Payment Service Directive (PSD2), Fintecture has created a series of APIs that integrate with banks and is a runner in the pack of startups angling to create the missing direct link between merchants and their customers, providing for a simpler, safer, and cost-efficient mechanisms. According to the startup the platform “enables around 7,000 businesses to collect payments. Over 250,000 buyers have already paid with Fintecture via multiple sales channels: e-commerce, in-store, remote sales, or invoicing cycle.”
“B2B payments were left aside because of their high complexity, resulting in the predominance of paper-based and time-consuming solutions. To help merchants fully digitise their B2B payments, we had to start from scratch and build new methods from first principles,” says Faysal Oudmine, CEO at Fintecture. “The journey is very challenging but totally rewarding as we witnessed our merchants save considerable time, costs, and increase their sales while using our B2B transaction platform.” https://tech.eu/2022/11/03/aiming-to-be-the-transaction-platform-of-choice-for-b2b-merchants-fintecture-closes-eur26-million-round/ Ethical lender Plend raises £40m Plend, a UK “ethical lender” that is ditching the traditional credit system and is instead using open banking data for lending decisions, has raised £40 million in seed funding.
Active Partners, Velocity Juice, Sivo, and the founders from Monzo, Starling Bank and Oodle Car Finance joined the round alongside existing investors Ascension, Tomahawk VC, DD Venture Capital and Haatch.
Plend says that the credit system is outdated and backward, discriminating against applicants based on historic and limited data and not lending based on what they can actually afford.
Instead, it uses open banking to make credit more personal and make what it claims are smarter lending decisions.
Launched in July, the startup has already seen over £40 million in loan applications processed, with the loan book increasing 20% month on month.
And, with Brits struggling to keep up with the changing economic climate and rising interest rates, the company is expecting to see more people turning to its platform to restructure their debts.
Rob Pasco, CEO, Plend, says: “We are thrilled to be working with our newest investment partners to provide a truly ethical alternative to the broken credit scoring system that locks so many people out of the market, especially during these times of economic turbulence and rising interest rates.” https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/41246/ethical-lender-plend-raises-40m NatWest invests £50m into fintech Vodeno Group NatWest has made a €58m (£50.4m) equity investment into Vodeno Group, the owner of Polish fintech Vodeno TechCo and Belgium-based Aion Bank to launch in the UK.
Vodeno TechCo provides embedded finance solutions such as payments, deposits, point-of-sale credit and seller cash advances. “This strategic partnership presents a strong potential source of fee income in a growing market, and an opportunity to deliver sustainable growth by building deeper relationships with our corporate customers,” said Alison Rose, chief executive, NatWest Group.
“It also complements our existing investment in the development of business banking technology within our Mettle business.”
The new UK arm will be 82% majority owned by the British bank, with the rest of the minority interest kept by Vodeno TechCo.
NatWest also will further take a 9.9% minority interest that could increase to 18% if certain criteria are met by Vodeno Group, which entirely owns Vodeno TechCo and Aion Bank.
Wojciech Sobieraj, CEO, Vodeno Group said: “Our fully API-based platform offers a comprehensive suite of BaaS products that enable brands to ‘embed’ financial services directly into their ecosystems to create seamless customer journeys.
“We are excited to combine our technology with NatWest Group to offer the next generation of financial services.”
We are back after a break- or rather a few hectic weeks on the road and at events across Europe.
Early stage FinTech deals this week include Klink Finance (gamified digital assets platform), YourCampus (personal benefits platform), All Gravy (staff financial wellbeing) etc.
If you are an early stage startup building the next big thing in European FinTech (or know somebody who is), we would love to feature you on our 7 Questionsinterview series: email contact@fintechforum.de or reach out to us (Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar) on LinkedIn.
Klink Finance Raises $500K in FundingKlink Finance, London, UK-based provider of a gamified digital asset platform, raised $500K in Pre-Seed funding.The round was led by Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF) with participation from UOB Venture Management, Signum Capital, TechMeetsTrader, and StartupGym.The company intends to use the funds to drive its product launch by the end of 2022.Founded by Chris James Murphy and Philip Jonitz, Klink Finance is a startup that operates at the intersection of consumer finance and blockchain technology. Its system implements social gamification to enable better and recurring financial habits for user populations through a safe and regulated platform. By offering a prize-linked savings solution, all funds on the platform will be aggregated and the yields earned are distributed to users as prizes through probability. This gives users steady returns as well as a chance to earn large returns every week.
With its beta launch set for later this year, the platform’s go-to-market prize-linked deposit account will allow users to win up to $1 million in USDC (stablecoin) every week for holding funds as little as $25 USD. This solution provides alternative mechanisms to reward distribution across user populations, and will expand further services with social features and digital asset ownership in a way that is safe, exciting and rewarding.
Amsterdam’s YourCampus lands €2.7 million to reform Europe’s labour market with personal benefits platformYourCampus, a startup aiming to shake up how employers approach perks and benefits, has just raised €2.7 million to grow. The Amsterdam-based startup is helping shape a new era of compensation packages and is set to expand across Europe. Across Europe, we have seen a shake-up in terms of how employees and employers interact, what employees expect from their employers, and, in general, shifting approaches to work. It’s fueled by a combination of factors – the ongoing war for talent, the great resignation and sociocultural shifts in mindset. As a result, companies are under new pressure (and rightly so) to provide their employees with competitive and attractive benefits and perks. But, for HR and management teams, meeting this new demand isn’t so easy. Each employee is different and wants different things, and with the rise of remote and hybrid work, many teams aren’t even in the same location. YourCampus is aiming to reform how benefits and perks are approached – making it simpler for management and giving employees a better experience. The startup has now raised €2.7 million just over a year since its establishment. The €2.7 million investment was led by B2B software investor Newion. ROM InWest and angel investors Kalo Bagijn (Brand New Day), Fritz Korten and Joost Jolink (Fresca Group) are also joining. In addition, existing investors Dutch Founders Fund and angel investors Marc van Agteren (Usabilla), Anouk de Wolff (Scale Force Talent) and Omri Amir (FindHotel) are increasing their stake in YourCampus. Earlier they invested €500,000 in the Dutch startup. With the investment, YourCampus will continue to expand, aiming to be a platform for all employee compensation. A better benefits platformFounded in 2021, YourCampus aims to structure better compensation for employees with attractive benefits packages. Florian Gendrault, founder and CEO of YourCampus: “The job market is under tremendous pressure. In the ‘war for talent’, employers are looking for ways to attract talent, specifically Gen Z. But there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to fringe benefits and perks. An older employee might benefit from a good pension plan, while a younger employee may prefer to receive their vacation pay monthly and have some budget left over for personal development. YourCampus offers flexibility in fringe benefits and perks, but with collective discounts.”On the YourCampus platform, employees can use a personal budget that is paid for by their employer to choose from a variety of fringe benefits and modern perks in categories such as well-being, personal development, financial well-being and mobility. Existing salary components can also be used flexibly, such as a pension plan, holiday pay and days off. YourCampus thus responds to the fact that every employee has different needs, due to being in different stages of life or working from different locations- Next to the existing benefits, the platform offers services and products from partners. YourCampus collaborates with a wide range of providers, including Brand New Day, Classpass, Swapfiets and GoodHabitz. Employers pay a monthly fee per employee, but in return, they do not have to source individual benefit services themselves. One-time rewards can also be offered, in the form of a bonus or as a birthday gift. Companies can keep all personnel costs on the YourCampus platform and can allocate a budget per employee and category, such as a mobility budget. In addition, YourCampus offers integration with HR & payroll vendors such as Visma Nmbrs, HiBob, Personio, Loket and AFAS.Already, the Amsterdam-born team has fueled benefits processes for over 100 companies. Work is currently underway to add flexible holiday pay and days off, and further expand the flexible pension plan options. In the future, the company hopes to add more HR services as well.Gendrault: “With the rise of hybrid working, employers face the challenge of keeping their employees engaged. The YourCampus app has a high engagement rate because employees are excited about their personal benefits. It provides opportunities to increase company culture through the platform. In addition, we are expanding to other European countries. For employees, we know no borders, as many of the services offered are internationally available. Employers abroad undoubtedly face the same challenges as they do here in the Netherlands. Our ambition is to have more than 1 million employees active on YourCampus by 2025.”https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/10/amsterdams-yourcampus-lands-e2-7-million-to-reform-europes-labour-market-with-personal-benefits-platform/ Danish fintech startup raises €3.2 million seed for helping an under-serviced group with their moneyCopenhagen-based startup All Gravy has secured €3.2 million in a seed round led by Moonfire Ventures, Founders, Upfin.vc and the Nordic Web Ventures and angel investors including Bradley Horowitz (Global VP Product, Google), Phil Chambers (CEO, Peakon), Terese Hougaard (Partner, Atomico), Dan Winn (CTO, Deliveroo), Caroline Hjelm (Head of Marketing, Voi) and Dorte Bregnhøj (Global VP & Head of Talent, Bain & Co).The Danish startup provides companies with the tools to improve their employees financial wellbeing. The funding will pave the for the startup’s expansion in the UK while empowering its growth in Denmark and Sweden. The startup will also continue to enhance the employee-focused app and be investing in a suite of tools on the employer side. To achieve all, All Gravy will enlarge its team.CEO Jonatan Rasmussen says, “The All Gravy people operating system works like a workforce optimisation tool. It provides a mix of qualitative and quantitative insights, allowing the HR or ops team to make strategic decisions rather than just putting out fires. We believe that hourly paid workers have more options than ever over where they work. Restaurants and shops urgently need to retain employees for longer and they need to understand their employees better. Our customers tell us that what’s in the best interest of employees is in the best interest of the employer – everyone can win.”Bradley Horowitz, VP Product at Google states, “I was impressed with All Gravy’s user-centric way of thinking, and this closeness to their users really shows up in the feel of the product. I’m happy to be investing in a company that is a force for good for a group of people that’s often overlooked in the tech world.”Mattias Ljungman, Founding Partner at Moonfire says, “All Gravy can revolutionise how millions of hourly paid workers operate. With the labour shortages we’re seeing in hospitality and retail, attracting, retaining and understanding data on your employees is business critical. We’re excited to be partnering with All Gravy.”https://arcticstartup.com/all-gravy-raises-e3-2m-seed/ UK wealth management startup Sidekick secures £3.3mSidekick, a UK-based wealth management startup, has raised £3.3m in pre-seed funding ahead of its launch next year.According to a report from Finextra, the funding round was led by Octopus Ventures.The round also saw participation from Seedcamp and Semantic, is being used to build out the app-based product, expand the in-house asset management team, and secure the required regulatory permissions and registrations.The company was co-founded by serial entrepreneur Matthew Ford (CEO) and Peter Townsend (CTO). Ford previously founded the mobile banking platform Pariti, where Townsend was CTO, which was sold to Tandem Bank in 2018. They’re joined at Sidekick by a wider founding team from traditional asset management, consumer credit and FinTech backgrounds.Sidekick is on a mission to close the generational wealth gap by offering products and services typically reserved for only high-net-worth individuals.This includes access to alternative investments, such as crypto, and the ability to borrow against these investment portfolios.Ford said, “Most retail investors have two options to build wealth: settle for passive portfolios or try to time the market and pick stocks and crypto themselves without access to the training, tools and information needed to do this effectively.
“This funding will allow us to build a modern app-based investment service that gives customers the same professional expertise that only high-net-worth individuals are used to. We’ve already got a stellar team in place, and we’re now excited to be working towards regulatory approval to launch over the coming months.”
Alongside the funding, Siddekick has applied to the FCA for authorisation and expects to launch in 2023. London-based FinTech startup that helps firms in the private equity and financial services industries digitise complex accounting LemonEdge landed $2.5m in new capital last year.The oversubscribed round was led by Sidekick Partners and joined by founder of Parse and Scribd Tikhon Bernstam as well as founder of Investra Lauren Iaslovits.Link:https://member.fintech.global/2022/10/28/uk-wealth-management-startup-sidekick-secures-3-3m/ Evy wants to offer product protection insurance everywhereMeet Evy, a French startup that is working on extended warranties and product protection insurance. The company raised a $6.5 million seed round (€6.5 million) from Sequoia, La Famiglia VC, Global Founders Capital and several business angels.Evy wants to bring an AppleCare experience to other brands and retailers. Essentially, the startup wants to create a seamless experience when it comes to adding product protection at checkout and some good coverage out of the box.The startup acts as an insurance broker and partners with Wakam to cover the risk — but it could also partner with other insurance companies in the future. On the other side, it partners with retailers so that they embed Evy’s insurance products on their sites or try to sell an extended warranty in stores.For instance, Evy has signed a partnership with ManoMano, a home improvement and gardening e-commerce platform that I’ve covered over the years. When a customer is buying a product on ManoMano, they can add multiyear coverage against breakage, breakdown and/or theft.
What makes Evy stand out from legacy players is that it can create custom-made insurance products in very little time. For instance, ManoMano has 25 different product categories across four countries. Evy has created 25 tailor-made insurance programs in just a few months.Similarly, retailers can develop deep integrations with Evy as the insurtech startup focuses on API-based integrations.If there is something wrong with the product, Evy first tries to find a solution to fix the product. It plans to put together a repair network. If it doesn’t work, Evy makes a payment to the customer.
And the distribution method should work quite well as Evy shares some revenue with its retail partners. Some big retailers, such as Darty or Best Buy, already generate important revenue from insurance products. Evy wants to offer a solution for the long tail of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores.Evy isn’t just an insurance play. There’s a bigger vision around product lifecycles. “Eventually we want to offer all customer services that are associated with products. They are useful for both the merchant and the end user,” co-founder and CEO Simon Kemoun told me.“They are all switching to the circular economy. We know when a product is under warranty and we know when there has been no incident. We can issue a trade-in offer so that you can get the most recent product,” he added.There are some companies in the U.S. focusing on the same industry, such as Clyde and Extend. In France, Evy competes with Neat.https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/26/evy-wants-to-offer-product-protection-insurance-everywhere/ Qantev Raises €10M in Series A FundingQantev, a Paris, France-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) insurtech for health insurers, raised €10m in Series A funding round.
The round was led by Omnes and RAISE Ventures, with participation from Elaia with the PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres) Innovation Fund. The company intends to use the funds for continued global market expansion and growth of its AI & Engineering team to enhance its health claims platform for insurers.Co-founded by Tarik Dadi (CEO) and Hadrien De March (CTO) in 2019, Qantev has built a AI-based data analytics solution designed to improve health insurers’ operations, including health data management, automation triage and resolution of simple claims, as well as overall enablement of better and more informed decision making.Powered by machine learning and optimisation to predict patient journeys, Qantev provides in-depth insight and automation by leveraging insurers’ historical claims data. Whether it be for automating health claims pre-authorisation, identification of claims leakage patterns, optimisation of healthcare networks or improved tracking of member’s wellness status, the solution allows for fast and impactful transformation for health insurers.
Today, the platform is used by worldwide health insurers, reinsurers and third party administrators to boost their claims operations.In the last 12 months, the company has deployed its solution across a number of markets in Europe, Asia and North America, enabling fast and impactful data transformation within insurers.https://www.finsmes.com/2022/10/qantev-raises-e10m-in-series-a-funding.html Arf raises $13m from investors including Circle Ventures, Hard Yaka, and SDF
ZUG, Switzerland, Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The VQF-regulated global settlement banking platform using Web3 technologies has raised $13m in a seed round with the participation of industry leaders including Circle Ventures, Hard Yaka, United Overseas Bank Venture Management, Signum Capital, and Stellar Development Foundation.
Arf has raised $13 million in equity and debt financing in a seed round from notable investors across Web3 and institutional finance space, including the investors of Coinbase, Solana, FTX, and Kabbage.
Circle Ventures joined the round alongside the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), United Overseas Bank (UOB) Venture Management, Signum Capital, Hard Yaka, NGC Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, and 500 Emerging Europe.
The firm intends to use the cash injection to further develop its blockchain-based technology to provide global treasury management and working capital credit lines for financial institutions and licensed money service businesses alike operating in the cross-border payments industry.
“We are delighted to see prominent Web3 and institutional finance investors validate our vision and join forces with us,” said CEO Ali Erhat Nalbant.
“Arf’s technology sits right at the center of cross-border payments evolution. This funding round will help us scale Arf to free up trillion dollars worth of locked working capital in the industry,” he added. “We’ll keep leveraging digital assets and Web3 technologies to fuel the transformation in global finance in a fully compliant way.”
With the seed funding, the firm will develop and foster new paradigm-shifting technologies in cross-border payments by combining the best of what Web3 and traditional finance has to offer.
Arf recently received the approval of the Financial Services Standard Association (VQF). The firm opened a new office in Zug and started scaling its team.
Arf also announced the launch of Arf Credit Line in April, which provides money service businesses instant access to transactional working capital credit lines, and allows any corridor to be post-funded in real-time.
About Arf Arf is a global settlement banking platform, eliminating the capital-intensive business model of the cross-border payments industry by offering digital asset-based working capital and settlement services with native on-ramp and off-ramp capabilities to licensed money service businesses and financial institutions.
BMLL, the leading, independent provider of harmonised, historical Level 3 data and analytics across global equity and futures markets, today announced it has secured a USD 26 million Series B investment in its latest funding round. The round was led by Nasdaq Ventures, FactSet and IQ Capital’s Growth Fund, supported by ACF Investors and other new and existing investors.
BMLL provides historical Level 3 data and analytics to the world’s most sophisticated capital market participants. BMLL clients, including banks, brokers, asset managers, hedge funds and global exchanges, can access BMLL’s order book data and analytics enabling them to derive predictive insights, backtest strategies to generate alpha and gain an understanding of how markets behave.
The investment will help BMLL deliver on its razor-sharp focus on customer needs for more data coverage across an increasing number of global markets. The funding will support investment in acquiring new data sets globally; growing the BMLL engineering capabilities to integrate these new data and analytics capabilities into existing products for an ever-expanding universe of customers; and building on the existing presence in North America with the opening of an office in New York.
The funding news comes at a time of rapid growth for the company. BMLL has significantly grown its revenues over the last 12 months; added Tier 1 clients, including Investment Banks, Exchanges, Buy-Side firms, Academics and Regulators; expanded into the futures market; and launched its flagship product BMLL Vantage for EU and US equities and ETFs.
Paul Humphrey, CEO, BMLL, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have secured USD 26 million in our Series B funding round. The investment is testament to the increasing need for more sophisticated tools to understand how markets truly behave and drive performance. Our granular Level 3 data and analytics capabilities help market participants unlock the full potential of the predictive power of historic pricing data and make more informed decisions.”
Gary Offner, Senior Vice President and Head of Nasdaq Ventures, said: “Nasdaq Ventures is committed to investing in financial technology companies that align with our vision to reimagine the markets of tomorrow. By democratising access to the most granular data and analytics, all market participants can benefit from BMLL’s solutions, and we are delighted to support their continued growth.”
Jonathan Reeve, Executive Vice President, Head of Content and Technology Solutions at FactSet, said: “Data-driven decisions are the lifeblood of our industry and the driving force behind our product development and the collaborations we build. FactSet is pleased to support the growth and success of BMLL, which shares our commitment to empowering the financial community to make more informed investment decisions through accessing high-quality data and analytics. We are excited to invest in BMLL and its order book data and analytics platform, which gives market participants a granular understanding of market moves.”
Kerry Baldwin, Co-Founder, Managing Partner of IQ Capital: “IQ Capital led BMLL’s seed round and has continued to support the company through their very earliest stages. We have supported and worked closely with BMLL’s exceptional leadership team to develop their breakthrough Deep Tech product, which democratises access to Level 3 data for the wider industry. Our latest investment from our Growth Fund, which supports outperforming companies in our portfolio, will drive the company’s continued growth and international expansion.”
Paul Humphrey, CEO of BMLL, concluded: “It has been our mission to democratise access to Level 3 data and analytics capabilities and the latest funding will support our aim to make these insights available to a wider audience. We are immensely proud of the outstanding industry recognition we have gained over time, and I’d like to thank my team for their unwavering dedication to customer services, our esteemed clients for their support, and our investors for backing our vision.”
Over the last 12 months alone, BMLL has been on an accelerated growth path securing a number of significant customers and collaborations. BMLL counts the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a customer, who is using the BMLL Data Lab and BMLL Data Feed to examine order behaviour. NYU’s Quant Team uses the BMLL Data Lab to carry out research on the futures market at the university’s Mathematics in Finance Program. Kepler Cheuvreux’s teams conduct order book analytics to optimise algo performance using BMLL’s Level 3 data. What’s more, BMLL helps Aquis Exchange provide its members with insights into market structure dynamics, while SIX Group uses BMLL data for customised order book analytics for the Swiss EBBO. And Jefferies carries out detailed order book analysis for passive / aggressive trading strategies using BMLL data.
Jefferies acted as exclusive financial advisor and Taylor Wessing LLP acted as legal advisor to BMLL in connection with the transaction. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to Nasdaq Ventures and Mills & Reeve LLP acted as legal advisor to FactSet and IQ Capital.
Moneyhub Raises $39M, Plans International ExpansionU.K.-based payments platform Moneyhub has raised $39.5 million as it looks to expand its offerings amid the region’s continued embrace of open finance.According to a Monday (Oct. 24) news release, lead investors Legal & General and Lloyds Banking Group will take minority stakes in the business, the company said, and will “each look to enhance their commercial propositions with Moneyhub’s services, using its Open Data technology to support strategic goals.”Moneyhub says the funding will help speed the development of its products, particularly in the areas of pensions and wealth, payments, distribution, affordability and Data-as-a-Service. In addition, the funds will help the company bring its technology to new countries.Based in Bristol, Moneyhub works with more than 100 clients, including Aon, KPMG, Mercer, Nationwide Building Society, Samsung and Vodafone.In August, the U.K.’s Nationwide Building Society announced it was deploying Moneyhub to let its customers open savings accounts and fund them right away. Prior to this collaboration, Nationwide customers would need to wait days before transferring the funds they needed to meet account funding requirements.The building society stated that this led to around 8% of accounts being closed “as members would simply forget to credit the account.”https://www.pymnts.com/news/investment-tracker/2022/moneyhub-raises-39m-plans-international-expansion/ CloudPay Raises $50 Million and Reports Growth as Payroll Evolution ContinuesOctober 27, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight TimeRALEIGH, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Expert in global pay solutions, CloudPay, has raised a new $50 million round of capital while recording strong growth as demand for cloud-based integrated global payroll and payments services continues.The funds raised were led by Runway Growth Capital and The Olayan Group. The new capital will support CloudPay’s continued innovation of its end-to-end enterprise global pay offering, meeting the need for integrated payroll and payments services as well as employee solutions that fit the modern world of work.CloudPay continues to show high, double-digit growth year-over-year and is projecting revenue growth of approximately 40% for 2022, with the business now processing 2.5 million payslips annually worldwide. As a result, the organization has increased headcount, recently welcoming its 1,000th employee. “We believe that CloudPay is at an inflection point in their growth that makes it a great time to invest strategically,” said Nicholas Briody, Director of Direct Private Equity, Americas, The Olayan Group. “They are well-positioned to capitalize on the needs of the modern workplace for payroll and payments services. CloudPay’s growth has been strong year-on-year, and we have confidence in their vision and in the management capabilities of their leadership to continue to drive innovation.”“Payment processing is a critical function for every business. CloudPay has proven their capabilities by servicing an impressive list of global, blue-chip customers,” said Brian Sapp, Managing Director, Runway Growth Capital. “We are pleased to deepen our relationship and continue our support of CloudPay’s growth.” Earlier this year, a new partnership with Visa Direct was announced, enabling fast, secure salary payments to any debit or credit card, and taking days off the traditional payroll payments process. Demand for CloudPay’s Earned Wage Access (EWA) solution has also sky-rocketed and new partnerships have been launched with innovators such as HR platform, HiBob.“It’s an exciting time for the payroll world,” said CloudPay CEO Paul Bartlett. “As a profession that’s historically been quite set in its ways, we’re seeing a shift as demand grows for global and scalable solutions underpinned by powerful technology. Payroll has traditionally ended at the payslip, but over 90% of our new business now includes payments services in addition to payroll processing.”Companies are also seeing the advantage of being able to offer employees flexibility around when and how they get paid – particularly during the cost-of-living crisis. In this environment, innovation is needed, and that’s where CloudPay has been able to add real value to clients with solutions such as the pay on-demand app and new money movement methods.“Our focus on challenging the norm to offer comprehensive pay solutions across the globe has led to this new funding, and I am delighted to have the support of our investors to continue the expansion of CloudPay’s global payroll and payments business,” Bartlett adds. “We’re excited about our plans for 2023.”About CloudPayEmployee pay processes have broad business consequences, requiring modern solutions and trusted experts across the globe. CloudPay connects all employee pay processes – including payroll, payments, and on-demand pay – through a unified platform available across 130+ countries, and 168 currencies. CloudPay’s experts help global companies implement best practices, navigate change, optimize operations, and improve employee experiences, guiding them with vision and care toward the comprehensive pay experience employees deserve. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221027005628/en/CloudPay-Raises-50-Million-and-Reports-Growth-as-Payroll-Evolution-Continues
European FinTech deals this week include Ark Capital, Candis, Monese and Topi
We feature Q&As with Sheila Kagan of Paykey and Enrique Lizaso Olmos of Multiverse Computing
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Sheila Kagan of Paykey
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I joined PayKey in March 2020 after years of working as a chief executive at a variety of public and private tech companies in the advertising and gaming industries. Throughout my life I’ve been drawn to the dynamics of the banking industry, and once the opportunity came, I knew PayKey is a FinTech uniquely positioned to leave a mark on an industry that is traditionally lagging behind.
At PayKey we are putting banks at the forefront of embedded banking, by weaving the financial services customers need within their everyday lives. Our patented mobile keyboard
solution allows customers to access a variety of mobile banking services including P2P payments, loans, investments and more within all the social & messaging apps they are regularly using like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and others. With our solution, banks can contextually bring their services to where customers today chat, transact, and make their financial decisions.
7 Questions with with Enrique Lizaso Olmos of Multiverse Computing
1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
Multiverse Computing. Largest European Quantum Software Company. Backed by the European Investment Council and large VC. Third largest in the world after two American not-so-much-larger competitors. Delivering solutions to financial problems in optimization, machine-learning and pricing that are not correctly answered (or even not answered) with classical computers. Problems that range from $200-300 to $3B in impact in net income. Working for large customers (Top 10 Banks in the world), appeared in the Boston Consulting Group reports, The Economist, Forbes… Single European Company in McKinsey’s Quantum global Technology Council. 24 new patents/year, 34 people now, we are nearly 3 yr old!.
Ark Kapital, a Stockholm, Sweden-based data-driven precision finance company enabling startups to grow through non-dilutive loans, raised €15M in acceleration funding. The round was led by Annika Falkengren with participation from LocalGlobe, Creandum, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen, Zettle founder Jacob de Geer, Hjalmar Winbladh, and Timo Soininen. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth and expand operations. Founded in the summer of 2021 and launched in November the same year– by six-time entrepreneur Oliver Hildebrandt (CEO), veteran banker Axel Bruzelius (COO), and Spotify’s ex-VP of Analytics and former EQT Ventures partner Henrik Landgren (CPTO), ArK Kapital developed a proprietary AI platform called the ArK Intelligence Machine (AIM) that connects to the raw business data of a company, which, combined with relevant external market data, unlocks hidden possibilities for growth and strategic foresight. Founders plug into ArK’s machine learning platform with all their growth related accounts and in return get access to a detailed 5-year forecast – from which they can access customized funding. ArK’s financial product suite currently consists of a large growth loan that spans between €1-€10m, lasting up to seven years, with repayments not starting for two-to-three years. The second loan product in the portfolio allows founders to get instant access to the money they’ve earned through various marketplaces or app stores, allowing reinvestment into growth peaks. Both products are fully non-dilutive. This brings up the total capital pool available for founders to lend from to €300m.
Candis, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of asoftware solution for automating accounts payable processes, raised $16M in funding.
The round, which brought total funding to $30m, was led by Viola FinTech, with participation from Lightspeed and Viola Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to launch credit cards which will provide a central overview of all expenses in real time, eliminating the need to wait weeks for a monthly statement.
Led by CEO Christian Ritosek, Candis provides an AI-driven software solution for small and medium-sized enterprises to automate financial processes such as invoice receipt, data entry, invoice approval, and data export. The company offers a cloud-based solution that can be used from anywhere and requires no onboarding.
Smart integrations with DATEV, Sage, Wolters Kluwer, and more further enhance the user experience enabling exportation of invoice data into the preferred accounting platforms.
Since its founding, the company has worked with over 4000 customers and 200+ partners.
UK-based Monese offers current accounts and money transfer services as an alternative to traditional banks. The mobile-only service provides accounts in Pounds sterling, Euros and Romanian leu.
FinTech Monese scores $35m investment from HSBC
According to Monese, the company and HSBC are closely aligned in their commitment to ‘opening up the full extent of digital banking possibilities’.
The investment, Monese claims, is a part of a broader, strategic partnership that will focus on Monese’s industry-leading, cloud-based Platform as a Service business.
The new funding will be used to support the continued growth of Monese’s FinTech platform.
In September 2021, Monese launched its PaaS business as well as a strategic partnership with Investec. As part of the collaboration, Investec led Monese’s Series C.
Monese CEO and founder Norris Koppel said, “Securing the support of a tier one global bank demonstrates the strength of our platform and the continued appetite from investors in the platform. I am delighted to have such a distinguished partner and investor in HSBC, who brings a great deal of experience in delivering exceptional banking services. We look forward to taking this partnership forward.”
Berlin-based topi scores €44.8 million to unlock seamless subscription-based transactions for retailers and manufacturers
Berlin-based fintech topi is empowering retailers and manufacturers to access subscription-based transactions and helping to fuel the shift to a circular economy. The startup has just secured €44.8 million and announced a strategic partnership with GRAVIS, a leading electronic retailer in Germany. Shifting to a circular economy is one of the cornerstones of creating a more sustainable and equitable society. Not only does a circular economy rely on more conscious decisions from consumers, but it also needs businesses to rethink how they go about transactions and processes. At the same time, companies across Europe are facing uncertain and challenging economic times, and looking for ways to enhance their financial footing as well as operational efficiency. It’s a big day for Berlin-based topi which has built infrastructure to address exactly these challenges. The startup has just announced a new capital investment of about €44.8 million alongside a new partnership with a leading electronics retailer – GRAVIS. New funding, new partnerships The Series A investment was led by Index Ventures and CREANDUM, with participation from Silicon Valley-based TriplePoint Capital. It brings topi’s total raised to about €50 million from a range of investors, including prominent angels, such as founders and early employees of Adyen, Stripe, N26, HelloFresh, Cloudflare, Personio, and others. GRAVIS is now a strategic partner for the firm as topi aims to become the standard choice for B2B.
€297m fund for European tech start-ups backed by AIB and ISIF
Claret Capital has raised €297m in funding for growing European start-ups in the technology and life sciences sectors, with contributions from AIB and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).
The nearly €300m figure significantly overshoots the €250m target that London-based Claret had aimed for with its European Growth Capital Fund III.
Some of the fund’s backers include long-time investors the European Investment Fund, British Business Investments, RAG-Stiftung, Certior Capital and KfW Capital.
New investors AIB and ISIF have together committed €25m to the fund, according to the Irish Independent.
There are already 29 businesses in the Fund III portfolio, with the first investment made in March 2021.
Claret said that along with this final close of growth fund, several co-investment deals offering loans of up to €50m have also been finalised to support start-ups. Together, this will see Claret pump more than €500m of capital into an additional 50 to 60 new companies over the next three years.
Johan Kampe, managing partner at Claret, said that the fund will seek to work with leaderships teams and “disrupt” the industries they work in – ranging from enterprise software and fintech to marketplaces.
As well as AIB and ISIF, some of the other institutional investors that backed the latest fund and helped it exceed its target include Aozora Bank, Banca March and HNA, as well as some private entrepreneurs and industry experts.
Two Sigma Ventures, a NYC-based venture capital firm, closed two venture funds, totaling $400M.
Approximately 85% of the new capital comes from external investors, primarily institutions such as college endowments, non-profit foundations, pension funds, and hospital systems, with the remainder of the capital coming from Two Sigma’s partners and senior employees.
They include:
Two Sigma Ventures IV (TSV IV), which will invest in early-stage startups, and
Two Sigma Ventures Opportunity Fund II (TSV Opps II), which will invest in growth-stage companies.
Two Sigma Ventures invests across many industries including enterprise SaaS, fintech, techbio, consumer tech, crypto and defi, and more. The new capital will allow TSV to invest in breakthrough companies fundamentally changing the ways society and technology interact, transforming traditional industries, and helping to move humanity forward.
European FinTech deals this week include CapitalFlow, Muse Finance and Capital on Tap
We feature Q&As with Gabriel Levie of Wequity and Hans de Back, Finch Capital
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Gabriel Levie of Wequity
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I was born and raised in Belgium and was lucky to have a Dutch-speaking mother and French-speaking father, which means I speak both languages fluently. Before starting Wequity I completed my undergraduate studies in Economics and Philosophy in the UK. Since 2019 I have been back in Belgium.
With my cofounder Franck we launched Wequity in February 2021, and we have been working full time with a team of 5 people. On the side I run, climb, and play the piano.
Hans de Back: Sure. Okay, so my name is Hans de Back. I’m a General Partner at Finch Capital. I am Managing Partner at Finch Capital since 2015. I’m based in Southeast Asia. So we as a FinTech VC we invest in two regions, Europe and Southeast Asia. So I’m responsible for our Southeast Asian activities. Radboud is looking after Europe.
My background is that I’ve been an entrepreneur myself from 2000 till 2011, but in the mobile marketing and advertising space. So I’ve built companies together with two partners all the way from a startup to an IPO to a listing. So I think it’s an entrepreneurial experience in the companies and I have leveraged that experience in the companies we invest in. Then from 2011 till 2014 I’ve been an angel investor. I moved to Singapore in 2011 and started investing as an angel in in technology companies with a very broad focus, ecommerce, social media, but also FinTech and that’s where I started to work with Radboud. We did some deals sharing and co-investments, and then decided to set up Finch Capital. So that’s a bit about my work.
CapitalFlow specializes in offering loans to small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The funding will help Irish SMBs invest in energy efficiency financing projects so they can transition to sustainable energy, Silicon Canals reported Friday (Aug. 26).
“We’re delighted to be partnering with the SBCI once again in supporting the Energy Efficiency Loans Scheme and the move toward green finance,” said Capitalflow CEO Ronan Horgan in the report. “By investing now, helped by the Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme, businesses can help the environment and reduce their costs in the medium to long term.”
The money is part of 150 million euros (about $149 million), the SBCI EELS is offering as a catalyst for energy efficiency investments, the report stated.
“Capitalflow’s participation will assist SMBs and farmers in accessing low-cost, flexible finance for investment in energy-efficient equipment as they respond to the ongoing increase in energy costs,” said SBCI CEO June Butler in the report. “This scheme is our first dedicated climate action-related product. It has been specifically designed to help Irish businesses to improve their sustainability, cut their energy bills, and reduce their carbon emissions by investing in energy-saving measures.”
In Ireland, the government has set the target of becoming a net zero emissions economy by 2050, the report stated.
London-based Muse nabs $20 million to support small businesses
The investment will accelerate the startup’s expansion and support customers in the U.K and its launch in the U.S.
At a time when lending to small businesses in the U.K. has hit an all-time low, London-based SME financial services platform Muse Finance has raised $20 million in a debt facility round.
The fresh capital infusion brings the total amount raised by the company to $96 million. The debt facility comes ahead of its upcoming Series A round, which is planned for early 2023.
The investment will accelerate the startup’s expansion and support customers in the U.K and its launch in the U.S. The platform is being used by 5,000 customers in the U.K to supply finance for over 36,000 invoices.
Founded in 2018, the UK-based fintech aims to optimise the cash flow of SMEs to enable them to gain access to new funds. It offers advanced invoice collections, wherein users can gain instant access to funds owed to them on an invoice. The amount on the invoice is then collected by Muse on the due date.
Capital on Tap has secured a £200 million funding facility with JP Morgan and Triple Point to support UK small businesses.
The funding will help small businesses access credit at a time when the UK is anticipating a recession and facing historic inflation rates.
Launched in 2012, London FinTech Capital on Tap provides an all-in-one small business credit card and spend management platform tailored to small businesses. Recently recognised by The Sunday Times and the Financial Times as one of Britain and Europe’s fastest growing businesses respectively, this funding facility will bolster their dramatic growth in the UK. Over 200,000 small business customers have spent £4 billion on their Capital on Tap business credit cards.
This new funding facility comes just four months after securing a $200m facility to power growth in the US. Both facilities are vital resources with ambitious expansion plans in place, following Capital on Tap’s impressive 61.98% annual sales growth over the last three years.
European FinTech deal this week include Unstoppable Finance, Griffin, Super Payments and Ageras Group
We feature Q&As with Stefan Klauser of Aisot and Max Lautenschläger of Iconic Holding
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Stefan Klauser of Aisot
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hi, I am Stefan, Co-Founder & CEO at aisot. We are a leading provider of (predictive) analytics for the financial industry. I always had a passion for both entrepreneurial work and predictive tools. The Oracle of Delphi was by far the coolest thing in Latin class. And my first business I „founded” as a kid, when selling cherries from our garden on our village’s streets. In my free time, I like to be in nature or sing. I have played in rock bands since I was a teenager.
7 Questions with Max Lautenschläger of Iconic Holding
Born and raised in Heidelberg I started my professional career in consulting and after a few years, I transitioned more towards finance. In particular, the alternative investment space has always been very attractive to me. This is why I decided to do the MBA program at the Frankfurt School of Finance and in parallel, I did the CAIA designation. After a few years in Private Equity, Venture Capital and FinTech Company Building, I decided to found my own business Iconic, of which I’m still one of the main shareholders and managing partners.
I’ve never been this 5-hour-startup guy, who begins his business on the side while still working full-time on something else. As soon as Pat (Co-Founder, Managing Partner) and I had the idea for Iconic we went “all-in”, quit our jobs, moved to Berlin and bootstrapped our startup. And so far, it seems as if it has been the right approach. If you love something and are convinced of its potential, just do it! The worst result could be failing and even this will give you more joy, experience, and learnings than any corporate job could.
When it comes to leisure time, I love sports, spending time with good friends and traveling. Since I think relationships are one of the most important things in life, I try to see all of my friends on a weekly basis. Independently from how busy I am, I try to fit sports into my schedule 5 times a week since this refreshes not only my body but also my mind.
German fintech Unstoppable Finance bags €12.5M to build DeFi wallet and investing platform
Unstoppable Finance, a Berlin-based fintech firm, announced on Wednesday that it has secured €12.5M in a Series A round of funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
New investor Anagram also participated in the round along with existing investors Speedinvest, Rockaway Blockchain Fund, Backed, Inflection, Discovery Ventures, and Fabric Ventures.
The Series A round was closed in early July, nine months after raising €4.5M in a Seed round.
Fund utilisation
The German company says it will use the funds to launch and scale its DeFi wallet & investing platform, Ultimate, announced last month. Soon after the official announcement, the platform quickly garnered interest from over 300K beta users globally who joined the waitlist, says the company.
Maximilian von Wallenberg-Pachaly, co-founder and CEO of Unstoppable Finance, says, “We are proud and excited to attract such prominent investors, especially during this tough market environment. With this funding, we’ll pursue our mission to bring DeFi to retail investors worldwide with our app Ultimate. We’d like to thank our old and new investors for their vote of confidence and trust in our product and our mission.”
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, and Health sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 400 companies globally, including Snap, Affirm, Nest, Nutanix, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, OYO, Guardant, and GrubHub. Lightspeed and its affiliates currently manage $10.5B across the global Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India, China, Southeast Asia and Europe.
Super Payments, a London, UK-based payments startup, raised a $27m in funding. The round was led by Accel, with participation from Union Square Ventures, LocalGlobe, and angels. The company intends to use the funds to continue to continue to develop the platform, expand operations and its business reach. Founded in 2022 by Samir Desai CBE, founder of Funding Circle, and a team of experienced executives, Super Payments aims to transform the online shopping experience powering free payments for businesses, and rewarding shopping for members. Instead of charging merchants transaction fees, businesses on Super will only pay a commission if it brings to an increase in sales. Accel is a leading venture capital firm that invests in people and their companies from the earliest days through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian, Braintree, Cloudera, CrowdStrike, DJI, Dropbox, Dropcam, Etsy, Facebook, Flipkart, FreshWorks, Jet, Qualtrics, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, UiPath and Vox Media are among the companies the firm has backed over the past 35 years.
Amsterdam-based Tellow’s parent company Ageras Group raises €35M to help SMEs with their financial need
Ageras Group, a Danish fintech startup, announced on Thursday that it has secured €35M in growth capital financing from CIBC Innovation Banking.
Earlier this year, the Copenhagen-based company raised €30M from a group of European and American investors. The round brings the total fund raised to $145M (approximately €140M) since 2021.
The latest funding announcement comes a few days after acquiring Berlin-based neo-bank Kontist, its third acquisition in the last 12 months.
Fund utilisation
Ageras Group will use the funds to accelerate its strategic acquisitions pipeline and to expand its suite of software tailored to small businesses.
“CIBC Innovation Banking’s investment will help us focus on the mission: acquiring companies whose tech can fit into—and enrich—Ageras’ one-and-done financial cockpit for small businesses,” says Ageras Co-founder and CEO Rico Andersen.
He adds, “In the last year, we’ve acquired and added three companies to our product offering. Now, with CIBC Innovation Banking’s €35m investment, we’ll look to buy more, especially companies that have developed best-in-class products that either cement our position in one market or add mission-critical features that we can offer to all existing customers.”
Sesami Cash Management Technologies, a global cash ecosystem integrator and technology company, announced its acquisition of Planfocus Software GmbH, a global FinTech offering highly advanced cash optimisation technology.
“With this acquisition, Sesami becomes the global leader in cash optimisation solutions, with an unrivalled technology stack now up-scaled with the addition of planfocus’ cutting-edge cash optimisation software,” said Steph Gonthier, Chief Executive Officer of Sesami. “Integrated to our enterprise cash ecosystem software platform, planfocus’ AI based technology and strong team will further enable Sesami to deliver the only true end-to-end tech-enabled cash ecosystem solution to financial institutions and consumer businesses,” he added.
Founded in 2004 and based in Munich, Germany, planfocus’ cash optimisation software solutions help reduce logistics spending and cash holding costs while improving availabilities and service levels for clients. Its technology empowers financial institutions and consumer businesses worldwide to drive process optimisation and bring tangible cost and service efficiencies throughout their cash ecosystem.
“We are extremely proud to be joining forces with Sesami, a state-of-the-art innovator and disruptive global leader, to offer a true end-to-end and fully integrated cash software solution enabling financial institutions and consumer businesses to seamlessly manage and outsource their entire cash ecosystem. As part of Sesami, we will now be able to truly scale our next generation technology and bring our unmatched cash optimisation solutions to a broader global client base,” said Dr. Joachim Walser, CEO and Co-Founder of planfocus.
The integration of planfocus further expands Sesami’s global client portfolio to include some of the world’s leading financial institutions and consumer businesses. Integrating its existing technology stack will also broaden its cash optimisation offering for its client base. Currently, planfocus optimises the operations of over 78,000 bank branches, ATMs and cash processing centres, and driving over 300 billion Euros in physical cash shipments every year.
London-based VC 2xN unveils $120 million fund to back quantum computing startups
The ticket size of investment will range from $3 million to $5 million starting from pre-seed to Series A in each company in Europe
London-based VC 2xN has rolled out $120 million fund to back startups in quantum computing across Europe. Bringing high-growth value of network effects to early-stage founders, 2xN’s Fund II will invest in up to 25 early-stage startups in Europe and the U.S.
The ticket size of investment will range from $3 million to $5 million starting from pre-seed to Series A in each company. The fund will focus on quantum startups and companies in the sectors of mobility, collaboration, marketplace and edtech.
The company had earlier unveiled its first fund of $50 million in stealth mode in 2021. The last fund had made 21 investments in companies, including Quantinuum, and StudySmarter.
The 2xN’s oversubscribed fund is backed by the Danish Growth Fund and several family offices, including the founders of e-scooter startup Voi and wine marketplace Vivino; and Ilyas Khan, founder of Quantinuum. The fund reflects the rise of serial entrepreneurs and operators turning to invest in an increasingly mature European market. While it’s a trend that has gained momentum in the U.S, single GP funds are still a rarity in Europe.
The company’s colloabrative approach has already seen 2xN co-invest alongside the likes of Sequoia, A16Z, Kleiner, Founders Fund, Accel, YCombinator, and Owl Ventures, while getting access to oversubscribed rounds.
Talking about the new fund, Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, general partner and co-founder of 2xN said: “Instead of being just another fund, I believe 2xN represents a key moment in the evolution of European VC. Ex-operators and founders are increasingly becoming investors, while the speed of startups increases, and founders are repeat entrepreneurs. This represents a huge opportunity for Niels and I to help share decades of experience, strengthen global networks and build an ecosystem of investment with the next-generation of founders and their innovations. This is only possible by shifting away from the closed systems of old and creating a culture of openness, transparency and shared deals in a way that benefits everyone.”
We feature Q&As with Allindex and Margaris Ventures
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Christian Kronseder of Allindex
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Work: Before starting ALLINDEX, I was global COO of STOXX and Head of Markets at Royal Bank of Scotland, Switzerland. I have a professorship for data science which is a synergetic activity also for building our FinTech.
Leisure: I live in Switzerland and hence very much enjoy the hiking and skiing opportunities, spending my free time with my family.
7 Questions with Spiros Margaris of Margaris Ventures
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Spiros Margaris, and I am a venture capitalist (VC) and the founder of Margaris Ventures. I have been in the investment business for quite some time, with more than 25 years of international experience in investment management/research and startups. In my role as a VC, I also act as an advisor to my globally spread FinTech and InsurTech startup portfolio. I am the first international influencer to achieve ‘The Triple Crown’ of influencer rankings by being ranked the global No. 1 FinTech, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain influencer by Onalytica in 2018. I am very fortunate to regularly appear in the top three positions of the established global industry influencer rankings due to the generous support of great FinTech industry friends and participants. In 2017, I had the opportunity to give a speech at the TEDxAcademy Talk. In addition, for the enterprise software vendor SAP, I wrote an AI white paper, ‘Machine learning in financial services: Changing the rules of the game’.
German digital lending platform auxmoney bags €500M from Citi, Natixis
Düsseldorf-based auxmoney, a digital lending platform, announced on Wednesday that it has secured €500M from US banking firm Citigroup and French asset management company Natixis.
The company says it will use the funds to invest in consumer loans on its platform. To date, the company has raised $3.64B in funding.
Daniel Drummer, CFO of auxmoney, says, “With two renowned financial institutions providing funding at scale, this deal underlines the profound trust of investors in auxmoney and the appeal of digital lending as an asset class, even in a more volatile market environment. In addition, this funding commitment further strengthens auxmoney’s excellent standing as a tech-enabled platform for institutional investors.”
German Neobank Acquired by Ageras Group as Fintech Continues European Expansion
The Berlin-based neo-bank focused on the complex accounting and banking needs of Germany’s growing populations of microbusinesses and self-employed workers, Kontist, has been acquired by Ageras Group, the financial matchmaking service, as it looks to expand its all-in-one fintech offering for SMEs.“This acquisition is a critical step in Ageras’ growth,” said Ageras co-founder and CEO Rico Andersen. “Kontist has created the best product in Europe’s largest market. It’s a one-stop financial shop for approximately 50,000 German small business owners today, and it’s perfectly positioned to become the go-to financial platform for future generations of small business owners in need of modern banking and accounting tools.”
Founded in 2016 by fintech veteran Christopher Plantener as Germany’s first neo-bank focused on freelancers and the self-employed, 150-person Kontist has developed a reputation for its modern business banking and its highly sophisticated digital tax and accounting software.
Kontist offers self-employed and microbusiness owners bank accounts, payment cards and accounting features, as well as tax returns calculation and filing, all via its app. Also, Kontist’s bank accounts automatically calculate relevant sales and income taxes and set aside estimated taxes due, among other services designed to protect business owners amid Germany’s uniquely complex tax laws.
“Under Ageras, we will be able to benefit from an international accounting and financial ecosystem and continue to foster our position as the number one financial services and tax player for the self-employed,” said Kontist co-CEO Benjamin Esser. “With annual growth rates of nearly 100 per cent over the past few years, we have only scratched the surface of what is a tremendous opportunity.”
Nigeria-based Royal Exchange Healthcare has sold a majority stake to Dot and will use the proceeds to fund operations and expand staff numbers. Africa-focused financial services company Dot has taken a majority stake in health insurance provider Royal Exchange Healthcare (REH). Aluko & Oyebode provided legal advice to Dot and its affiliates on the transaction, for which deal values were not published. Amsterdam-headquartered Dot was founded in 2021, and leverages technology and a 27,000-strong agency network to expand access to financial and insurance services to consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa. Operating under Nigeria’s National Health Insurance Scheme, Lagos-headquartered REH functions as a financial intermediary between healthcare users and providers, designing and selling a variety of medical health plans to suit differing needs. The deal will provide additional working capital for sustaining REH’s operations and increasing staff numbers across many aspects of the business, with a view to transforming it into a pre-eminent health maintenance brand in Nigeria. Aluko & Oyebode used a team led by partner Ajibola Asolo, with assistance from associates Amarachi Nickabugu, Michael Nwanneka and Gregory Yinka-Gregg.
PayStand Acquires Yaydoo in One of Latam’s Biggest Tech Mergers
Blockchain-enabled B2B payments company PayStand has acquired Mexican FinTech Yaydoo, marking what the company called “one of the biggest technology unions” in Latin America.
PayStand said in a Wednesday (Aug. 3) press release that the scale of the combined company could put it on the path to an initial public offering (IPO) in the next two years.
Both PayStand and Yaydoo have created accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP) solutions for American and Latin American businesses, and they have built B2B decentralized finance (DeFi) payment networks in both the United States and Mexico, the release stated.
“The combined company will be one of the first global B2B blockchain platforms at a significant scale,” said PayStand CEO Jeremy Almond in the release. “The resulting company will have processed over $5 billion in payments, added 300 additional employees, and built a network of over 500,000 connected businesses, the largest of any commercial B2B blockchains in the world.”
Yaydoo CEO Sergio Almaguer said in the release that the acquisition will open opportunities to automate supply chain finance “through the imports and exports of one of the most active trade corridors globally” while also forming B2B payments alliances between the U.S. and Mexico.
Last month, PayStand launched what it called the world’s first dynamic discounting application for seller AR teams, powered by Ethereum smart contracts.
Concept Ventures rolls out £50 million pre-seed fund to back 60 startups in the UK
The ticket size of the UK-based VC’s investment would be in the range of £100,000-£600,000 for the 60 startups in the next five years
London-based venture capital firm Concept Ventures has launched £50 million fund in the U.K to back over 60 startups in its pre-seed stage. According to the company, it is the largest dedicated pre-seed fund in the U.K.
The oversubscribed fund includes a £30 million commitment from the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme, the U.K. government’s economic development bank.
The ticket size of its investment would be in the range of £100,000-£600,000. The company will invest in 60 startups in a span of five years.
Founded in 2018, the VC has backed over 100 founders at the pre-seed stage, with Concept backed-founders seeing a 71 per cent graduation rate from pre-seed onward. The new companies will join the portfolio companies, including corporate gifting platform Reachdesk, live-streaming video pioneers Condense, and female financial education platform, Your Juno.
Seedstars announces first close of $30m emerging market seed stage fund
The Switzerland-based Seedstars has launched its second emerging market seed stage fund with a first close of US$20 million.
Since 2013, Seedstars has supported over 90 emerging market venture ecosystems, while its first investment fund – Seedstars International Ventures – backed 81 companies in over 30 countries, including Nigeria’s Omnibiz.
The Seedstars International Ventures II fund is backed by notable investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Visa Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Symbiotics.
With US$20 million of its US$30 million target already raised, Seedstars plans to invest in 100 pre-seed and seed stage companies across Asia, Africa, MENA, and LATAM in the next three years. Investments will be focused on companies building for the future of finance, commerce, health, work and education, with follow-on investments up to Series A. The fund also includes a blended finance component with a first-loss tranche that provides downside protection for investments in the lowest-income markets.
“I have no doubt about the abundance of talented founders or the market opportunities, but the challenges can’t be ignored. Our strategy innovates on so many levels to mitigate risk, be it through our country diversification, portfolio construction strategy, value creation platform, or the blended finance structure. We have a unique recipe, an incredible team, and backers in place to build on the success of the first fund and level the playing field for tech entrepreneurs around the world,” said Seedstars partner Charlie Graham-Brown.
Seedstars has also developed a Value Creation Platform to help portfolio companies scale up rapidly. The primary component of the Value Creation Platform is the Growth Track, a three-month mentor-led sprint, where portfolio companies are equipped with the tools and methodologies to run a professional growth team. The platform also provides companies with access to a vast network of 1,300 mentors, support with fundraising, a group of peers, and various other benefits.
Flashpoint unveils $102 million fund to back startups from Emerging Europe, ropes in first institutional investment partner
The Hungarian fund manager Széchenyi Funds will invest $20 million in Flashpoint VC III fund to reach its target fund size
London-based investment firm that manages venture capital, growth secondary, and venture debt funds, Flashpoint has wrapped up $102 million for its VCIII fund. The fund will focus on global Series A tech startups originating in Emerging Europe.
The company has also roped in its first institutional investment limited partner, Széchenyi Funds. The Hungarian fund manager will invest $20 million in Flashpoint’s VC III fund. While Széchenyi Funds’ focus is on financial institutions, large corporates, and more mature SMEs, it provides startups with ‘smart money’ through domestic incubators and accelerators and especially through fund of funds investments.
Michael Szalontay, co-founder and general partner at Flashpoint said: “We have reached our initial goal of over $100 million for our fund despite the extremely challenging backdrop for fundraising. Being a Hungarian, I am especially proud that our first institutional investor is from Hungary as we are pursuing a shared mission in developing the venture capital ecosystem in Hungary and the Carpathian basin.”
European FinTech deal this week include Bunch, Wallife, Element
We feature Q&As with Weavr.io and Swisscom Ventures
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Alex Mifsud of Weavr.io
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m an entrepreneur, so no surprise that I’m intensely curious about why things are the way they are, and what would happen if we can change how they are. That’s true for me in business and everything else I do – it drives my family a bit crazy, but someone has to do it. Otherwise we’d still be in the Stone Age. I basically like to tinker – doing little experiments, whether I’m cooking a meal or building a business. It’s fun, experiencing old things in new ways, although it can sometimes be disastrous too. Not everyone likes my cooking.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Semih Kacan, and I am Investment Manager at Swisscom Ventures. I’ve joined Swisscom Ventures at the beginning of 2021 to strengthen the Fintech and Blockchain allocation in the portfolio. Prior to Swisscom Ventures I spent over 10 years in Strategy Consulting, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Asset Management at Credit Suisse, BearingPoint and Haspa before I co-founded and successfully exited my venture in Zurich. I hold a Master Degree in Corporate Finance from Henley Business School.
I enjoy the time with friends and family and a cup of coffee on sunny days at the beautiful Zurich Lake but also like reading books and watching videos to educate myself about upcoming trends/technologies.
Private markets investing platform Bunch raises €7.3m seed to expand across Europe
It’s safe to say private market investments — that means asset classes like venture capital, private debt, real estate and private equity — have been having a bit of a moment the last couple of decades. (Everyone’s an angel investor now, right?) There’s growing awareness of the potential for moneymaking in these sectors, and people in the tech industry — from founders to operators — want to help the next generation invest more easily.
Cue Berlin-based investing platform Bunch, which has just raised a €7.3m seed round for its operating system (OS) that aims to open up access to these asset classes for individual investors.
What does Bunch do?
Bunch has built a software platform with three target customers: founders, business angels and venture fund managers. In other words, people who work in and around startups and have money to invest.
Why founders? Bunch says that by enabling investors to pool their investments it helps founders keep their cap tables clean by adding one single investor of record rather than 20-50 individual investors, thus avoiding the administrative costs they come with.
Business angels can use the Bunch platform to pool and manage their deals, while venture fund managers can quickly set up special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to invest into their portfolios.
Who’s investing in Bunch?
Berlin-based early-stage VC firm Cherry Ventures.
Embedded capital, which led its undisclosed pre-seed round.
Angel investors including founders and C-level executives from Adyen, Klarna and Juni.
Cherry Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm led by a team of entrepreneurs with experience building fast-scaling companies such as Zalando and Spotify. The firm backs Europe’s boldest founders, usually as their first institutional investor, and supports them in everything from their go-to-market strategy and the scaling of their businesses.
Italy-based insurtech company Wallife bags €12M from United Ventures, others: Know more
Rome, Italy-based Wallife, an insurtech company that protects individuals from new risks originating from the technological and scientific progress of genetics, biometrics and biohacking, announced on Wednesday that it has raised €12M in a Series A round of funding.
According to Crunchbase, Wallife now ranks seventh in Europe in the insurtech sector by the value of the Series A investment round.
The investment was led by United Ventures, an Italian venture capital firm that specialises in digital technology investments. Since 2013, the firm has partnered with over 30 technology startups, supporting their growth and international expansion process.
The round also saw participation from a pool of selected Italian and international investors and business angels, including Aptafin.
Massimiliano Magrini, Managing Partner of United Ventures, says, “Scientific and technological progress introduces changes in our lives at an extremely fast pace. In this context, we were attracted by Wallife’s pioneering vision to build the world’s first company capable of providing answers on safety and protection from emerging and unknown risks.”
Headquartered in Milano, United Ventures provides support and funding across all the stages of new ventures, by investing seed stage, early stage and growth capital, with both start-up companies and estabilished ones launching onto new markets.
Frankfurt The Berlin-based insurance start-up Element has received a further 21.4 million euros from investors. The new financing round is led by the pension fund of the Berlin Dental Association (VZB). Alma Mundi Ventures from Spain, the Hong Kong investment company Witan Group and the Luxembourg fintech investor Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital also participated in the insurtech again, as the company confirmed. However, information on the evaluation of the start-up is not available.
Element had already collected 16 million euros last summer. The total investment now amounts to 88 million euros. The largest investors in the company, which was founded in 2017, are Finleap and Signals Invest, which held 45.1 percent and 18.5 percent of Element, respectively, at the end of last year.
It was only on Wednesday that it became known that the former Axa board member Astrid Stange will lead Element from August as a double seat with the previous CEO Christian Macht. Together, the management duo will lead the digital insurer into the next phase of growth. Element intends to use the fresh capital from the financing round to expand its market position in Germany and integrate new product categories into its portfolio.
VZB is the Pension fund for the employees of Berlin dental association.
iDenfy announces its new cyber insurance by landing a massive contract with Lloyds
Kaunas, Lithuania (July 26, 2022) – iDenfy, the Lithuanian-based global identity verification and fraud prevention platform, announced a new collaboration with Lloyd’s, the leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace. iDenfy selected the Technology Errors and Omissions Coverage insurance as well as the Cyber protection package to meet the highest security standards.
iDenfy invested in adding an extra layer of security and purchased insurance from Lloyd’s. According to iDenfy, they are one of the few identity verification experts in the market to safeguard their services with high-class insurance, such as Lloyd’s. The newly selected Technology Errors and Omissions Coverage insurance ensures technology performance, protects from potential technology failures, and shields iDenfy from manufacturing its innovative services.
iDenfy claims that operating in a risky field and managing sensitive data naturally demands greater security. For this reason, the company decided to benefit from cybersecurity insurance. According to Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy, the goal behind the partnership with Lloyd’s was to guarantee the absolute safety of iDenfy’s customers:
“We operate in a rather risky sector. Our team works with particularly sensitive data, such as biometrics or government-issued documents. Where there’s personal information, there’s always more risks of potential cyberattacks.”
Meanwhile, Lloyd’s, presenting itself as the world’s leading insurance platform, is well known for its wide range of specialists. A part of the capital available at Lloyd’s is based on a subscription, meaning that Lloyd's underwriters join together as syndicates and where syndicates unite to underwrite risks and programs. iDenfy’s chosen insurance plan from Lloyd’s is also supported by a professional Claims Department and an in-house legal team, providing 24/7 support.
As per Lloyd’s, its collective intelligence and risk-sharing expertise of the market’s underwriters and brokers create a safer environment. Considering this situation, iDenfy states that the new cyber insurance will set grounds for an even stronger cybersecurity policy, helping the company prevent data theft and regulatory fines. The contract with Lloyd’s enables additional protection from cyber extortion, negligence in technology services, GDPR and AML fines, etc.
iDenfy’s CEO, Domantas Ciulde, added: “Cybersecurity insurance is essential. It acts as a bridge to attract investments and new partnerships while simultaneously helping us maintain a good reputation and a high level of security. We’re thrilled to unite with Lloyd’s, a business committed to building a safer digital future.”
FNZ acquires private banking fintech
FNZ, the global wealth management platform, has acquired New Access, a specialized private banking technology firm primarily active in the markets of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.
These markets are key to serving and administering client wealth globally and will support FNZ in delivering on its promise to open up wealth and serve the US$240 trillion global wealth market.
The strategic acquisition of New Access represents a further investment by FNZ into the growing private banking and cross-border wealth sector after a number of customer successes and the acquisition of the Swiss tech innovator Appway in February 2022.
Private banks are under significant pressure to adapt and scale offerings to their existing and new clients but are often constrained by legacy technology, complex delivery models and new regulatory requirements. FNZ is transforming the industry landscape with its full service, end-to-end wealth platform. Combining cutting-edge technology, infrastructure and investment operations into a single state-of-the-art platform, FNZ enables wealth managers to rapidly deliver personalized services and innovative wealth products.
UK-based GoHenry, which offers prepaid debit cards and a financial education app for kids aged six to 18, has acquired French fintech start-up Pixpay for an undisclosed sum.
GoHenry says the new deal will enable it to expand its user base and boost its growth in Europe.
The company claims to have “more than doubled” its revenue during the pandemic to $42 million in 2021. It secured a $40 million funding round in December 2020.
Founded in France in 2019 by Benoit Grassin, Nicolas Klein and Caroline Ménager, Pixpay offers an alternative to banks for teens.
The firm provides a Mastercard payment card and a mobile app that allows users to pay, get paid, save money or get discounts on brands. It also has a mobile application for parents, offering them a secure, educational and practical solution to follow and accompany their children on a daily basis.
With claims of nearly 200,000 members, Pixpay plans to expand into Italy and Germany later this year. It has raised more than €11 million since April 2019.
GoHenry and Pixpay will continue to operate under their own brands with no change in leadership, headquarters or headcount.
Carta, a San Francisco-based fintech startup, announced that it has acquired London-based Vauban, an online platform that helps investors back private companies. The value of the acquisition has not been disclosed.
As a part of the acquisition, Vauban’s team will join Carta, says the company. It will also result in the integration of Vauban’s fund establishment platform into the existing Carta business offering.
Vrushali Paunikar, VP of product for investor services at Carta, mentions in a blog post that more than 50 per cent of SPVs and funds in the US have at least one non-US LP.
“On one combined platform, syndicate leads and fund managers can now launch funds from the US, UK, British Virgin Islands, and soon, from Luxembourg,” she wrote.
The announcement comes after Carta raised $500M at a $7.4B valuation last year in a round led by Silver Lake Partners. The US company planned to use the funds to acquire other firms, reports The Information.
COI Partners rolls out €120-million fund to expand deal-by-deal platform for DACH growth companies
The growth investor will invest between €15 million and €30 million in initial and follow-on investments per company in the DACH region
Swiss-German growth investor COI Partners has rolled out €120-million fund to focus on deal-by-deal investments in the DACH region. The COIP DACH Growth II SCSp is a Luxembourg-based fund that will target growth companies.
The company, which was earlier called Co-Investor Partners, will invest between €15 million and €30 million in initial and follow-on investments per company. The firm has historically focused on sectors such as IT and software, consumer and retail, life sciences, technology, and industrials, however, continues to pursue an industry-agnostic approach.
The fund will match each future deal-by-deal investment by COI Partners. This will bring the company’s assets under management to over €300 million and strengthen its mission of partnering with outstanding companies and entrepreneurs. Primarily focussing on DACH, the fund will look at growth companies with a proven business model, and positive unit economics, and are ready to scale.
Amsterdam-based Welt marks first close of VC fund at €35M
Amsterdam-based Welt, a venture capital firm, announced on Tuesday that it has closed the first round of its VC fund at €35M from a group of tech entrepreneurs and private individuals. The Dutch VC intends to close the fund at €75M, which is expected after summer, six months sooner than projected. According to Welt, the latest VC fund has two purposes: Democratising Venture Capital by enabling individual investors to invest in top-tier Venture Capital and Growth Equity funds. Invest in the next generation of European startups and unicorns. Bouke Marsman, Managing Partner at Welt, says, “Now is an interesting time to invest in Venture Capital since the correction of tech shares is taking place in the private markets as well. In the process, the distinction between promising and less promising startups and scale-ups is becoming clearer. This presents opportunities for the top Venture Capital funds in particular. Thanks to their track record and experience, it is easier for them to invest in the unicorns of the future. This is reflected in the returns. Historically, funds started during or immediately after crisis years (for example 2001 and 2009) have shown very strong results.”
European FinTech deal this week include Asset Class, Griffin, Oxbury Bank, Zilch, Cleo, YuLife, ArK Kapital, WeFox
We feature Q&As with Brian Nolan and Zbi Czapran of Finteum and Christian Knott, Capnamic Ventures
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Brian Nolan and Zbi Czapran of Finteum
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hi, we are Brian from Ireland and Zbi from Poland, both living in London. Together we have worked for 20 years in banking and in building technology solutions for enterprise. Brian was a director for UBS in Treasury in Zürich and New York in liquidity management, and before that in Bank of Ireland. Zbi has built technology for enterprise and financial services companies, such as IHS Markit. Outside work, Brian likes to stay healthy and go running. Zbi used to have free time for travelling and trying out European beers, but now his home life takes up most of the free time.
7 Questions with Christian Knott, Capnamic Ventures
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Well, I am the typical business student, did my bachelor in Cologne, Master in Leipzig. Worked briefly for the European Commission but that was not my hometurf. Started working in Venture Capital in 2010 and am with Capnamic for 5.5 years now. Since 2018, I am partner.
In my private life I have a fiancée (wife at the end July), who I love to travel with. The more remote and beautiful the place the better.
Asset Class, a NY-based financial technology company, raised $11.6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Canapi Ventures with participation from Live Oak Ventures, Plexus Capital and Total Technology Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to expand its employee headcount, specifically in the areas of software and business development. Led by CEO Ferdinand Roberts, Asset Class provides a range of innovative, custom investment management software solutions to clients across financial sectors, with a focus on private equity, venture capital, financial advisory and commercial lending. The company now services more than 300 funds, totaling $33 billion in assets under management, and a network of over 15,000 accredited investors. Asset Class has offices in Dublin, New York, Atlanta and London.
Founded in 2018, Canapi incubates and invests in transformative financial services technology companies that deploy solutions on modern platforms in an increasingly open and interconnected world. Backed by the United States’ top regulatory experts and leading financial institutions, Canapi provides capital, customers, and guidance to founders building the digital financial services ecosystem of tomorrow.
Banking as a Service Provider Griffin Raises $15.5 Million
Griffin, a banking as a service (BaaS) provider, has raised an additional $15.5 million as it pursues its mission of becoming the “bank Fintechs can build on.” The Fintech has raised $27 million to date. The funding round was led by Notion Capital, with participation from existing investor EQT Ventures as well as angel investors including William Hockey, co-founder of Plaid and founder and co-CEO of Column, Nilan Peiris, VP of Growth at Wise, Rob Straathof, CEO at Liberis and Shane Happach, CEO of Mollie and ex CCO Worldpay. Griffin said that it had added Stephen Chandler, Notion Capital co-founder and managing partner Stephen Chandler, to its board of directors. Based in London, Griffin is rethinking the tech stack that powers financial services. Griffin aims to offer an “API first” banking platform. Griffin previously reported that it is seeking a banking license having filed with the PRA and FCA. Griffin has not indicated its anticipated date of approval or the status of the authorization process. David Jarvis, Griffin CEO and co-founder, said they were thrilled to be working with Notion Capital and adding Chandler to the board.
Headquartered in London, Notion is a venture capital firm, investing in European SaaS and enterprise tech with more than 80 investments to date
Oxbury Bank, a UK-based start-up bank focused on the agriculture sector, has raised £20 million in equity from new and existing investors.
The round featured participation from founder investors Frontier Agriculture and Hutchinsons Group as well as existing technology investors Hambro Perks and Grosvenor Food and AgTech.
The new cash injection takes the firm’s total capital raised to £68 million.
The latest funds will be put towards the development of its Oxbury Earth core banking platform which, the bank says, will support funding British farmers.
In its first 15 months since launch, Oxbury claims it has “already disrupted the incumbent banks” with £500 million worth of lending completed or in progress. The bank says it is forecast to break even by the end of the year.
“For decades farmers have had a very limited choice between very similar incumbent banks, and we appreciate how many farmers now want to be part of Oxbury,” says James Farrar, co-founder and CEO of Oxbury.
“They are critical to food production and we support them at a very practical level with a team grounded in the sector.”
Oxbury’s fintech platform offers financing and data solutions to help farmers deliver “improved sustainability, provenance and productivity across the farming and food supply chain”.
Zilch, a London, UK-based credit payment innovator, secured an additional $50m in funding, taking the total raise for its Series C to $160m.
The extension brings total funding to more than $460m in debt and equity.
The company intends to use the funds for business growth, with a focus on the US market where Zilch recently opened its Miami office and launched with more than 150,000 pre-registered customers.
Co-Founded by Philip Belamant (CEO) and Sean O’Connor, Zilch is advancing products for customers to manage cash flow and to ensure consumer protection and financial health from the start. Utilizing Open Banking technology and so credit checks, the company uses its real-time view and understanding of customerʼs affordability to give accurate recommendations of what they can afford to borrow.
Zilchʼs direct-to-consumer proposition offers its customers unrestricted access to all 37m merchants that accept Mastercard, online or instore via Tap and Pay. It works with some of the most advanced fintech enablers including: Amazon Web Services, Cross River, Checkout.com, Cashflows, Experian, GPS, Monavate, Marqeta, Mastercard, Onfido, Provenir and Socure.
The company has over 250 employees based across its offices in London, Miami and Krakow.
Investors in Zilch include Ventura Capital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Gauss Ventures, DMG Ventures, M&F Fund and Limited Ventures.
Cleo, a London, UK-based digital assistant that supports people throughout their financial lives, from their first paycheque to their first home, raised USD80M in Series C funding.
The round was led by Sofina, with participation from EQT Ventures, Balderton and LocalGlobe.
The company intends to use the funds for continued US growth, including a significant increase in employee headcount from 140 to over 220 and continue iterating and improving on its product suite.
Founded in 2016 by Barnaby Hussey-Yeo, CEO, Cleo supports and empowers young people to form better money habits via a digital assistant. With a chat, Cleo can automate a money life and remove the stress of decision making with personal advice based on the user’s specific needs and financial history.
Sofina is a Belgium-based investment company listed on the Brussels stock exchange and a supportive partner of entrepreneurs and families managing growing companies. Sofina invests both directly and through Private Equity funds. Its geographical scope is Europe, the United States, and Asia
YuLife, a London, United Kingdom – based tech-driven insurance company, raised $120M (~£95M) in Series C funding.
The round, which brought total funding to $206M since the company was founded in 2016, was led by Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company (TSE: 8750) with participation from some undisclosed existing investors.
The company will use the capital to broaden its reach into new global markets and scale its product range, delivering financial products that improve lives and reward wellbeing.
Led by Sammy Rubin, CEO and Founder, YuLife is a tech-driven insurance company harnessing technology and the latest behavioural science to provide an insurance model that focuses on risk prevention, not just claims compensation. The company rewards employees for healthy living, supporting mental, physical and financial wellbeing helping foster healthier, and more motivated teams.
YuLife now covers >500k policyholders across small to large businesses, with over $50bn (~£40bn) of cover in place.
ArK Kapital announces a US$152mn extension to lending pool
Swedish fintech ArK Kapital has announced an extension to its Lending pool following events taking place in the current economic climate.
The fintech, which was launched in 2021, enables startups to grow by providing frictionless long-term loads based on risk-assessed data. The financing company’s services allow founders to maintain control of their startup, while the loan conditions also reduce the risk for investors.
According to reports, the US$152mn extension to the lending pool has been introduced as a response to strong traction in the Nordic markets and will be used to help drive European expansions.
The $152mn extension also means ArK Kapital can offer over $300mn in loans to European technology founders. Data shows that the initial $168mn seed round was $152mn debt-based and $15m equity-based. The equity portion of the round was led by LocalGlobe, with participation from Creandum and angel investors including founders of iZettle, Supercell, King, and EQT Ventures. This extension comes as a response to strong traction in the Nordic markets and will be used to help fuel European expansion.
Founded in 1999 in London, LocalGlobe has seeded impactful founders at places like Citymapper, Improbable, Lovefilm, Moo, Wise and Zoopla.
Insurtech start-up Wefox raises $400m and hits $4.5bn valuation
While some European start-ups are struggling, Wefox’s valuation is on the rise and it plans to grow its headcount to 2,000 by the end of the year.
German insurtech Wefox has raised $400m in a Series D round of funding to help with product development and expansion across Europe.
The round comprised both equity and debt funding. Mubadala Investment Company led the equity raise, with participation from Eurazeo, LGT, Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures and Target Global.
Wefox, which was founded in 2015, sells insurance, such as house and motor insurance, through intermediaries on its platform. Earlier this month, the company reached 2m customers and said it was one of the first insurtechs to hit this milestone.
The Berlin-based start-up plans to use the funding for product development and European expansion, with a goal to move into Asia and the US after.
Mubadala Investment Company — a sovereign investor — manages a diverse portfolio of assets and investments in the United Arab Emirates and abroad, to generate sustainable financial returns for its shareholder, the Government of Abu Dhabi.
Amundi Austria acquires fintech Finventum GmbH to utilise its Savity advisory platform
Amundi Austria has acquired fintech Finventum GmbH from Austrian retail banking company BAWAG P.S.K. and the company founders.
The acquisition aims to meet the growing need for digitalised financial services in Austria, especially for digital portfolio management.
Finventum owns Savity Vermögensverwaltung GmbH (Savity), an established, licensed and regulated Austrian advisory platform offering digital asset management services.
Expanding its technology solutions range with Savity will enable Amundi to better serve its partners, distributors and its retail clients in Austria, the asset management company says.
Guillaume Lesage, chief operating officer at Amundi, says: “At Amundi, our goal is to serve our distribution partners beyond the product offering to meet their customers’ growing need for investment advice and innovative, tailored and cost-effective technology solutions.
“Savity exactly meets these requirements and enhances the Amundi Technology footprint in the B2B segment. This powerful technology, combined with our expertise in robo-advising and the extensive portfolio management capabilities of Amundi, will drive further the development of Savity.”
Gabriele Tavazzani, CEO of Amundi Austria, comments: “This new offer will enhance our development as the credible leading European technology provider in the Austrian market. Thanks to the extensive capabilities of Amundi, we will be able not only to serve existing Savity direct clients, but also provide new digital tools and services to our partners.”
CoinShares International Limited (Nasdaq First North Growth Market: CS; US OTCQX: CNSRF), a European digital asset investment firm, acquired Napoleon Asset Management, one of the first ever digital asset managers, licensed under the AIFM Directive since March 2019.
The amount of the deal – signed and completed on 30 June 2022 – was not disclosed.
The acquisition of Napoleon Asset Management allows CoinShares to offer AIFM compliant products and services, in addition to its market leading position as an issuer of crypto Exchange Traded Products (ETPs).
The transaction follows the acquisition of the Napoleon Group last December and fits with CoinShares’ strategy of developing into a full-service digital asset investment and trading group, within a strong regulatory framework. On 30 November 2021, CoinShares entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire Napoleon Group. The transaction was completed on Thursday, 16 December 2021. The Group SPA contained an option to acquire Napoleon Asset Management, the exercise of which was subject to prior approval of the change of control by the Autorité des Marchés Financier. That approval was received on 28 June 2022. CoinShares exercised its option to acquire Napoleon Asset Management and entered into a sale and purchase agreement pursuant to the terms set out in the Group SPA which signed and completed simultaneously on 30 June 2022.
CoinShares is an advocate of regulation in the digital asset industry and has an extensive list of regulated products and services. The Alternative Investment Fund Manager (“AIFM”) licence is one of the most rigorous European regulations for Asset Managers and is a key component in CoinShares’ ambition to become the leading investment group in the digital asset sector.
FinTech Fluent Money Group has been acquired in a £72.7 million deal.
London-listed Mortgage Advice Bureau, which is headquartered in Derby, has swooped for the fast-growing mortgage and specialist lending intermediary.
MAB now owns 75.4% of Fluent, based in Horwich, Greater Manchester.
Fluent has formed strong relationships with aggregators – such as MoneySuperMarket – and other national lead sources operating across first charge, second charge and lifetime mortgages, as well as bridging loans where people are, for example, building a property.
With a model built on an end-to-end digital customer journey, supported by telephony advice, its MyFluent customer portal – developed in partnership with Sputnik Digital – allows for faster loan processing and messaging in a WhatsApp-style interface.
GoHenry acquires French fintech Pixpay to drive European expansion
UK-based GoHenry, which offers prepaid debit cards and a financial education app for kids aged six to 18, has acquired French fintech start-up Pixpay for an undisclosed sum.
GoHenry says the new deal will enable it to expand its user base and boost its growth in Europe.
The company claims to have “more than doubled” its revenue during the pandemic to $42 million in 2021. It secured a $40 million funding round in December 2020.
Founded in France in 2019 by Benoit Grassin, Nicolas Klein and Caroline Ménager, Pixpay offers an alternative to banks for teens.
The firm provides a Mastercard payment card and a mobile app that allows users to pay, get paid, save money or get discounts on brands. It also has a mobile application for parents, offering them a secure, educational and practical solution to follow and accompany their children on a daily basis.
With claims of nearly 200,000 members, Pixpay plans to expand into Italy and Germany later this year. It has raised more than €11 million since April 2019.
GoHenry and Pixpay will continue to operate under their own brands with no change in leadership, headquarters or headcount.
Pan-European Climentum Capital to launch a €150 million Fund to support innovators accelerating the green transition
Aiming to supercharge Europe’s green transition by launching a new climate tech Fund, Climentum Capital is raising €150 million to invest in early-stage startups helping Europe become carbon neutral.
As Europe continues on the journey to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, Climentum Capital has today announced it is launching a new €150 million Fund I. Europe’s ambitious journey to Net-Zero is reliant upon new innovations and tech-first approaches that can make society more sustainable and accelerate a green transition – and it’s a journey with a long way to go. This new fund is sure to be a pivotal part of getting us there.
“Now is the time to invest in Climate Tech. We need to see results within the next decades and see momentum from all sides: governments and corporations are pushing for real change, the best talent is moving into the space and technology has developed massively”. Dörte Hirschberg.
Founded in 2021, Climentum Capital is a pan-European venture with bases in Copenhagen, Berlin and Stockholm. The VC firm is investing in European startups that are dedicated to cutting down CO2 emissions in a concrete, measurable and sustainable way. This freshly launched fund aims to avoid millions of tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, accelerating the transition to a sustainable future. It’s among the first article 9 funds in Europe, with a dedicated focus on CO2 emission reductions from day one.
Stefan Maard commented: “There is a concrete value-add to both founders and investors. “Investors gain access to a cutting-edge Article 9 fund that delivers climate impacts and the associated data to help them achieve and report on their own climate and ESG targets. This is something that has resonated well with especially institutional and more forward-looking investors. Looking toward the founders, they are keen to work with truly mission-aligned investors that are also willing and able to help them mature on their own sustainability journeys – including documenting climate change impacts and leveraging that to access non-dilutive capital such as carbon credits, grants and ESG related project financing.”
Almost a billion for startups: Headline sets up the largest fund in the company’s history
The venture capital firm Headline, formerly E.ventures, has completed the largest fundraising in its 23-year history: The VC has collected 917 million euros (943 million dollars) and now wants to invest them in tech startups from the B2B and B2C sector worldwide. The money will be distributed over three new funds: headline US VII, which focuses on start-ups in North America, headline EU VII, which will provide 320 million euros to European founders, and Headline Brazil III, which will invest in Latin America.”Despite recent market shifts, we continue to aggressively pursue the next wave of world-changing innovation,” headline co-founder Mathias Schilling said. “I have already experienced some market fluctuations in the last 20 years, and in these times we have always continued to seek and promote the long-term entrepreneurial spirit.”
European FinTech deal this week include Flowdesk, Hokodo, SumUp
We feature Q&As with Christian Knott of Capnamic Ventures and Shane Riedel of Elucidate
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Christian Knott of Capnamic Ventures
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
Well, I am the typical business student, did my bachelor in Cologne, Master in Leipzig. Worked briefly for the European Commission but that was not my hometurf. Started working in Venture Capital in 2010 and am with Capnamic for 5.5 years now. Since 2018, I am partner.
In my private life I have a fiancée (wife at the end July), who I love to travel with. The more remote and beautiful the place the better.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I spent most of my career in diplomacy with the United Nations and in finance (spread between London, Zurich and Singapore) and, as such, the shift to a FinTech start up has been both challenging and liberating. The cultural and operational contrast between a bank and Elucidate could not be more extreme, but for me it has been deeply satisfying to build a dynamic team and a product that transcends the capabilities of any one person or function.
I live in Berlin, which is a fantastic FinTech hub and offers a great quality of life. In my spare time I enjoy cycling and spending time outside of the city…perhaps harkening back to my upbringing in rural Ohio in the US.
French platform Flowdesk rakes in $30 million to drive financial services for cryptocurrencies
The Parisian digital asset service provider allows interconnection with more than 60 cryptocurrency exchange platforms
Paris-based crypto-asset trading platform Flowdesk has raised $30 million in funding to drive the growth of financial services for cryptocurrencies. The round saw the participation of Eurazeo, Aglaé Ventures, ISAI, Speedinvest, Fabric, Ledger, and Coinbase, and 20 angel investors, including Alexandre Prot (Qonto), Nicolas Julia (Sorare), Pascal Gauthier (Ledger) and Sébastien Borget (The Sandbox).
Founded in 2020 by Guilhem Chaumont, Paul Bugnot, François Cluzeau and Balthazar Giraux, the startup has developed an infrastructure that allows cryptocurrencies to interconnect and trade on various exchanges while guaranteeing the redundancy and scalability needed to support the growing number of crypto projects. The company offers four services, including asset management, brokerage, custody and market-making.
Currently, the French digital asset service provider allows interconnection with more than 60 cryptocurrency exchange platforms. Flowdesk recently opened offices in Singapore in March 2022 and now plans to open an office in the U.S. with the new funding.
Headquartered in Paris, Eurazeo is a leading global investment group, with a diversified portfolio of €18.8 billion in assets under management, including €12.5 billion from third parties, invested in over 430 companies. With considerable Private Equity, real estate, private debt and fund of funds expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets.
Hokodo, a London, UK based digital trade credit provider, raised $40m in Series B funding.
The round was led by Notion Capital, with participation from Korelya Capital, Mundi Ventures, Opera Tech Ventures, Anthemis and Mosaic Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds for its expansion into new European markets and the development of BNPL solutions for telesales and in-store purchases.
Led by Louis Carbonnier, and Richard Thornton, Hokodo provides Buy Now, Pay Later solutions to the B2B market, enabling business customers to benefit from instant, interest-free payment terms. A leader in the field in the UK, the company is currently expanding into continental Europe, and working on the creation of new products devised to serve the B2B market.
With new merchants recently onboarded in France (Paris Fashion Shops) and Spain (Katoo), following launches in Belgium and the Netherlands (Ankorstore) earlier this year, a portion of the new funding will see the company expand its efforts to become the B2B BNPL category leader in continental Europe.
Notion Capital with its headquarters in London is a Venture Capital investing firm focused on European SaaS and Cloud, with more than 100 investments to date.
SumUp, a London-based maker of point-of-sale payments solutions for small businesses, raised €590 million in equity and debt funding led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities at an €8 billion valuation.
Why it matters: This reflects softening valuations for European fintech, given reports from earlier this year that investors were floating a €20 billion mark for SumUp.
Caveat: This is still a massive step-up for the company, which last raised equity funding in 2017. Or, put another way, SumUp isn’t in the same boat as Swedish fintech Klarna — once Europe’s most valuable startup with a $45 billion valuation, which now is said to be seeking new funds at around $15 billion.
Details: The round was split evenly between equity and debt. Other investors include BlackRock, btov Partners, Centerbridge, Crestline, Fin Capital and Sentinel Dome Partners.
The bottom line: “I can very comfortably say the €8 billion is a true and fair valuation, because that’s the price people put on the company in the worst of markets… In this environment we think we will see good opportunities for M&A deals once people realize that money is not free any more.” — SumUp CEO Marc-Alexander Christto the FT
Bain Capital Tech Opportunities pursues investments in application software, fintech and payments, healthcare IT and infrastructure and security. Bain Capital, LP is one of the world’s leading private investment firms with approximately $160 billion of assets under management that creates lasting impact for our investors, teams, businesses, and the communities in which we live
iDenfy launches a new Business Verification platform and partners with the Swedish Fintech Juni
Kaunas, Lithuania (June 28, 2022) – the Lithuanian identity verification and compliance company iDenfy, joined forces with Juni, the financial management platform made for ecommerce. iDenfy’s mix of built-in identity verification and Business Verification services will protect Juni from fraud.
Reduced costs, personalization, greater convenience, or speed are all factors that make ecommerce and fintech players successful in today’s digital sphere. While the benefits paint a positive picture, there’s also a riskier part to online business. According to iDenfy, cybercrime takes a toll on the fintech and ecommerce markets, making fraudsters and their crimes an issue that’s hard to tackle.
Juni follows a similar approach, and as an industry innovator, the fintech player constantly looks for new ways to bridge the gap between security and speed. For this reason, Juni decided to upgrade its fraud prevention package and implement iDenfy’s latest product, the Business Verification platform.
The goal at Juni is to provide its clients with the best-in-class financial ecosystem while at the same time, ensuring complete transparency and safety. Businesses that use Juni’s services can track their entire business profile in one place. Juni claims to have created one dashboard where companies get a centralized overview of bank accounts, ad networks, and payment gateways. This helps them monitor their business activity and improve cash flow more efficiently.
Once started with remote ID verification, iDenfy now offers many fraud prevention tools that help businesses detect and prevent criminal activity as well as comply with ever-changing regulations. According to Juni, iDenfy presented a unique opportunity to combine identity verification with Know Your Business (KYB) services. iDenfy will provide its partners with the Business Verification platform that helps detect bogus companies.
As per iDenfy, its Business Verification removes the struggle for Compliance officers who need to follow strict laws and check multiple data points manually. iDenfy’s platform assists Juni in automating its onboarding process in accordance with global and local regulations. iDenfy’s Business Verification platform can block certain IPs or activity codes from onboarding. It helps Juni detect and prevent fraudulent activity automatically by running Sanctions, PEPs, and Adverse Media verification checks.
According to Juni, iDenfy’s new services have already improved its ability to screen the identity of applicants more efficiently, which is one of the main factors that the fintech’s customers expect. Juni also claims to be working with iDenfy to develop the Business Verification platform further. The next stage will be to add more automation features to reduce the likelihood of human error quicker.
“We are actively collaborating on building a very special platform. iDenfy is known as a solid identity verifier, but very few, if any, providers offer both a KYB tool and an ID verification tool that we could find. For that, we are very grateful.” – noted Patrick Ryan, FinCrime Director, Juni.
“Our team strives to create safe solutions that allow other businesses to focus on their primary goals without needing to do the administrative work. Our Business Verification and identity verification platform is a ready-made service that helps compliance officers to eliminate fraud risks faster. We’re glad that our partners at Juni share a similar vision and have the same values regarding security.” – explained Domantas Ciulde, iDenfy’s CEO.
About iDenfy
iDenfy, a platform of identity verification services and fraud prevention tools, ensures AML and KYC compliance for every company — from large-scale businesses to small organizations. The rapidly growing business was named the best “Fintech Startup” in 2020. The company also received recognition for winning a Baltic Assembly Prize for innovation in 2021.
For more information and business inquiries, please visit www.idenfy.com.
About Juni
Founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2020, Juni aims to be the financial companion for ecommerce. Listed as the fastest-growing fintech startup in Europe in 2021, Juni empowers ecommerce entrepreneurs to make better decisions, scale-up and unlock the full potential of ecommerce. With Juni, you can track your entire business in one place: a dedicated online space, tailor-made for ecommerce.
Breega is now armed with a fresh €250 million fund, and counts half a billion in assets under management
Having backed 83 companies across 7 countries, and completing four fundraising rounds over the course of seven years, this latest collection of capital provides Breega with over half a billion in assets under management.
Parisian built-by-founders-for-founders VC firm Breega returns to the pitch with a fresh €250 million fund specifically aimed at supporting approximately 20 founders raising capital at Series A and above levels, specifically, but not solely limited to the those operating in the fintech and insurtech industries.
If you’ve been playing along at home, you might remember that the Ben Marrel, Francois Paulus, and Maximilien Bacot-founded firm closed a €110 million seed fund no fewer than 16 months prior, as well as wracking up another €20 million for a ‘opportunities’ vehicle in October of the same year.
After completing four fundraising rounds over the course of just seven years, Breega has backed 83 companies across 7 countries, and seen 9 exits. With this latest collection of capital, the fund now manages over half a billion in assets.
According to a Breega spokesperson, the firm has already begun deploying capital from the new fund, investing in several startups including fintech Keebo, proptech UKIO, and insurtech Mila.
As is de rigueur in today’s VC funding landscape, Breega prides itself on an inhouse, free-of-charge ‘Scaling Squad’; a unit comprised of professionals experienced in the arts of business growth and pairing, talent acquisition, and naturally, marketing and communication.
Presto Ventures, a Prague, Czech Republic-based venture capital firm, investing in early-stage B2B startups from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), closed its Fund II, €30m.
The fund is backed entirely by private investors, including family offices and a number of successful entrepreneurs and exited founders committed to expediting business connections and additional capital in follow-on rounds.
Through this fund, Presto will invest in up to forty B2B tech startups at seed and pre-seed stages in the CEE region, supporting them with fast access to capital, fast business development, and fast growth.
Presto has already invested in startups such as Cloudtalk, IP Fabric, Yieldigo, Sharry and Wolf3D.
Led by Přemysl Rubeš, Founder and Managing Partner, a former mathematician, holding scientific and engineering degrees from the Nuclear Sciences Faculty at CTU Prague and ENSTA ParisTech, the firm also announced the appointment of three new partners. They are:
Roman Nováček, a CFA charterholder and ex-analyst at US private equity firm GTE. Recently named on Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2022, Nováček is also one of the youngest partners at a CEE VC firm, and will oversee financial planning and analytics at Presto,
Vojta Roček, who founded and sold business intelligence startup Stories.bi to Workday, and
Eduard Kučera, who built and managed the Business Intelligence department of cybersecurity giant Avast.
These new additions boost the fund’s credentials in diverse areas such as blockchain, data, cybersecurity, enterprise software and SaaS.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Sheila Kagan of Paykey
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
I joined PayKey in March 2020 after years of working as a chief executive at a variety of public and private tech companies in the advertising and gaming industries. Throughout my life I’ve been drawn to the dynamics of the banking industry, and once the opportunity came, I knew PayKey is a FinTech uniquely positioned to leave a mark on an industry that is traditionally lagging behind.
At PayKey we are putting banks at the forefront of embedded banking, by weaving the financial services customers need within their everyday lives. Our patented mobile keyboard
solution allows customers to access a variety of mobile banking services including P2P payments, loans, investments and more within all the social & messaging apps they are regularly using like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and others. With our solution, banks can contextually bring their services to where customers today chat, transact, and make their financial decisions.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m an investor at Fin VC, a B2B Fintech/Insurtech focused global venture capital, based out of San Francisco. Fin VC is a team of FinTech nerds with capital, based in SF/NYC and focus on FinTech SaaS in the US and EU/UK. We deploy out of 3 strategies: Regatta (pre-seed, checks of $100K-$1M), Flagship (Early Stage – Seed->B, checks of $1-10M) and Horizons (Growth – C+, checks of $25-50M+, primary/secondary) and have an operating value playbook focused on global BD, corp dev, capital formation, product/GTM, key talent sourcing, and board leadership.
Personally, I’m an avid traveler and a global citizen who has lived in 4 countries across 3 continents. When not at work, you’ll find me hiking/surfing in the summer and skiing in the winter. I’m also mentoring students from underrepresented communities, and an advisor at a Uganda-based NGO.
London insurtech Urban Jungle scores £16.5 million for European expansion
The insurance provider plans to double its customer base by the end of the year and create 100 new jobs in the U.K.
London-based insurance technology startup Urban Jungle has raised £16.5 million in their latest Series A funding round. The round was led by North American-based venture capital investor Intact Ventures and Ingka Group, which controls hundreds of IKEA stores globally. The investment was also backed by existing investors, including Mundi Ventures, Eka Ventures and former Prudential UK CEO Rob Devey.
The company had raised €9 million in its earlier funding round last year. The Series A round brings the total amount raised by the business to £32 million. The insurtech firm will use the funding to rapidly scale its home insurance business in the U.K. and add new markets.
Founded by CEO Jimmy Williams and former Google developer Greg Smyth, it aims to change the insurance industry by putting fairness and transparency at its core. Talking about expansion beyond its home turf, Urban Jungle co-founder and CEO Jimmy Williams said: “We’re already one of the leading insurance brands for the renters and homeowners in the U.K. But our ambition is to become the number one insurance business in the U.K. and beyond. This funding is a big step towards that, and we’ll use it to rapidly grow our customer base and roll out our simple, fair insurance into other markets in the year to come. It will also allow us to create 100 new jobs in the U.K.”
North American-based venture capital investor Intact Ventures invests in early-stage companies and are backed by a global insurer to support the growth of portfolio companies across multiple geographies. They manage $400 million across two funds
Mosdex, a Helsinki, Finland-based cryptocurrency arbitrage platform startup, raised $20m in funding.
The round was led by Evli Bank PLC with participation from the venture division of Lifeline Ventures, NordicNinja VC, Petteri Suorsa, Magnus Eskelinen and Jouni Väisänen.
The company intends to use the funds for:
global expansion of its platform,
purchasing other blockchain-based companies, as well as
opening up offices in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Tokyo and Dubai.
Launched in 2022, Mosdex provides a platform designed to automate cryptocurrency arbitrage platforms for cryptocurrency exchanges, consumers and institutions. Developed by a group of developers with expertise in finance, machine learning, and blockchain engineering software, the solution allows users to easily conduct cryptocurrency arbitrage.
The company also plans to advance products, budgets, and derivative tools for the market.
Evli Fund Management Company Ltd is a Nordic fund management boutique established in 1989 focusing on institutional investors. Their funds are actively managed with an ESG overlay, a long time-perspective and focus on free cash flow.
Berlin based Fintech Upvest Acquires $42M via Series B Led by Bessemer Venture Partners
Berlin-based infrastructure Fintech Upvest announced the closing of a $42 million Series B round – “one of the largest German Fintech funding rounds in 2022.”
Bessemer Venture Partners is leading the Series B “with Earlybird and ABN AMRO Ventures doubling down as previous investors and participation of Notion Capital, Partech, 10x Group, Speedinvest and Maximilian Tayenthal (N26).”
The raised capital will be used “to advance Upvest’s Investment-API, lay the ground for the internationalization, and gradually expand Upvest’s team.”
Since its Series A, Upvest is “backed by the venture capital firms Earlybird, HV Capital, Notion Capital, ABN AMRO Ventures, Speedinvest and Partech, as well as the fintech founders Maximilian Tayenthal (N26) and Felix Haas (IDnow).”
Upvest’s product offering is “fully up and running in the market and enables fintechs to offer their end customers products in the field of capital market investments, from ETFs and stocks to crypto assets.”
Upvest built “the first end-to-end cloud native core banking system for investments and is one of the few financial institutions in Europe owning all BaFin licenses for securities and crypto brokerage, and custody.”
Designed as a plug-and-play solution with fully-fledged process automation at its core, Upvest’s API and core banking system “help Neobanks- and brokers, as well as established banking players, to significantly save on the cost side since they do not need to develop their brokerage and custody infrastructure from scratch.”
With more than 135 IPOs and 200 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth.
Bessemer’s global portfolio includes Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr, and Toast and has $19 billion of assets under management. Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Boston, Beijing and Bangalore.
Insurance services infrastructure provider Instanda banks $45 million
Led by Toscafund, no-code insurance products management and distribution software maker Instada now shifts into high gear, targeting further traction across Europe, UAE, Japan, and US markets.
London-based Instanda has raised $45 million in a Series B funding round. The company provides a no-code core infrastructure for insurers, allowing them to deploy and orchestrate product portfolios quickly and easily, ten times faster the industry norm, according to Instanda. The new capital will be used to expand the company’s market presence across Europe, UAE, Japan, and US markets. Since 2016 Instanda has raised approximately $73 million.
“Instada’s no-code insurance core platform was built by insurers for insurers based on the belief that technology should be used to accelerate change and innovation at low cost,” explained CEO and co-founder Tim Hardcastle. “This is what sets Instada apart from the crowd. No other platform allows carriers and MGAs across all lines of insurance to fully embrace the diversity of insurance and respond to the anticipated change in consumer needs and behaviour.”
Servicing some 70+ clients globally, Instada counts Atlanta (part of Ardonagh Group), Hamilton Fraser (part of GRP Group), HDI Global SE, and Standard Bank, amongst its client base, with the company adding 21 new clients in 2021 alone.
Headquartered in London, Toscafund Asset Management LLP is an independently owned asset manager that provides investment solutions to respond and capitalise upon ever-evolving market conditions. With multi-billion $ assets under management, the firm’s investment platform spans financials, small to middle capitalisation equities, private company credit, commercial property and private equity.
Fintech Cleo raises additional $80m following backing from Brussels investor Sofina
UK financial app Cleo has raised an additional $80m following backing by Brussels tech investor Sofina.
The funding round took place over months but was finalised following pressure on valuations of growth companies, Sky News first reported.
Sources close to the deal told the outlet’s City editor Mark Kleinman that the backing raised Cleo’s valuation by a five-fold to around $500m.
The $80m funding was the latest of several rounds, as the previous one took place a year and a half ago when Cleo raised $40m from investors.
Existing backers include VC Balderton Capital and LocalGlobe, as well as the founders of Skype and Wise.
The new capital injection will help the company – a digital assistant that gives financial advice to Gen Z customers – expand services as well as recruit more staff.
Despite its UK birth, the company made the US its primary market.
While Cleo declined to comment, Sofina told Sky News: “We are excited to form this partnership with Cleo, a company and App that is truly loved by its users, many of whom Cleo already had a positive impact on.”
Sofina is a Belgium-based investment company listed on the Brussels stock exchange and a supportive partner of entrepreneurs and families managing growing companies. Sofina invests both directly and through Private Equity funds. Its geographical scope is Europe, the United States, and Asia
Israel-based fintech Rewire has acquired Imagen to provide prepaid debit cards for migrants in Israel.
The acquisition is Rewire’s first and means the fintech can now provide prepaid debit cards for migrants in Israel, a service it has already rolled out in its other locations across the UK and Europe. The move comes after Rewire signed partnership agreements with value SIM provider Lebara and payments platform Paysafe. The fintech also recently rolled out insurance products for migrants in its British and European markets.
Rewire’s prepaid card is a solution for economic migrants who may struggle to open a bank account when they first arrive in their host country. With no permanent address or credit history, migrants are left underserved by traditional banks, as per the press release. Through technology and strategic partnerships with key financial institutions, the company is able to bridge this gap and provide financial services that work for migrants’ unique cross-border financial needs.
Imagen currently operates more than 30,000 active prepaid MasterCards connected to the Bank of Jerusalem. It works directly with organisations that employ migrant workers and enables employers to pay salaries directly onto the card. Once money has been loaded onto the card, it can be used in the same way as any other debit card. The acquisition brings Rewire a step closer to its aim of providing a holistic migration package that serves migrants and their families throughout their time overseas.
Imagen’s officials stated that becoming part of the Rewire family made sense for them. Imagen’s solutions are tailored to those who cannot open a conventional bank account, and working migrants make up a large part of our customer base. By integrating their prepaid card into the Rewire portfolio, their existing customers will have augmented access to additional financial services that they may have been excluded from in the past.
Shard Credit Partners launches £75 million venture debt fund to back fintech and SaaS firms
With typical loan sizes in the range of £2-6 million per borrower, the fund will complete around 15 investments per annum during the three-year investment period
Venture debt is becoming increasingly popular with high-growth technology companies globally in recent years. While the asset class is highly developed in the U.S., the venture lending market is in its infancy in the U.K.
Betting big on the untapped potential, UK-based alternative investment fund manager Shard Credit Partners has unveiled its maiden tech-focused £75 million venture debt fund. The fund will make investments in senior secured loans with equity warrants to VC-backed businesses in the SaaS and fintech sectors in the U.K.
The fund will target borrowers with annual recurring revenues of at least £2 million, that are finding it increasingly difficult to source long-term financing from traditional lenders. Typical loan sizes will range between £2-6 million per borrower, with maturities of up to five years. It will complete around 15 investments per annum during the three-year investment period.
According to the company, the fund has already completed two investments with total commitments of £6.5 million ahead of first close. This included the fund’s first exit in December 2021, PassFort.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Nigel Verdon of Railsbank
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
Railsbank is the leading global Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform. It enables banks, businesses and brands to define the future of consumer and SME finance.
Marketers, product managers, developers, CEOs and founders are able to take their financial product vision and rapidly prototype, launch and scale using Railsbank’s open finance platform which consists of operations, regulatory licensing and a rich set of APIs.
Railsbank was founded by myself and Clive Mitchell in 2016, in London.
My own background started in the financial services industry. My first job working as an engineer in the motor industry and seeing the high levels of automation and “just in time” manufacturing achieved back in the late 1980’s early 1990’s. In the banking world this is called “straight through processing (STP)” and the financial world could learn much from manufacturing/process engineers in the motor industry.
I then learnt so much working in the capital markets business in one of the most innovative banks in the industry Swiss Bank Corp (today called UBS). This was back in the early-mid 1990s when this “internet thing” appeared on the scene.
Swiss Bank Corp were really the first real innovator to leverage technology in the capital markets area of banking to leapfrog the competition (e.g. better risk management, better options pricing etc.).
I built my first startup, Evolution, based on my experiences at Swiss Bank Corp to take the “internet enablement of capital markets” to many amazing customers like Goldman Sachs and UBS.
Roll on to 2007 and I had just left Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to set up Currency Cloud. I founded Currency Cloud because the experience of a traditional currency broker at the time (name not mentioned!) was charging me 4% “no commission” and asked me to fax back my confirmation note and payment details to them! I didn’t own a fax machine!
So, with a colleague, Nick Bourner from Evolution (who is now currently Chief Architect at Railsbank) we built the Currency Cloud platform to offer straight through processing of physical FX and payments via APIs (we were the trail blazers in the API led fintech industry).
At Currency Cloud, we worked on jump-starting many fintech 1.0 clients like Transferwise, Revolut, Azimo and World Remit, which were born out of a demand by consumers to take more control over their finances and after the trust lost in banks in the aftermath of the credit crunch.
However, the Currency Cloud experience gave me an insight into how the old world banking industry worked, with a realisation that both the banking infrastructure and the banking industry itself, was clearly not adapted to the new digital world, and certainly had no clue about what a well designed API led business should look like. So, this experience led me to co-founding my current startup Railsbank, focused on solving this industry pain point for customers.
7 Questions with Maximilian Schausberger of Elevator Ventures
1. A year since the first lockdowns- is this is a good time to be building or scaling an Enterprise FinTech (/InsurTech) firm in Europe?
Despite all the difficulties that 2020 has brought for entrepreneurs, some sectors have also benefited. We see Enterprise FinTech benefiting from an increased need for digitalization and for efficient operations in banking and insurance. As an example from the financial sector, Raiffeisen Bank International saw double-digit growth in its mobile banking users over the first half of 2020 (see here). This also creates many opportunities, which seem to have fueled investor appetite in 2020.
Amsterdam fintech company Factris raises €10M to help finance trade-related invoices for European SMEs
Factris, an Amsterdam-based fintech company, announced on Thursday that it has raised €10M through its partnership with NN Investment Partners (NN IP), a Goldman Sachs-owned asset manager specialising in fund management, fixed income strategies, and integrated client solutions.
The fintech startup says that the funds will be used to finance trade-related invoices for European SMEs.
Founded in 2017 by Brice Laurent and Marcel Meijer, Factris is on a mission to provide quick and affordable capital to SMEs across Europe using financial technology with personalised guidance.
Factoring, which is Factris’ primary form of financing, helps customers by providing working capital using their unpaid invoices.
Factoring is a financial transaction and type of debtor finance in which a business sells its accounts receivable (i.e., invoices) to a third party (called a factor) at a discount. A business will sometimes factor its receivable assets to meet its present and immediate cash needs.
Factris claims that this alternative form of financing has proven to be faster in sourcing the required cash flow to businesses when compared to the more traditional forms of financing, such as businesses applying for a bank loan.
According to a statement, Factris’ double-digit growth over the last year reflects the increased demand for invoice factoring from SMEs. For instance, the company claims that its portfolio grew by 41 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021, and over 32 per cent more customers than the year before.
The war in Ukraine and the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, both of which are posing enormous financial challenges to SMBs across the EU, are contributing to the rise in demand for finance.
Defacto, a Paris, France-based API-first B2B lending platform, raised €15m in funding.
The round was led by Northzone with participation from Headline, Global Founders Capital, and business angels Thibaud Elzière (founder of eFounders), Rodolphe Ardant (founder and CEO of Spendesk), Didier Valet (former Deputy Chief Executive Officer).
The company intends to use the funds to expand its activities in Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Founded in June 2021 by Jordane Giuly, the former co-founder of Spendesk (the expenditure management platform recently valued at more than 1.5 billion euros), Morgan O’hana and Marc-Henri Gires, Defacto provides transparent and instant financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This solution, which uses an API, integrates directly with marketplace tools, e-commerce platforms and others.
Since its launch in France, Defacto has developed partnerships with more than 15 major B2B marketplaces, FinTechs and e-commerce companies. The company has granted more than €30 million in short-term financing to SMEs through partners.
Bud, an open banking fintech used by HSBC, raises £64m
Bud, an open banking fintech startup used by the likes of HSBC and Credit Karma, has banked $80m (£63.8m) in a Series B funding round.
Bud said it will use the capital to continue developing its platform, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to let financial organisations offer customised products and automate lending decisions.
As part of the investment, Chronos will rebrand to Founders Law but will operate as an independent business.
The move is aimed at providing legal services to high-growth tech scaleups in Founders Forum’s network in areas including fundraising, commercial agreements, employment law and data protection.
“Most tech businesses require flexible legal services that don’t fit the traditional law firm model,” said Tom Bohills, founder of Chronos Law. “Our services are designed to scale with the ambitious startups we support.”
Founders Forum did not disclose the financial terms of the Chronos Law deal but said it will replicate the approach it took with Founders Keepers, an executive job search company that now provides hiring services to the group’s network.
Juni, a Swedish FinTech Platform for eCommerce, Raises $206M
Swedish eCommerce FinTech Juni has raised $206 million in a Series B and venture debt funding round, a press release said, with the money going to fuel hiring and growth, as well as product development.
Juni was founded in 2020, and is a financial management platform working with businesses on physical and virtual cards, credit cards, accounting, analytics and digital ads, and gives businesses a “holistic view” of their finances.
E-commerce sales have reportedly been forecasted to hit “trillions” by 2025, with digital ad spending also likely to grow. The company has been working on expanding, and has rolled out U.S. dollar accounts and cards, a new Google Ads integration and a new brand identity, the release said.
Juni Co-Founder and CEO Samir El-Sabini said he knew “first-hand the frustrations of running an eCommerce business and time wasted on spend management, the lack of visibility of cashflow and scaling ad campaigns.”
“With this funding, we will help ecommerce businesses win by building the right insights, features and integrations while injecting capital into their marketing spend,” he said. “We’re committed to building the best financial companion for ecommerce and we’re thrilled to have fantastic investors onboard who share our strategic vision.”
The company raised $100 million in a Series B round, and $106 million in venture debt funding from TriplePoint Capital.
The Series B was led by Mubadala Capital. EQT Ventures, Felix Capital, Cherry Ventures and Partners of DST Global, all of which are existing investors with the company, also participated, the release said.
Fleetcor to acquire cross-border paytech Global Reach
Fleetcor Technologies, a global business payments company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Global Reach, a UK-based cross-border payments provider.
The acquisition, says Fleetcor, “strengthens its position as one of the largest non-bank global cross-border providers in the world”.
The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2022, subject to regulatory approval and standard closing conditions.
Founded in 2001, London-based Global Reach has developed a presence in the UK, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands. It claims “thousands” of corporate clients primarily in the UK and Canada, providing an overlapping footprint to Fleetcor’s current cross-border payments business.
Fleetcor’s main focus is on corporate payments – it provides solutions that enable and control expense-related purchasing and payment processes.
London’s Felix Capital wraps up €562 million fund to back Web3 startups
The newly unveiled fund will support 20-25 companies across Europe and selectively in North America
London-based VC firm Felix Capital has closed its fourth fund at €562 million. The biggest fund, since its launch in 2015, takes the total managed by the VC to $1.2 billion.
The newly unveiled fund will support 20-25 companies across Europe and selectively in North America. One key area the firm hopes to grow into is Web3.
Operating at the intersection of tech and creativity, focusing on innovations that enable digital lifestyles, Felix wants to partner with entrepreneurs for ground-breaking ideas and help them build trusted brands that push the world forward. The firm will invest in every key aspect of people’s personal lives, including food, shopping, health, wellness, personal finance, entertainment, communication, or gaming.
HTGF launches new fund of 400 million euros – “positive sign” for the scene
The semi-public High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is setting up a new fund, its fourth and largest to date: more than 400 million euros have been raised in the first closing, according to its own information. The investment commitments come from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and KfW Capital. More than 130 million also come from private donors. Among them are several family offices that do not want to be named, as well as large German companies such as Deutsche Bank or SAP.
A second closing is scheduled for later this year. In view of the uncertainty that currently prevails in the startup scene, the deal should be seen as a positive signal to the startups, HTGF CEO Alex von Frankenberg told Handelsblatt.
The Ukraine war, rising interest rates and inflation as well as supply chain problems have put a temporary end to the golden startup times in this country as well. Some people already see parallels to the bursting of the dot-com bubble. According to Handelsblatt, there have also been two cases at HTGF in which investment commitments have been cancelled at short notice. Nevertheless, the investment company is calmly looking at the current market situation.
Ledger, the crypto-security platform securing cryptocurrencies, NFTs and tokens, and Cathay Innovation, a global venture capital firm, have launched a €100M ($110M) early-stage venture fund focused on Web3.
Supported by French public investment bank Bpifrance and led by Cathay Innovation’s Denis Barrier and Ledger’s Pascal Gauthier and Michael Louzado, Ledger Cathay Capital will cover cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance (DeFI), blockchains, NFTs, DAOs and the tokenization of everything.
The funding will invest globally in Seed to Series A companies focused on emerging DeFi, security, infrastructure, digital ownership technologies, protocols and more. Ledger has also made direct early investments in startups that will be managed by the Ledger Cathay Capital team.
It gives creators and founders the capital, tools and direct industry access needed to innovate at scale from the very start.
The partnership, already counting various French and international leaders, looks to connect and stimulate a global Web3 ecosystem while bringing greater opportunities to entrepreneurs across Europe, North America, Asia and beyond. The fund will bring a collaborative and community-based approach that helps crypto and Web3 builders meet talent and potential partners, innovate, reach customers and share business strategies to capitalize on major trends and scale products and services worldwide.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Check out the B2B FinTech Radar, our microsite focused on SaaS / Enterprise FinTech founders with global ambitions
7 Questions with Terrie Smith of DIGISEQ
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hello! I am Terrie Smith. I’m going to start by talking about myself and how I got here When I was 17, I worked at an insurance firm and experienced gender inequality first-hand. Being a tenacious young lady (or maybe just glutton for punishment), I hardened to this, left the company, and moved into the even more male-dominated environment of information technology. And that’s pretty much how it all started.
Today, I’m a mobile payments expert with over 20 years’ experience and a proven track record in product development and management. I have always had a zealousness for innovative payments and NFC technology, and am included in fundamental patents related to provisioning and tokenisation. I managed the development of MasterCard’s MOTAPS solution, a pioneering Trusted Service Manager (TSM) solution and was instrumental in shaping the MasterCard Digital Enable System (MDES), used to support Apple Pay. In June 2014, I started my very own passion project with my friend, Colin Tanner, and together we co-founded the award-winning IoT platform, DIGISEQ.
You may ask… why did I decide to launch a start-up? (I sometimes ask myself that when I am working at midnight). The reality is that it was a move towards personal goals and me attaining control. It was a big risk, no doubt, but I was raised and supported to believe that I can do anything I put my mind to, and I upheld this mantra. Challenging, one might say, but beyond exciting and fulfilling.
Work aside, everyone you ask will tell you I’m pretty much a butterfly – I don’t sit still! If I’m not working, I’m grabbing a coffee, cooking, spending time with my family, or FaceTiming my daughter and the grandkids – there are endless things for me to do and simply not enough time in a day.
7 Questions with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Cynthia, I am a Partner at Seed X Liechtenstein. I am an operator turned investor and I have previously worked with different accelerators including Techstars, King’s College and Founders Factory in London. Prior to being an investor I have worked for 11+ years at the fintech unicorn Markit (Now IHS markit, being bought by S&P). I learned there everything I know about great product development, corporate innovation and the hurdles of fast growth (IPO on the NASDAQ in 2014 at $5bn valuation, merger with IHS in 2016, now worth more than $40bn).
Work-wise I like connecting the dots and people, understanding the big problems needing solving and who we can learn from. Having the right network also helps to support founders in their growth.
Some of my spare time is also spent on tech boards that I sit on, and supporting female entrepreneurs across Europe.
Meet getquin: Social network for investors from Berlin scores $15 million to expand beyond DACH
The fintech startup provides an online community where people can discuss and analyse stocks, cryptocurrencies and other investment opportunities
Berlin-based fintech that has created a social investment platform, getquin has wrapped up a $15 million Series A round. The funding was led by Portage Ventures and backed by Horizons Ventures , existing investors embedded/capital and sino AG and angel investors such as N26 founder Maximilian Tayenthal and Scalable Capital founder Erik Podzuweit.
With over 200, 000 users in Germany and the DACH region as of now, the startup aims to expand its English-speaking community to make its service accessible to a broader user base.
Founded in early 2020 by Christian Rokitta and Raphael Steil, the platform provides an online community where people can discuss and analyse stocks, cryptocurrencies and other investment opportunities. It allows users to connect and aggregate their existing brokerage accounts, create and consume content and take part in discussions with other users.
Christian Rokitta, co-founder and CEO said: “While there is already a substantial amount of financial news and content providers, the recent months have shown that people mostly trust their connections and communities when it comes to financial information. The new investment allows us to invest significantly in the product to transform getquin into the primary source of information for investors around the globe.”
Headquartered in Toronto, Portage Ventures is a global investor dedicated to supporting FinTech companies. The Portage team has deep entrepreneurial and industry experience and provides founders with privileged access to the firm’s partners, in-house experts, and broader global ecosystem. Portage Ventures has a presence in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia.
London insurtech Urban Jungle scores £16.5 million for European expansion
London-based insurance technology startup Urban Jungle has raised £16.5 million in their latest Series A funding round. The round was led by North American-based venture capital investor Intact Ventures and Ingka Group, which controls hundreds of IKEA stores globally. The investment was also backed by existing investors, including Mundi Ventures, Eka Ventures and former Prudential UK CEO Rob Devey.
The company had raised €9 million in its earlier funding round last year. The Series A round brings the total amount raised by the business to £32 million. The insurtech firm will use the funding to rapidly scale its home insurance business in the U.K. and add new markets.
Founded by CEO Jimmy Williams and former Google developer Greg Smyth, it aims to change the insurance industry by putting fairness and transparency at its core. Talking about expansion beyond its home turf, Urban Jungle co-founder and CEO Jimmy Williams said: “We’re already one of the leading insurance brands for the renters and homeowners in the U.K. But our ambition is to become the number one insurance business in the U.K. and beyond. This funding is a big step towards that, and we’ll use it to rapidly grow our customer base and roll out our simple, fair insurance into other markets in the year to come. It will also allow us to create 100 new jobs in the U.K.”
According to the company, it recently hit the milestone of helping 100,000 customers get better home insurance in the country. The platform uses latest technology to help keep insurance affordable for its customers, by offering its customers 100% online services, or through its use of AI and machine learning to catch fraud.
Intact Financial Corporation is the largest provider of property and casualty (P&C) insurance in Canada, a leading provider of global specialty insurance, and, with RSA, a leader in the U.K. and Ireland. Our business has grown organically and through acquisitions to over $20 billion of total annual premiums
Mondu, a Berlin, Germany-based B2B payments company, raised $43M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Valar Ventures with participation from existing seed investors FinTech Collective, Cherry Ventures, and angel investors from Klarna, Zalando, and SumUp, among others.
The company intends to use the funds to scale its BNPL for B2B solution for merchants and marketplaces by investing in its product and customer acquisition across more European countries later this year, starting with Austria this summer, and hire for a wide range of senior and junior positions, including its tech, risk, sales, and operations teams.
Founded in August 2021 by serial entrepreneurs Philipp Povel and Malte Huffmann as well as Gil Danziger, Mondu provides a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution for B2B merchants and marketplaces. The solution integrates with merchants, and is accessible through APIs, plug-ins, and checkout widgets. The company, which has hired a team of over 100, has served thousands of businesses to date, with customers ranging from beauty and cleaning to manufacturing and raw materials.
Headquartered in New York, Valar Ventures is a VC firm focused on startups outside of Silicon Valley. Valar invests in high-margin, fast-growing technology companies that are pursuing huge market opportunities
European Savings Platform Trade Republic Finalizes €250M Series C Extension
Trade Republic, which claims to be Europe’s largest savings platform, announces a €250M Series C extension.
The investment round is led by Ontario Teachers’, which is one of the world’s largest pension funds and institutional investors, “along with the participation of existing investors.”
The extension is “based on a post-money valuation uplift to €5.0B (previously €4.4B), underlining Trade Republic’s strong business performance and growth.”
Ontario Teachers’ manages the assets of over 333,000 teachers in Ontario, Canada, “with more than C$240B in net assets invested globally.”
This investment is “made by the High Conviction Equities team, which provides flexible, partner-centric capital across the equity capital structure – focusing on companies that are public or on a growth trajectory to go public.”
Ontario Teachers’ is one of the world’s largest pension funds and institutional investors with $227.7 billion in assets under management. They invest in everything from agriculture to artificial intelligence in order to deliver retirement security for 331,000 Ontario teachers
Accenture’s acquisition of ARZ in Austria will help expand the global IT consulting firm’s banking platform-as-a-service capabilities across Europe, the buyer said. ARZ has locations in Vienna and Innsbruck and operates a technology competence center for innovation and technology services in the banking sector in Austria. ARZ was majority-owned by Volksbanken Group and Hypobanken Group as well as other private banks. The acquisition will expand Accenture’s cloud-based banking platform-as-a-service offerings, ranging from core banking services to online banking as well as regulatory services for banking clients across Europe, Accenture said. ARZ’s approximately 600 employees will join Accenture and will continue to work in ARZ’s existing offices. Roland Smertnig, senior managing director in Accenture’s financial services practice in Europe, commented: “Our vision is to develop an innovative cloud-based banking platform-as-a-service offering for new and existing clients across Europe. By acquiring ARZ, we are expanding our digital transformation capabilities to help banks of the future as they look to move more of their core functions to the cloud, enable new business models, and reinvent the services and experiences they provide to customers.” Michael Zettel, Accenture’s country managing director in Austria added, “With this acquisition, we are expanding our team in Austria and will develop a comprehensive center of excellence at the Innsbruck location to serve our clients in Austria and across Europe. The ARZ team has the experience and talent to help us grow and meet our banking clients’ needs now and, in the future, and we look forward to welcoming them to Accenture.” Gerald Fleischmann, CEO of Volksbank Wien said, “The move to Accenture is a strategically smart development. Volksbanken and their customers will benefit from the combined expertise, the innovative services and collaboration between ARZ and Accenture.”
Swedish banking firm Trustly has acquired British rival Ecospend as it looks to expand its presence in the UK, and improve customer experiences.
Swedish fintech Trustly, a payments platform for digital Account-to-Account transactions (A2A), has acquired UK-based competitor Ecospend, as part of a plan to strengthen the company’s position in the British market.
Founded in 2008, Trustly is a global leader in Open Banking Payments. Serving 8,100 merchants, connecting them with 525 million consumers and 6,300 banks in over 30 countries, the company handles the entire payment journey.
A licensed Payment Institution under the second payment services directive (PSD2) and operating under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority in Europe, in 2021 Trustly processed over US$28bn in transaction volume in its global network.
Four years after PSD2 made Open Banking a regulatory requirement in the UK, the market presents a dynamic ecosystem, with rapidly accelerating consumer adoption, and strong transaction volume growth, according to the company.
Metin Erkman, Founder of Ecospend: “Together with Trustly we will be able to further accelerate our expansion in the UK and continue to raise the bar for service excellence to our customers. We will continue to leverage our market-leading technology and bank connectivity in the UK and, together with Trustly, broaden our capabilities to stretch across Europe and further markets. We are really excited to join the Trustly family.”
Crane Venture Partners aims to sweep the leg with new $140 million fund
After raising $90 million for its first fund in 2019, London’s Crane Venture Partners is back for round two with a narrowed investment focus and $140 million in hand.
After posting a >75 percent graduation rate from seed to Series A with its first fund, London’s Crane Venture Partners is back for round two; armed with $140 million and aimed squarely at backing European, Israeli, and American startups. Across both funds, the firm counts over 50 portfolio companies and is looking to repeat, if not improve upon this industry-leading figure.
Crane’s second fund places a heavy emphasis on software and deep tech startups, specifically operating in the open-source, artificial intelligence, data and developer tools sectors.
“The future is being built today by passionate and diverse entrepreneurs from every corner of the world, and our funds focus on exactly those humans,” commented Crane co-founder and GP Krishna Visvanathan, co-founder. “We are in service of our founders and understand that entrepreneurship is a path to professional and personal realisation. When we focus there, the returns naturally follow.”
Founded in 2015, Crane specifically points to the last five years as a game-changer when it comes to European early-stage investment appetite.
“When Crane raised its first fund, European and US investors had yet to recognise the caliber and depth of early-stage technical founders to be found across the continent. But with highly visible and successful exits for European technology companies, such as Amsterdam-based Adyen in 2018 and Bucharest-based UiPath in 2021, LPs and other venture capital ecosystem participants have started to invest heavily in the region.”
Parisian investment firm Alven announces new €350 million fund to boost European entrepreneurs
There’s been a lot of chatter in the European VC space over recent weeks. And now, adding to the conversation, Paris-based Alven has just announced its sixth generation fund. The initial target was €300 million, but Fund VI has closed at a hard cap of €350 million – making it the largest early-stage fund raised in France.
Alven VI secured commitments from a wide range of high-quality European, North American and other global institutions, and all investors in the prior fund are reinvesting. Known for its eye for making unicorn investments, Alven has been a part of the success stories of Qonto, Dataiku, Algolia, Stripe and Ankorstore, and now has €2 billion in assets under management.
Launched in 2000, Alven is an early-stage fund centred in Paris but with a global reach. The firm recently opened a new London office and has about 160 European teams backed across Europe and the US. The French investors have extensive experience backing and supporting exceptional founders at the earliest stages, writing cheques to kickstart growth ranging from €100k to €15 million, with substantial reserves for follow on investments.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Dmitry Tsymber of MultiPass
1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
I’m Dmitry Tsymber, a Co-Founder of Dyninno Group and a founder of the group’s latest venture in the neo-banking space – MultiPass. I can describe myself as a seasoned CEO with 25 years of experience in retail banking and consumer finance. My expertise and interests lie in FinTech and international business scale-up
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m a Senior Analyst in the Ventures & Acquisitions team of RGAX, based out of Amsterdam. RGAX is the transformation engine of RGA, promoting and accelerating innovation within the Life and Health insurance sectors by means of organic and inorganic initiatives. RGA is one of the largest global life and health reinsurance companies.
I joined the organization in 2018 to support the EMEA region on deal sourcing activities, executing partnerships and managing our portfolio of 30+ startups globally.
Prior to joining RGAX I worked in Corporate Banking at ABN AMRO and in Port Logistics at the Port of Rotterdam. I hold a Master Degree in Business Management from Cass Business School in London and a Corporate Communication’s Master from the University of Amsterdam.
Personally, I enjoy travelling and experiencing new cultures. I’m also a sports fan and play soccer and squash. In addition, I volunteer for a foundation that promotes dialogue and understanding between the Arab World and Europe through education.
TransferMate, a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of a B2B payments infrastructure as-a-service, raised $70M in funding at $1BN valuation.
Railpen, one of the UK’s largest and longest established pension funds whose Fintech investments include Starling Bank and Bill.com, participated in the round.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its teams globally and further invest in its technology innovation and product suite.
Led by CEO Sinead Fitzmaurice, and Founder Terry Clune, TransferMate – a subsidiary of CluneTech — is a provider of B2B payments infrastructure as a service, enabling companies to send and receive cross-border payments. It allows businesses and individuals to make cross-border payments in more than 201 countries and 141 currencies, with transparency of the transaction through to the point of final reconciliation. The company has created integrations for banks like ING and AIB, who are also investors. The API solution allows partners to digitalise the payments flow within their software, enabling all businesses to achieve time and financial savings.
British crypto trading platform raises $70 million from Barclays and Goldman Sachs
Cryptocurrency trading platform Elwood Technologies founded by British hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard has raised $70 million in funding. The round was co-led by B2B investor Dawn Capital and Goldman Sachs, with participation from Barclays, BlockFi Ventures, Chimera Ventures, CommerzVentures, Digital Currency Group, Flow Traders and Galaxy Digital Ventures. The present financing valued the six-year-old company at over $500 million.
Aimed to meet the needs of institutions seeking exposure to digital assets, the British digital asset platform’s end-to-end platform provides low-latency connectivity to global crypto exchanges and deep liquidity via one single API.
James Stickland, CEO, Elwood Technologies, said: “The rich mix of investors participating in this raise reaffirms the movement of financial institutions working closely with their native digital asset technology providers. Together, we aim to provide broader mass market involvement in digital assets and cryptocurrency. We look forward to working with our investors to further enhance our offerings and broaden their market adoption.”
Mathew McDermott, global head of digital assets, Goldman Sachs, added: “Our investment in Elwood demonstrates our continued commitment to digital assets and we look forward to partnering to expand our capabilities.”
in3, an Eindhoven, Netherlands-based Buy-Now-Pay-Later’ (BNPL) fintech company, raised $85M in Series B funding.
The round was led by Force over Mass, Waterfall Asset Management and Finch Capital.
The company intends to bus the funds to scale operations and business reach.
Founded in 2018 by CEO Hans Langenhuizen, n3 provides more than 1,500 online and offline merchants with Buy Now Pay Later payment solutions. Working with payment partners, it offers consumers the ability to pay for purchases in three instalments at zero costs: no interest – or transaction costs and without credit registration.
Current customers include Kwik Fit, EP, La Souris, Matt sleeps, Dekbed-Discounter among others.
MarketFinance raises £100 million debt financing from Deutsche Bank to fund UK SMEs
The UK fintech is offering businesses access up to £500,000 within less than 24 hours of applying, to help them hit their business targets and manage cash flow as lending to small businesses falls to lowest levels on record
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)’s quarterly Small Business Index (SBI) recently revealed that lending to the U.K. businesses has hit an all-time low with fewer than one in ten (9%) small firms applying for finance in Q1 2022 – the lowest proportion since SBI records began.
Hot on the heels, London-based fintech credit and payments company MarketFinance has topped up with £100 million in a debt raise from Deutsche Bank. The company will use the new cash to offer new lending to support the U.K. SMEs with their investment and working capital needs. This will include loans to the 3.2 million under-served sole traders and partnerships in the U.K.
According to the fintech, the U.K. SME borrowers will now be able to access between £10,000 and £500,000 within 24 hours of applying to aid their growth plans.
UK Fintech Modulr Finalizes $108M Series C Led by General Atlantic
Modulr, an embedded payments platform for digital businesses, recently announced that it has raised $108m (£83m) in Series C funding that was led by General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm.
The investment round also “included significant participation from existing investors including Blenheim Chalcot, Frog Capital, Highland Europe, and PayPal Ventures.”
As covered, Modulr claims to be a pioneer in the provision of embedded payments “across a range of vertical markets.”
Its technology “enables businesses to build payments directly into their own platforms without needing to build complicated payment systems, become regulated themselves or manage the complexities of payment network membership.”
Modulr delivers payments infrastructure for over 200 top-tier customers, “including Revolut, Wagestream, Sage and BrightPay, and their millions of customers.”
Modulr has seen significant user growth and adoption, “now processing an annualised transaction value of more than £100bn.”
It has a deep understanding of embedded payment requirements “in specific vertical markets undergoing digital transformation including accounting & payroll, travel, and hyper growth markets like next generation banking and fintech.”
Modulr intends to “use the funding to accelerate its geographic footprint, extending its client and partner coverage in existing and new market verticals in the UK and Europe.”
The funding is anticipated “to help Modulr stay at the forefront of innovation in the automation of real-time embedded payments, further expanding the use of Account-to-Account payments and Open Banking payments as well as providing actionable data insights and seeking to broaden its suite of services for current and future customers.”
Thought Machine dreams big with $160 million in Temasek-led round
London-based Thought Machine has raised $160 million in a Series D funding round led by Temasek. Through its big thinking software solutions, the startup helps banks and financial institutions transition away from legacy IT systems. Building upon successful market entries in New York, Singapore, and Australia, the new capital will be used to carry the momentum, with APAC markets Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines on tap. Thought Machine is now valued at $2.7 billion, a figure up 100% in just six months.
Founded in 2014 by former Google engineer Paul Taylor, Thought Machine provides modern, cloud-native core banking technology to some of the largest financial institutions around the world including investors and clients, Intesa Sanpaolo, Lloyds Banking Group, ING, SEB, and Standard Chartered.
An early investor and participant in this round, Lloyds Banking Group has announced that it will extend its license agreement with the startup through 2029.
Joining Temasek’s lead, the round saw participation from Intesa Sanpaolo and Morgan Stanley, as well as follow-on investments from existing investors including Eurazeo, ING, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, and SEB.
“We are investing c.£40m into Thought Machine, a fintech innovator and partner we consider strategic to the industrial upgrade of Intesa Sanpaolo. Their cloud-based technology is fundamental to our transformation from incumbent to digital challenger, improving our core banking technology and providing the foundation for our new digital bank, Isybank,” commented Intesa Sanpaolo managing director and CEO Carlo Messina.
Ebury Acquires Bexs to Expand Global Payments to Brazil
Ebury, the Banco Santander-backed provider of corporate banking services to SMEs that trade globally, has reportedly agreed to acquire Bexs in a deal that further expands its international payments offering to Brazilian markets.
The transaction, currently subject to regulatory clearance, reportedly includes the companies Bexs Banco (foreign exchange) and Bexs Pay (payments), widening Ebury’s product offering of global funds transfer solutions for small businesses.
Bex will also assist with offering all-digital services to companies that sell their products online in Brazil, especially marketplaces, applications, and software firms.
Bex was established back in 1989 as Didier Corretora de Câmbio, becoming a foreign exchange bank in 2010.
Then in 2012, it introduced its cross-border digital commerce tech and almost 4 years ago, it became an API platform, enabling direct integration of its systems with key players in the digital world (in Brazil and other jurisdictions).
The company’s tech allows smaller digital commerce firms based in China to sell in Brazil through a marketplace and accept payments directly in US dollars or another major foreign currency.
As mentioned in the update, a social network may use the platform to ensure a steady flow of compensation to influencers, a transaction type with (usually) a high volume of micropayments with currency conversion.
Berlin-based Earlybird gets 2 new unicorns and closes new megafund at €350 million
We are (somehow) almost halfway through 2022 and Europe’s startup ecosystem is continuing to grow this year at an exciting pace. Contributing to this is, of course, the close of big funds that help startups scale and find success. These funds are a great vital sign of health in Europe’s innovation community.
Today, Earlybird Venture Capital has closed its seventh early-stage fund out of the firm’s Digital West investment team at a cap of €350 million – making it one of Europe’s largest early-stage funds! Earlybird is further consolidating itself as one of Europe’s leading VC firms in Europe as it has also just witnessed the birth of two new unicorns in its portfolio. Founded in Berlin in 1997, Earlybird is investing in innovation and entrepreneurship that’s shaping society for good.
Hendrik Brandis, Partner & Co-Founder at Earlybird: “Our portfolio companies Isar Aerospace, Aleph Alpha, Marvel Fusion or SimScale show that deep tech startups are on the rise and stem from continuous work of scientific institutions across Europe. Our role is to offer these highly scientific young companies, besides our other focus sectors such as Fintech, Enterprise Software and Sustainability, commercialization and growth opportunities on a global scale, in order to make ground-breaking ideas available to society.”
I’m Dmitry Tsymber, a Co-Founder of Dyninno Group and a founder of the group’s latest venture in the neo-banking space – MultiPass. I can describe myself as a seasoned CEO with 25 years of experience in retail banking and consumer finance. My expertise and interests lie in FinTech and international business scale-up.
2. Give us the backstory – how did you get the founding idea, and how did the first sale come about?
Since the start of my career, I’ve been in banking and financial services – I have managed operations globally and led different companies through exponential growth and restructuring. In 2015 I became a co-founder of Dyninno Group by launching one of its three main divisions – FinTech.
MultiPass is the latest addition to Dyninno FinTech; it was originally created as a shared payment solution for all Dyninno businesses and in just a few years, after having secured in-house services, it became attractive to the group’s partners worldwide. So basically, our first sale happened organically through our closest contacts.
Reacting to customer demand, we have evolved into a market-fit product that now helps companies from more than 50 markets to speed up their payment processes.
Simply said, MultiPass became an Authorised EMI that now helps companies to manage their bank transfers in foreign markets seamlessly. We take the stress and hassle off the shoulders of various companies globally, and we do this by using scalable proprietary technology with a branch-like client experience based on our group’s contact centre infrastructure.
3. What were the biggest challenges in starting?
The biggest challenges were connected with gaining clients’ trust when competing with traditional banks. However, banks have issues with speed, flexibility and discriminatory pricing to our target segments. This is where we can complete. As a person who comes from the banking industry, I know the underlying processes and how things are done at big banks “from the inside”. So we need to work extra hard to win the trust via better functionality, better service, and better pricing.
Good news, there is a real need from our clients that we can resolve. Far too often international trade is considered by the banks as complicated, especially when it comes to mid-sized clients. Hence, there are many restrictions and hurtles. Add to this low responsiveness to client requests and hidden fees, like bad currency exchange rates, and you can feel the pain the majority of our clients feel when dealing with traditional banks. Learning from Dyninno Group, we figured out the way to build must-needed trust with our potential clients. We invested in scalable payment, risk management and customer service systems, and real-life personal support. We combine what new technologies and regulations can offer – a fully distant and digitalized onboarding, multi-channel communication, and open banking solutions with a branch-like experience at the place it is most needed. Since a dedicated account manager who knows the company and its business gets assigned, the client can find the most efficient and secure solution.
When we started, we were simply servicing the company’s needs since it was operating globally. Then we realised that there is a demand from companies that operate like us because the regular service is restrictive and so-to-say stubborn. That’s why we say that it’s empowered by technology and delivered by people.
4. What areas within FinTech do you personally find most interesting and why?
Neo-banking – due to its technology usage and ability to provide more efficient international payments. Since technologies are evolving, the norms of traditional banking are changing, so we are now seeing a significant shift in how payments are initiated and processed. And disruption happens in many sub-sections in payments, starting with P2P payments and finishing with global remittance platforms. It is also clear that technological improvements have affected consumers and the B2B environment, which I find very exciting. And I think there is a lot of future potential there. Back when I was working for banks, some changes were starting to take place, and I see them being realised only now – 20 years later. This is way too rigid, slow, and inefficient.
5. Which are the key trends and opportunities in (European) financial services?
What we can see now is that Embedded Finance has moved onto the stage of implementation across several industries and I expect the wider industry to embrace it both in the corporate as well as consumer sectors. This will result in frictionless transactional flow and increase efficiency and product/service satisfaction across the sectors. My personal favourite example is Amazon Fresh shops in London, where I can scan my App upon entering the shop and leave all the billing and charging to the automated systems.
6. What’s on your bookshelf/reading list?
I have three at the moment – all three books help you survive in Fintech, which is dynamic and fast-changing. Whatever is today doesn’t mean it will be there tomorrow, and these books shine a light on helping you focus on the most important things.
Zero to One by Peter Thiel & Blake Masters and Good to Great by Jim Collins are my reading Bibles. As you read these books, you understand that making things great takes a journey of a thousand septs. People are usually looking for quick and easy things, like a “silver bullet” that will win it all – like “how to get rich in one month”. It doesn’t work like that, and people are usually discouraged by that attitude. It’s all about repeating and improving.
Another one that sits on my table is Getting Things Done by David Allen, which focuses on the art of stress-free productivity. So this is more of an operational book.
7. What tip would you like to give FinTech entrepreneurs?
I have three pieces of advice:
Stay focused. That’s number one because lack of focus is going to kill you.
Innovation is not invention. You don’t have to develop the new Coca Cola; you can take something existing and make it better.
The team is your core & key. Hire strategically, and focus on mixing your talent pool so they can look at your business from different angles & tackle various problems.
Multiverse Computing. Largest European Quantum Software Company. Backed by the European Investment Council and large VC. Third largest in the world after two American not-so-much-larger competitors. Delivering solutions to financial problems in optimization, machine-learning and pricing that are not correctly answered (or even not answered) with classical computers. Problems that range from $200-300 to $3B in impact in net income. Working for large customers (Top 10 Banks in the world), appeared in the Boston Consulting Group reports, The Economist, Forbes… Single European Company in McKinsey’s Quantum global Technology Council. 24 new patents/year, 34 people now, we are nearly 3 yr old!
Me: Mathematician, 20+ yr in finance (also Computer Engineer, PhD in biostatistics, MBA from IESE Business School -and also MD, yep). I can just speak when my Physics cofounders let me do
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am an early stage investor focusing on FinTech primarily B2C in MENA and B2B globally. I also spend a lot of time thinking and reading about the future of finance and ways technology can close the wealth gap across the globe and improve lives. I am a strong believer in the power of many, and the depth and breadth of the impact collaborative ecosystems and communities can have. I seek such opportunities.
Stanhope Financial Group Raises USD10M in Series Funding
Stanhope Financial Group, a Dublin, Ireland-based global fintech company that provides businesses with a full suite of banking services, raised over USD 10m in Series A funding round.
The round was led by Gate Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to develop its product offerings, strengthen the management team, increase its market share, and prepare for the launch of its upcoming affiliate digital assets division, SH Digital.
Led by Kevin von Neuschatz, Group CEO, and Mohit Davar, Executive Chairman, Stanhope Financial Group operates:
SH Payments, licensed as an Electronic Money Institution, which offers businesses banking services to send and receive money globally, including FX, multi-currency accounts, and innovative payments solutions
SH Capital, licensed in the DIFC, Dubai, which allows institutions and family offices to gain access to premium global investment products across all capital markets
SH Digital, which offers cryptocurrency liquidity and trading services.
Stanhope Financial Group has also been granted financial services licences by both the Bank of Lithuania and (IPA) by Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
Scalapay, an Italian Buy Now – Pay Later provider, raised $27M USD in funding in a Series B extension.
Poste Italiane made the investment.
This funding, an extension of Scalapay’s $497M USD Series B fundraising round, which was announced in February 2022, will go towards the continued expansion and development of the team, product development, and brand building. The company is also planning on expanding its executive team and company board. The additional funding brings total funding to date to $727M USD.
Scalapay is an innovative payment solution for e-commerce merchants across the globe that allows customers to buy now and pay later, without interest. Their BNPL offerings include three options for customers (Pay in 3, Pay in 4, and Pay Later) in which customers are not required to make any payments upfront, and can instead opt to pay in 3 installments, 4 installments, or entirely after 14 days. They are making the purchasing experience more delightful and easy for customers by lightening the financial impact.
Scalapay is an innovative payment solution for e-commerce merchants across the globe that allows customers to buy now and pay later, in three convenient pleasurable installments, without interest.
Argent decodes $40 million to scale DeFi and Web3 super app globally
The UK-based platform is building a single app for all things DeFi and Web3, and is actively exploring new features and verticals, including virtual real estate, gaming, DAOs and NFTs
London-based wallet for Ethereum-based digital currencies and blockchain applications, Argent has raised $40 million in funding to accelerate its mission to build one app for all things DeFi and Web3. The Series B round was led by Fabric Ventures and Metaplanet, with existing investors Paradigm, Index Ventures and Creandum and strategic investors, including Starkware, Jump and Animoca.
Founded in 2017, the platform is enabling customers to buy, trade and earn crypto at the tap of a button, reducing transaction fees from hundreds of dollars to cents, eliminating dated security measures, such as seed phrases, and all within a simple and clean user interface.
Since the launch of its new Layer 2 account last year, it has attracted more than 500,000 users. Going forward, the platform is building a single app for all things DeFi and Web3, and is actively exploring new features and verticals, including virtual real estate, gaming, DAOs and NFTs.
Itamar Lesuisse, co-founder and CEO, Argent said: “For crypto to live up to its potential, it needs to break the stranglehold of big exchanges and incumbent wallets. The experience is too scary, expensive and insecure for most people. Argent fixes this.”
Lithuanian fintech startup that provides advanced account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure to replace costly card transactions, Kevin. has raised $65 million in funding.
The Series A round was led by Accel, with participation from Eurazeo and existing investors, including OTB Ventures, Speedinvest, OpenOcean and Global Paytech Ventures. Other angel investors including Harry Stebbings, founder of 20VC; Ilkka Paananen, CEO and co-founder of Supercell; Amitabh Jhawar, former CEO of Venmo also participated.
The Series A funding comes just six months after the company secured its $10 million seed round and brings the total funding raised to $77 million.
Founded in 2018, kevin. offers innovative and convenient payment solutions that eliminate unnecessary intermediaries in the payment process. The company has taken advantage of the huge opportunity presented by open banking. Recently, the startup also dabbled in payments at point-of-sale terminals in physical stores by introducing NFC A2A payment solution with a seamless user experience comparable to that of a card payment.
Starling Bank Raises £130 Million at £2.5 Billion Valuation
Starling Bank, a top digital bank operating in the UK, has raised more money. According to multiple reports, Starling has raised £130 million at a £2.5 billion valuation. It was reported that Starling may use some of the new money to target acquisitions to complement its digital banking operations.
Goldman Sachs Growth Equity was said to lead the round as part of an extension of a Series D round from last year that valued Starling at £1.1 billion. As the valuation has jumped by more than 2X, it probably should be described as a Series E.
Anne Boden, CEO and founder of Starling, was quoted last month on the digital banks stellar growth. Boden stated: “We’ve had some big successes recently, we now have 7.5% market share of the SME market in the UK and we’ve done that in just four years. We’re now the most switched to bank in the UK in the last four quarters. More people are switching to Starling than any other bank and 68% more than our next competitor Lloyds Bank.”
According to Starling’s website, it has over 2.8 million individual accounts. At the beginning of he year, Starling reported that deposit base now stands at £8.4 billion, up from £4.8 billion this time last year, while we’ve expanded our lending from £1.9 billion to £3.1 billion.
As for potential acquisitions, one report said that Starling was eyeing platforms in the lending sector.
Paddle, a London, UK-based provider of a complete payments infrastructure for SaaS companies, raised $200m in Series D equity and debt financing at a valuation of $1.4bn.
The round, which brings the total raised to date to $293m, was led by KKR, with participation from existing investors FTV Capital, 83North, Notion Capital, Kindred Capital, and debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank.
The company intends to use the funds to strengthen the growth of its platform and expand its business reach.
Led by Christian Owens, CEO, Paddle provides SaaS companies with a payments infrastructure platform which integrates checkout, payment, subscription management, invoicing, international taxes and financial compliance processes.
The payments infrastructure is used by over 3,000 software companies in more than 200 markets worldwide.
The company has a team of 275 across offices in London and New York, with more hires expected to match its acceleration as a business.
Irish tech unicorn Wayflyer buys funding platform for content creators
After Dublin-based revenue-based financing platform Wayflyer raised $150 million in an all-equity Series B funding round to join the unicorn club at a $1.6 billion valuation in February, the startup is inching up to expand its presence in the influencer marketing space. It has now acquired creator funding provider Peblo.
The new buy will enable individual creators to access up to $2 million in financing, and expects to advance over $500 million to creators over the next year.
Founded in 2019, Wayflyer offers financing and analytics solutions to e-commerce businesses. Following the deal, Peblo will remain a standalone brand and its team of six will join Wayflyer’s team.
There are around 2 million creators globally earning an average of $100,000 each per year. These creators often have to wait up to 120 days to get paid by their partnering brands, which restricts their ability to grow their business. Peblo solves this pain point by providing funding to creators, plugging the gap between upfront cost and client payment. Customers are able to view invoices, brand deals and outgoings on an easy-to-use platform. By enabling creators to pay expenses and increase their spend on content, the platform allows them space to pursue more ambitious brand deals and accelerate their growth.
Peblo will also be able to efficiently connect influencers with relevant e-commerce brands through Wayflyer’s platform, making the process of selecting and brokering influencer agreements seamless.
Neobank Bunq Acquires Belgian FinTech TriCount, Adding 5.4M Users
Neobank Bunq, by acquiring Belgian FinTech TriCount, will add 5.4 million new users, a company press release said, and become Europe’s second-largest neobank, behind Revolut. It will also be updating its app to add features.
The bank will also introduce features like Bunq Jackpot, which gives Dutch, German and French users three chances to win €10,000 every month by using the app.
The users will be able to increase their chances of winning by using Bunq cards, by adding and keeping money in their Bunq accounts, and through inviting friends.
The release also noted that there will be other in-app changes, including upgrading its Home and Community tabs. The Home tab will let users group accounts, cards and other things, to customize the app to meet their needs.
The Community tab will add to ways users can interact with Bunq and other users, with sharing and responding options for posts like a social media app. The release said this will let users improve the experience of the app for others through sharing experiences.
The bank has also been vocal about wanting to boost its mergers and acquisitions, and buying TriCount will let the bank add easy access to various features to help make managing money easier.
“TriCount’s commitment to simplicity, transparency and community perfectly aligns with our own values,” said Ali Niknam, CEO and founder of Bunq.
January Ventures, a Boston, MA- and London, UK-based venture capital firm, closed its second fund, at $21M.
Fund II investors include institutions like Wellington Management, Bank of America, IDEAL Investments, and The Kapor Foundation.
The fund will continue investing in formation stage B2B software startups. Out of this new $21M Fund II, the firm plans to invest in 35 to 40 companies.
Led by Maren Bannon, and Jennifer Neundorfer, January Ventures provides funding and connects founders to an operator network with more than 100 tech leaders who have worked at over 50 unicorn companies, including Uber, Twitter, Miro, Compass, Toast, Airbnb, Google, Amazon, and Stripe.
Since 2018, the firm has invested in 50 early stage tech startups includingEthena,Kapwing,PlanetFWD,Sonantic,Ntropy, Sorcero,Gable, Oula Health, Kinside and Elektra Health.
January Ventures has proactively built an investor base that reflects the diversity of its portfolio – 60% of its LPs identify as women.
Cipio unveils €202 million fund to back software-enabled businesses in Europe
Targetting B2B SaaS and software-enabled business models, the German company will typically make an investment of €5-15 million in each firm
Munich-headquartered growth stage technology firm Cipio Partners has wrapped up its latest fund with €202 million. Cipio VIII will follow the same investment strategy as its €174 million predecessor fund, CPF VII, which held a final closing in 2017.
According to Roland Dennert, managing partner, Cipio, the company will typically make an initial investment of €5-15 million in each firm. Giving more details about the sectors that will be backed by the recently closed fund, Dennert added: “The fund will focus on B2B SaaS and software-enabled business models such as marketplaces. It will also invest in deep tech businesses such as semiconductors. The current deal activities are particularly strong in big data, cyber security, AI and industrial software applications.”
The new fund has already completed two investments in European growth companies: Nuki, the Austrian smart-home developer, and Navvis, the Munich-based global leader in end-to-end solutions for reality capture and ‘digital twins’.
Felix Haas and other scene heads launch funds with 160 million euros
By entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. This is the motto of the Munich investor network 10x, which has now set up a fund worth 160 million euros. According to the company, the money comes from around 200 founders and 48 business angels who are part of this network. The money pot is aimed at startups that are still in the early stages.
The fund was founded by IDnow founder Felix Haas, Andreas Etten, founder of Ada Health, media entrepreneur Andrej Henkler, Claudius Jablonka, former investor in Plug and Play Ventures, angel investors Robert Wuttke and Jan Reichelt and ex-Friendscout24 CEO Jan Becker. The seven Munich-based companies have known each other for years and are all founding partners of 10x. “The network has grown organically over decades and now we are bundling our activities at 10x,” jablonka writes on Linkedin. In total, the founding partners had previously invested in over 300 startups, it says – including Palantir, Tier Mobility and Volocopter.
The seven Munich residents raised the fund in April 2021. From which founders the money comes and from which countries the people come, is not publicly known. With 10x, they have already financed more than two dozen companies, according to Chrunchbase, including the Indian fintech Savein or the e-commerce startup Zowie from the USA
Valia Ventures, a New York, San Francisco, and London, UK-based early stage venture capital firm, closed its second fund, at $50M.
Valia Ventures II brings together a strategic group of limited partners including experienced startup founders, technology executives, international family offices, and institutional investors such as Tiger Global Management.
The fund will be initially investing up to $1M at the pre-seed and seed stages, while reserving additional capital for follow-on rounds. The firm will maintain its generalist approach, investing across sectors including, but not limited to; fintech, healthcare, consumer, and enterprise software.
Led by Khaled Jalanbo, Managing Partner, Valia also runs an active co-investment program, investing $2M to $10M in growth stage rounds of its existing portfolio companies and in select new opportunities.
Portfolio companies include Humane, Lendtable, Relativity Space, Selfbook, and System.
European FinTech deals this week include Pillar and Seon
We feature Q&As with Javier Correa of PostFinance AG and Hussam EL-Sheikh of 9fin
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Scaling Enterprise FinTech with Javier Correa of PostFinance AG
1. A year since the first lockdowns- is this a good time to be building or scaling an Enterprise FinTech (/ InsurTech) firm in Europe?
Yes, generally it always is, as long as there is a strong value proposition behind and clearly articulated. There is incremental talent looking to jump into an exciting journey. Customers and prospects have been made strongly aware of additional needs and/or of the advantages from innovative business models/technologies/products and services. In addition, deep pools of capital looking for attractive opportunities to support these teams.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hey I’m Huss, CTO & Co-founder of 9fin. I think I’d describe myself as an engineer in every sense of the word. So, via a degree in Aerospace Engineering, taking apart my siblings’ toys as a child, learning programming at school from age 12, I find myself now running a technology startup serving up news, data and analysis to the financial markets. I love Formula 1, and it’s been a very stressful (but exciting) 2021 championship this year. I’m trying to get better at badminton after taking it up for the first time a couple of years ago… At least my height lets me get away with not being any good yet!
UK-based Pillar picks up €15.6 million to tackle credit access problem for migrants
The reality is that new immigrants are excluded from the financial system, on a global level, and it’s a problem that creates financial disparity, social hardship and exclusion. On a mission to eradicate this discriminatory issue, Pillar has just picked up about €15.6 million in pre-seed funding to build a new credit platform.
The funding was led by VC firms Global Founders Capital and Backed VC. A number of high profile angels have also contributed to the raise, including the founders of WageStream, Peter Briffet and Portman Wills as well as the powerhouse investor and former VP and investor of AirBnB Oliver Jung.
Founded in 2021 by well-known Revolut alumni Ashutosh Bhatt and experienced fintech CTO, Adam Lewis, Pillar’s technology will provide individuals moving to new countries with access to a variety of credit products in their new locations, that would have previously been unattainable.
With the current structure of the credit referencing market, a consumer cannot take their credit file from one country to another. As such, nearly all immigrants find themselves excluded from everyday products such as credit cards and loans. Those that do manage to access a product find themselves paying a disproportionately higher cost of borrowing.
At the heart of Pillar’s product is a proprietary Open Banking-led data and analytics engine that will power the global scalability of the platform. The launch is planned for Q3 in 2022.
Ashutosh Bhatt, CEO of Pillar, commented: “Ever since I moved to the UK and found I couldn’t access any of the everyday products I had in India this has been a problem I have been passionate about solving. I arrived earning a good salary at Barclays and found I couldn’t even get an iPhone! Fourteen years later, and the world of credit still hasn’t changed, so we have set upon building a globally scalable platform that breaks down data silos and credit borders as well as solves this massive problem faced by financially secure people moving to a new country.”
Fintech Seon, which Specializes in Fraud Prevention, Acquires $94M in Funding
Seon, a startup that’s focused on assisting Fintechs like Revolut with addressing online fraud, has secured $94 million in capital, in order to implement various tools for preventing sanctions evasion by Russia.
The London-headquartered firm secured the funding via an investment round that was led by IVP, which is the Silicon Valley-based investment company that has supported Netflix and Twitter.
IVP Partner Michael Miao has now joined Seon’s board.
Existing investors Creandum, an early Spotify investor, as well as PortfoLion, have contributed to the raise as well. Angel investors such as Coinbase COO Emilie Choi and UiPath CEO Daniel Dines joined as well.
Seon, which counts Afterpay, Nubank, and Revolut, as clients, stated that its tech is specifically developed to make it easier for companies of all kinds to fight fraud.
Its software analyzes a client’s email address, phone numbers and various other data points in order to create a “digital footprint,” and then leverages machine learning to figure out if they’re legitimate or suspicious.
The company has been valued at $500 million following its latest round. This, according to sources cited by CNBC (which claimed to be familiar with the matter).
Tamas Kadar, CEO and Co-founder at Seon, noted that his firm has seen greater demand for tools that identify transfers from sanctioned persons and other entities (in addition to “politically exposed persons” during the Russian invasion of Ukraine).
Part of the proceeds will be channeled towards the potential use of Fintech apps for money laundering and sanctions evasion.
Kadar said that they are “working on an arm to support this need from our client base.”
Seon is also currently working on a function that should be able to verify companies online and determine if their shareholders have been placed on sanctions lists.
These types of tools may identify if someone is “just creating shell companies to launder money,” or “as a fake identity to hide their assets,” Kadar added.
Investing.com — Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) revealed in a post on its blog on Tuesday that it has signed a deal to acquire Ziglu, a UK-based “electronic money institution and cryptoasset firm.”
Shares of the popular trading app maker rose 3.4% on Tuesday.
Robinhood is waiting to launch in the UK after previously halting plans. However, the deal for Ziglu will help accelerate its expansion in the UK and Europe, the company said.
Ziglu customers are able to buy and sell 11 cryptocurrencies, earn yield through its “Boost” products, pay using a debit card and spend money abroad without fees, Robinhood said in its post.
“Ziglu’s impressive team of deeply experienced financial services and crypto experts will help us accelerate our global expansion efforts,” said Vlad Tenev, CEO and Co-Founder of Robinhood Markets.
Adding: “Together with the Ziglu team, we’ll work to leverage the best of both companies, exploring new ways to innovate and break down barriers for customers across the UK and Europe.”
Following the news, JMP Securities analyst said the deal should accelerate Robinhood’s crypto expansion.
Mundi Ventures opens €250-million fund with €120 million to back insuretech firms
The Insurtech Fund II will invest in Series A and Series B with inflows of up to €5 to €10 million in Europe
Madrid-based venture capital firm Mundi Ventures has rolled out its second insuretech fund. The Insurtech Fund II will focus on the insurance sector and cover insuretech as well as fintech, deeptech, or healthtech startups that work with the insurance sector. It has already opened the fund with more than €120 million, out of €250 million it is seeking.
Founded by Moises Sanchez and Javier Santiso, the fund will invest in Series A and Series B with inflows of up to €5 to €10 million in Europe. With the new fund, it is doubling the size and expanding with several additions in the investment team, operations and senior advisors. It has already invested in France-based Convelio. Other investments are pending in the U.K.
The insurtech fund currently has 6 unicorns in its kitty, including Wefox (Berlin), Klarna (Stockholm), Job&Talent (Madrid) and Shift Technology (Paris).
European FinTech deals this week include Leatherback, Zevoy, Stenn,Wagestream and Capital on Tap
We feature Q&As with Paul Christensen of Previse and Spiros Margaris of Margaris Ventures
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Scaling Enterprise FinTech: with Paul Christensen of Previse
1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your company
I have a bit of an unusual background, having been born on a piece of tin in the jungle of Papua New Guinea. Respect to my mother, who is an inspiration! I’m a fintech nut. I’ve been in fintech for 25 years, having been part of the founding team of Volbroker.com in the late nineties. I then spent time in several banks, including a decade at Goldman where I led their strategic investments and corporate venturing team. But I knew that I wanted to get back to building and creating. So I started on a quest, with my amazing co-founders (Andre, Giulio and Philipp) and our team, to fix B2B payments.
Our company is a data science firm, on a mission to instantly pay the world’s millions of small sellers, so that they don’t have to wait and chase for weeks and months to get paid. Our purpose is to unleash the power of data for business.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Spiros Margaris, and I am a venture capitalist (VC) and the founder of Margaris Ventures. I have been in the investment business for quite some time, with more than 25 years of international experience in investment management/research and startups. In my role as a VC, I also act as an advisor to my globally spread FinTech and InsurTech startup portfolio. I am the first international influencer to achieve ‘The Triple Crown’ of influencer rankings by being ranked the global No. 1 FinTech, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain influencer by Onalytica in 2018. I am very fortunate to regularly appear in the top three positions of the established global industry influencer rankings due to the generous support of great FinTech industry friends and participants. In 2017, I had the opportunity to give a speech at the TEDxAcademy Talk. In addition, for the enterprise software vendor SAP, I wrote an AI white paper, ‘Machine learning in financial services: Changing the rules of the game’.
UK fintech startup Leatherback raises $10M for its cross-border payments led by ZedCrest
Immigrants, international students, and the migrant population in general all require international payments, or foreign exchange. Revolut and Wise are among those platforms to have taken advantage of this international audience. Now, fintech startup Leatherback, a U.K.-based cross-border payments platform, has raised what it describes as a $10 million pre-seed round led by ZedCrest Capital, a pan-African investment firm.
Leatherback offers a multiple currency solution for cross-border transactions.
Co-founder and CEO Ibrahim Toyeeb said in a statement that the funding would “be deployed to raise Leatherback’s profile in the Fintech arena as well as extend its capacity in the many countries it’s licensed in and where it is about to be approved. These include South Africa, Egypt, Uganda, India, and the UAE.”
Prior to this round, the company said it was bootstrapped by the founders.
“As principal investors, we love opportunities where we can bring our expertise to bear,” Zedcrest Capital’s group managing director, Adedayo Amzat, said. “It has been rewarding to provide operational and strategic support to Leatherback in its quest to build the perfect compliance, technology, and finance infrastructure that will allow it to be the operating system of choice for the global mobility of businesses and individuals.”
U.K.-based Leatherback offers multi-currency accounts with the option to exchange currency across multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, South Africa, the UAE, Denmark, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Finnish FinTech Zevoy Raises $16M to Roll Out Across Europe
Zevoy, the Finland-based FinTech, has closed on a 15 million euros ($16.3 million) Series A funding round, the startup announced Tuesday (April 12).
The cash will be used to launch in eight European markets during the next few months.
This round was led by Blossom Capital, the London-based venture capital company, alongside European investors Maki.vc and Brightly Ventures.
Founded in the summer of 2020, Zevoy offers an expense management solution, as well as credit and prepaid debit, to its clients.
Zevoy is expected to secure a credit institution license this year, which will allow the firm to accept deposits.
“Expense management is a big pain point for many companies and their employees,” said CEO Christoffer Rosqvist in a statement. “To solve this, Zevoy offers an all-in-one business card with which you can scan receipts, match purchases with receipts, manage and forward expenses digitally into accounting.”
Zevoy focuses on underserved markets and growing companies have proven to be a sweet spot, he added.
Last month, PYMNTS reported that the while Nordic region may be small, with a population fewer than 6 million in Norway, Denmark and Finland, they are global leaders in innovation.
London-based fintech Stenn raises $50M on a $900M valuation for its platform that helps SMEs access supply chain finance
Stenn, a global non-bank trade finance provider, has raised $50M (approximately €46M) at a valuation of $900M (approximately €832M). With globalisation at the centre of every major change in the economy, Stenn offers a platform that helps players in this globalisation drive gain access to financing.
The past few years have seen globalisation reach a fever pitch where every company now operates across borders and in order to keep up with this change, the manufacturing and logistics sector has also evolved. While it is easier for product companies to raise capital, Stenn has built a platform that helps players in the supply chain get access to capital.
A research from Accenture shows that SMEs currently face a global financing gap of $3.6T. This gap is expected to rise to $6.1T within the next three years. With SMEs responsible for more than a quarter of global trade, the research shows that these businesses have struggled to access financing despite their major role in global trade.
The lack of access to easy financing has restricted the growth potential of these small and medium enterprises. Stenn was founded in 2015 to solve this very problem and has provided over $6B of financing to SMEs in over 70 countries since its inception. It has helped SMEs from sectors such as retail and IT services to access financing, and its platform has financed over $1B of transactions to date in 2022.
“A lack of access to finance is stunting the growth of SMEs around the world that are engaged in international trade. At Stenn, our purpose has always been to level the playing field for global SMEs, helping to plug a multi-trillion-dollar financing gap by connecting these businesses with low-cost institutional capital,” founder and CEO Greg Karpovsky says.
Wagestream, a London, UK-based provider of a financial wellbeing app, raised $175M in Series C funding.
The round was led by Smash Capital, with participation from Epic Games, Reddit, SonderMind, and DuckDuckGo, with participation from BlackRock, Balderton Capital, Northzone, Fair By Design, and Silicon Valley Bank.
The company intends to use the funds to scale up its presence in new markets such as the U.S.
Founded in 2018 by Peter Briffett (CEO), Portman Wills (CTO) and a group of leading financial charities, including Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Social Tech Trust, Big Society Capital, and the Fair By Design fund, Wagestream is a financial wellbeing app designed for frontline workers and built around their pay. Offered through caring employers, it makes work more inclusive, fair and rewarding for people – by giving them access to fair financial services built around flexible pay.
Workers access Wagestream through participating employers, who subsidize the service. The app syncs with payroll systems and allows employees to access and manage their income – either directly through the app, or as an integration with workforce management technology partners. Additionally, the app provides users with a variety of financial services to help them build up their financial health over time. For example, people can choose how often they’re paid, track their shifts and pay each day, build savings and win prizes, access free financial coaching, and get fairer deals on products – like insurance and utilities – than they would have access to elsewhere.
More than one million workers in industries such as retail, hospitality and healthcare are currently able to use the app through employers including Burger King, Pizza Hut, Crate & Barrel, Bupa and the UK’s National Health Service. One million workers now can access Wagestream globally through over 300 employers in the U.S., UK, Spain and Australia.
Fintech turns on capital taps with $200m funding for US expansion
London-based fintech Capital on Tap has secured a $200m (£153.6m) investment from HSBC and Värde Partners to continue expanding its SME funding service in the US.
Founded in 2012, Capital on Tap provides business credit cards that come with spending controls, reporting and rewards.
The alternative lender initially focused on the UK market but launched a US business credit card in March 2021.
Across both markets, it has provided more than £3.5bn in funding to over 125,000 SMEs. It provides a credit facility of up to £150,000 and doesn’t charge for ATM use in the UK.
Capital on Tap’s market includes businesses with a turnover of at least £2,000 per month.
As part of its move into the US market, Capital on Tap established an office in Atlanta, adding to its presence in London and Cardiff.
The fintech company has 50 people at its Atlanta office and will use the fresh investment to increase hiring.
Alan Hart, CFO, Capital on Tap, said: “With the closing of this facility we are looking forward to expanding our ability to provide essential funding for small businesses across the United States. We are thrilled to be joined in this mission with Värde Partners as well as extending our already international relationship with HSBC.”
The latest investment follows a £450m funding facility closed in November last year, which also saw HSBC provide capital.
“We see this as a good example of an emerging substantial investable opportunity set for us, providing capital solutions to digitally-oriented non-bank lenders that are financing the needs of businesses investing in their products and customers,” said Aneek Mamik, partner and global co-head of financial services at Värde Partners.
Capital on Tap’s latest funding follows a bumper 2021 for UK fintech investment, with companies raising $11.6bn in capital.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Scaling Enterprise FinTech: with Viktor Stensson, CEO of Bokio
1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
In 2015 me, Mikael Eliasson, Emma Rozada and Joel Rozada founded Bokio. Since then, our AI-powered bookkeeping and accounting software has grown rapidly. We’ve expanded to the UK and our user base is growing at an incredible pace. We have 100 employees and serve over 60,,000 monthly active users in the UK and our native country Sweden.
7 Questions with Daniel Andemeskel of Universal-Investment
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hello, I am Daniel Andemeskel, Director and Head of Innovation Management at Universal-Investment. I am currently responsible for the Group’s innovation agenda while at the same time developing the next generation investment platform for digital assets, leveraging on Blockchain and AI. Prior to joining Universal-Investment, I gained over 20 years’ experience in investment management in several functions. My motto is to envision new innovations instead of building faster horses (just like the famous quote of Henry Ford) which is why I enjoy speaking at international conferences and panels on innovation and digital transformation. Besides, I am a member of several Blockchain consortiums and forums and like to initiate collaborations on Blockchain.
Work aside, in my personal life I like to travel and discover new cultures and countries. Alongside my passion for cooking and wine. To compensate my full calendar, I am trying to do as much sports as possible, frequent morning runs are my favorite. This is rounded up with the fact that I am an early bird (waking up every morning between 4:30am and 5:00am). I use these morning hours for the innovation visioning and creative part of my job.
ExpressGroup, a Hamburg, Germany-based fintech company, raised €25m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Insight Partners and Project A Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to grow the organization internationally and to launch aligned products in more fintech verticals.
Founded in 2019 by Maximilian Lambsdorff, Dennis Konrad, Konstantin Loebner, Mehdi Afridi and Andreas Santoro, ExpressGroup provides fintech products for the working class and middle class, starting with taxes. Its first product, “ExpressSteuer,” uses an AI-powered backend system that allows platform partners such as accounting firms, tax consultants, and lawyers to process tax cases in a few minutes. The system uses machine learning and automation features, which in combination with manual work makes processing income tax returns easier, quicker, and more accurate.
According to a written note, the product was well received by the target audience allowing the company to grow to over €45 million GMV run-rate in under 12 months.
Carmoola raises £27m to drive ‘fintech revolution’ in motor finance
Motoring fintech Carmoola has raised £27m in a seed round, including capital from Jaguar Land Rover’s investment fund.
London-based Carmoola will use the seed round investment to develop its product and launch the initial stages of the business, which provides an automated finance check for purchasing a car.
Its motoring finance app lets users find out how much they can borrow in under a minute and has no broker commissions.
It then creates a virtual card that can be used to purchase a vehicle online or at a dealership – including at UK-founded online car retailer Cazoo.
The Carmoola app also gives customers the option to increase, pause or make single payments without any penalties or charges.
The company is aiming to bring the digital disruption of the UK’s vibrant fintech sector to the world of car finance.
“There’s an incredible fintech revolution going on. And yet, car financing seems to have been forgotten about. It’s like a complete old banger,” said Aidan Rushby, CEO, Carmoola.
“The freedom to go shopping anywhere, knowing what you can spend, without sending off reams of forms and payslips, puts the consumer immediately in control of their car purchase.”
Fidel API, a London, UK-based provider of a financial infrastructure platform, raised $65m in Series B funding.
The round, which brings Fidel API’s total funding to $88 million since inception, was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from existing investors NYCA Partners, QED Investors and more.
The company intends to use the funds to continue to scale its workforce and product offerings. They plan to more than double its global headcount with a particular emphasis on Engineering, Sales and Product hires. The added capital will also accelerate investments into existing products, in addition to newer product capabilities across identity verification, consent management and payments.
Co-founded by Dev Subrata (CEO) and Andre Elias (CTO), Fidel API enables developers to create programmable experiences that enhance the value of using and accepting payment cards. Its platform provides identity, data, and payments products that allow developers to capture consent permissions and securely connect payment cards to a service or application. With this infrastructure, developers are able to create highly contextualized and event-driven user experiences at the point of purchase. Start-ups through global enterprises, including Google, Royal Bank of Canada and British Airways, are leveraging Fidel API’s tools to power a range of solutions including digital receipts, omni-channel attribution, loyalty and rewards, expense management and personal finance management.
Launched in 2018, the company also has offices in Lisbon, New York, and remote employees globally.
Madrid-based RITMO hits a jackpot with $200 million funding to help e-commerce firms raise capital
The Spanish startup aims to help e-commerce entrepreneurs scale up rapidly and overcome the current supply chain challenges by providing them with capital
Offering cash-strapped startups an alternative to venture capital, venture debt or bank loans, revenue-based financing startups are gaining traction. While Berlin-based fintech re:cap raised $111.5 million in a seed funding round last year and Capchase raised $80 Million in March, Madrid-based RITMO is adding sheen to the race.
After raising €13.8 million funding in a seed round in July last year, RITMO is back with a bang. The fintech has now closed a $200 million debt funding round led by i80 Group and Avellinia Capital. According to the company, it is one of the largest funding rounds of any e-commerce finance business in Europe and Latin America. This brings the platform’s total funding raised to $225 million in debt and equity funding in its first year of operations.
The funding will be used to support the company’s rapid growth, ensuring capital is available to fuel the funding of over 2,000 e-commerce clients over the next 18 months in key European and LATAM countries. It will also drive RITMO’s global expansion strategy and plans to launch in new markets through agreements with key players in the payments and e-commerce sectors.
Advent buys MANGOPAY, doles out €75 million to fuel expansion beyond Europe
The French startup enables clients to accept consumer payments, onboard sellers, and route funds to them on a global scale
Paris-based provider of payment solutions to e-commerce sites, MANGOPAY has been acquired by US-based private equity investor Advent. The change of hands will see Advent injecting €75 million of primary capital. This investment is expected to accelerate the company’s growth. MANGOPAY will focus on international, vertical and product expansion.
The platform had earlier been acquired by French banking group Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, which will continue to hold a minority stake in MANGOPAY.
Founded in 2013, the French startup offers a payment solution dedicated to marketplaces and platforms. Its technology enables clients to accept consumer payments, onboard sellers, and route funds to them on a global scale. The e-wallet environment provides flexibility allowing for split payments, use of escrow accounts and closed-loop payments.
MANGOPAY has already developed a set of dedicated value-added services to address the needs of the rapidly growing B2B marketplace segment. Throwing light on how the acquisition will fuel the creation of a global category leader in the payment industry, Romain Mazeries, CEO, MANGOPAY said: “The new investment alongside their deep payment expertise and network will help us significantly accelerate our development. Tomorrow, global exchanges, innovative business models and new consumer habits will bring more complexity and intermediaries to the payments landscape. We are well-positioned to tackle these challenges.”
Delta Partners launches €70m fund to back 30 Irish tech start-ups
The VC plans to invest in 30 companies over the next few years, with Bank of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland as the fund’s cornerstone investors.
Dublin-based venture capital firm Delta Partners is launching a new fund with a target close of €70m to back early-stage technology businesses in Ireland.
The Delta team plans to invest in 30 of Ireland’s most innovative and exciting start-ups over the next three to four years, with a focus on seed-stage investment – where it will be the first institutional investor – and the Series A stage where companies require funds for scaling.
The fund has reached a first close with Bank of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland as cornerstone investors, supported by Fexco and several family offices. Delta plans to add new investors to the fund over the next year, to reach the target amount of €70m.
Commenting on the new fund, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD, said: “We are constantly looking at ways we can back Irish businesses, especially at an early stage when raising finance is often the most difficult.
“This fund will be a €70m pot of money, supported by the Government through Enterprise Ireland, for seed and early-stage technology businesses working on ideas that will create the jobs of the future.”
Delta is also expanding its team with two new partners. Amy Neale is joining from Mastercard, where she was a senior VP leading innovation teams focused on fintech across the globe. Also joining is Richard Barnwell, the founder of Digit Games, which was an investee of Delta Partners before being acquired by Scopely.
Andbank has launched its Actyus Fintech I fund, a €60 million fintech-focused VC fund that will target startups in Latin America, Europe and the US. Andbank Group will provide €6 million in capital; the venture partners of Actyus will invest €2 million.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Scaling Enterprise FinTech: with Virginia Bassano of Eight Roads
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am Italian, I studied in a French Business School and I live in London since 2017. I was previously working in Investment Banking at Citi covering the FinTech sector. I co-founded an HR tech startup named DailyInternship, a talent recruiting platform with over 100k students subscribed. That experience led me very close to the Venture Capital world.. so close that I ended up in VC myself! At Eight Roads I focus on investments in Southern Europe, Nordics, and more broadly speaking in FinTech investments all across Europe. I am passionate about travels, motorbike, photography and all type of animals. A funny fact about me is that by the age of 22 I had already visited all the European capitals in motorbike.
Interviewed by FinTech Forum Co Founder Frank Schwab.
Elevator Ventures is the Corporate Venture Capital Entity of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI). Its primary focus is on early stage and growth investments in fintechs and related enabling technologies in Central and Eastern Europe.
15 million euros for stock trading: Lakestar and others invest in this Saas startup
Many startup founders dream of a million-euro check in the seed financing round. For Max Linden and Marcel Katenhusen from Münsterland, this dream has come true. Well-known investors have invested 15 million euros in their fintech Lemon Markets. The round is led by Klaus Hommels’ VC company Lakestar and the US investor Lightspeed.
Existing investors such as the Swedish fintech investor Creandum or the Berlin early-stage investor System One went along with the round. Prominent business angels also invested, including Taxfix founders Lino Teuteberg and Mathis Büchi or Tekin Has, founders of the car startup Car on Sale and other scene heads.
The founding duo of Lemon Markets has built software designed to make stock trading more efficient and straightforward. The infrastructure of some financial service providers that trade in securities is outdated, linden says in an interview with Gründerszene. “Often there is a lot of manual work behind it.” Companies should save this work with the help of the software, says Linden.
Yonder, a London, UK-based new credit card startup founded by ClearScore alumni, raised £20M in seed funding.
The round was co-led by Northzone and LocalGlobe, with Seedcamp participating alongside a host of angels, including Sharmadean Reid, Marshmallow founders Oliver and Alex Kent-Braham, and Rio Ferdinand.
The company intends to use the funds to grow the team and build their selection of rewards and features.
Co-founded by Theso Jivajirajah, Harry Jell, and CEO Tim Chong, Yonder offers a credit card and rewards program that will provide members with access to exclusive drinking, dining and leisure experiences with partners including The Gladwin Brothers and Kricket restaurants, plus the ability to spend abroad with zero FX fees.
Yonder secured FCA authorisation in just nine months.
From today, Yonder will open its waitlist to customers in London, who can apply to join its Founding Members’ program for early access to the credit card.
Budget Insight, a Paris, France-based aggregator of banking and financial data and a pioneer of Open Finance in Europe, raised $35m (€31m) in funding.
PSG Equity made the investment and will be a shareholder alongside the management team and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa.
The transaction is subject to the authorization of France’s Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR).
The company plans to use the funds to expand operations hiring 50 people this year, to grow its tech, product and sales teams.
Founded in 2012 by Romain Bignon, and led by CEO Bertrand Jeannet, Budget Insight is an Open Finance company that provides tech solutions for an ecosystem of more than 200 businesses and institutions, including some of the largest French banks, insurers, and asset managers, along with several other leading names in fintech.
The Budget Insight API enables clients (banks, fintech firms, lenders, asset managers and software companies) and their end users to aggregate financial data and documents, and initiate payments. Thanks to its technologies, Budget Insight provides clients solutions that cover a wide array of services ranging from asset management and credit to corporate cash management, loyalty and payments.
Moneybox, a London, UK-based digital wealth manager, raised £35M in Series D funding.
The round, which brings the total amount of funds raised to date, to £95.1m, was led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, with participation from Polar Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to growth its customer base, introduce financial planning services and launch an enhanced investing proposition focused on long-term wealth generation.
Launched in 2016 by co-founders Ben Stanway and Charlie Mortimer, Moneybox provides a range of products and services across saving, investing, home-buying, and retirement, all within an app, supported by technology and customer support. The company supports a community of more than 800k customers with more than £2.9bn in assets under administration. It has a team of c.300 people including new entries as Laurel Powers-Freeling as Chair of the Board, Karen Kerrigan, formerly COO at Seedr, Cecilia Mourain, MD Moneybox Home-buying and Caroline Murphree, formerly Europe CEO at Wealthsimple, who will join next month.
Buk Acquires Payflow, a Salary on Demand Fintech from Spain
Buk, a Chilean human resources management platform, announced a few days ago the purchase of the Spanish fintech Payflow. It is not the first acquisition that Buk has carried out: in November 2021 it bought three other companies, including Boost and Ninja Excel.
However, Payflow is the first purchase that doesn’t match Buk’s human resources focus. As a company that offers an on-demand salary advance, Payflow brings Buk into the fintech world.
Buk is in an accelerated process of expansion. At the end of last year, it raised a US$50 million round, bringing it to a valuation of US$417 million. Buk is the fourth most valuable startup in Chile after Cornershop (prior to its acquisition by Uber), NotCo and Betterfly.
Buk is a cloud-based platform that allows companies to manage their human resources “end-to-end”; that is, from payroll to professional development, through performance evaluation tools, recruitment modules and attendance monitoring.
London Technology Club launches £30m fund for fintech and AI startups
London Technology Club (LTC) has launched a fund that aims to raise £30m to invest in promising fintech, AI and mobility startups.
This will be the third investment fund from the London Technology Club in the last three years and aims to inject its £30m into 20 to 25 investments over the next year.
The London-based investment company will be prioritising British, US, European and MENA-based startups.
Konstantin Sidorov, founder, chief executive and general partner at LTC, said:“The technology revolution of the 21st century has positively transformed the way we do business, shop, travel and receive healthcare, but for this rate of innovation to continue we must ensure that tech enterprises are backed with the growth capital they require.”
He added: “Our third fund will channel investment into the leading tech companies of tomorrow to enable them to reach their potential.
“The growth will generate long-term returns to investors, employment opportunities for the next generation, and the benefits of innovation to consumers, businesses and the community.”
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions – Interview video with Miriam Wohlfarth of Banxware
Banxware’s Embedded Financial Service platform bridges the gap between traditional banks and digital platforms, marketplaces or payment providers. Interviewed by FinTech Forum Co Founder Frank Schwab.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am VP for financial Services with IDA Ireland, the state agency responsible for FDI into Ireland. I am based in Frankfurt, have a keen interest in fitness and travel. During lockdown I took up running. I am currently working to improve my times for 5km and 10km park runs
Meet Moonfare, the German fintech which raised $35 million to lower entry barrier for private investors
With the democratisation of private markets and stock market volatility, high net worth individuals, retail investors and their advisors are looking for alternative investments to benefit from high returns. However, retail access to private equity funds for individuals remain low. Addressing the gap, German fintech company Moonfare has raised a $35 million funding from London-based private equity firm Vitruvian Partners, which has earlier invested in Just Eat , Farfetch, Transferwise and Trustpilot.
The funding will come in handy as the startup is gearing up to fuel its global expansion. The company entered the U.S. market this January after it raised a massive $125 million funding in November last year.
Equipped with fast and easy-to-use digital platform, the startup offers retail investors access to select, top-tier private market funds and venture capital funds that were previously only available for institutions.
Stockholm-based ArK Kapital raises €165 million to help startups grow faster and smarter
With the aim to fuel startup growth in a way that is faster and smarter, Swedish fintech company ArK Kapital has today announced it has secured a massive €165 million in seed funding. The funding was led by Local Globe, with participation from Creandum and angel investors including Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen, iZettle founder Jacob de Geer, and EQT Ventures founding partner Hjalmar Winbladh.
Not only is this funding an impressive boost for the startup, which was only launched in November 2021, but also represents a big lift for the startup ecosystem as a whole, given the firm’s business proposition.
Ark Kapital fuses banking and artificial intelligence, operating as a data-driven precision finance company that enables technology companies to grow faster and smarter through long-term loans – maintaining control for founders and reducing risk for investors.
CEO and co-founder Oliver Hildebrandt, explained: “Any founder will tell you how difficult fundraising can be: retelling your story and hoping to convince the other side really adds up and results in precious time spent away from a business. We believe that entrepreneurs should retain more ownership of their companies and more transparency is needed throughout the fundraising process. After all, no matter how small, any investor equates to a long-term relationship. This is where the power of an AI-driven approach becomes clear: companies can benefit from tailored financing options based on their potential, backed up by data. As an entrepreneur-first company, we want to offer the best network for founders”.
Eight Roads Launches US$350M China Focused Technology Fund
Eight Roads, a global venture capital firm backed by Fidelity, launched its latest dedicated technology fund for China.
Eight Roads China Technology Fund V, has US$350m of capital to deepen the firm’s focus on core technology areas accompanied by a deep thematic investment approach.
Since its first investment in China in the 1990s, Eight Roads has evolved with the development of the technology industry in the country and remains committed to supporting local entrepreneurs to develop the next generation of global technology companies with its deep domain expertise and global network.
Led by Jarlon Tsang, Managing Partner and Head of Eight Roads Ventures China, and Ted Chua, Senior Partner, Eight Roads Ventures China has backed over 130 companies in the country’s healthcare and technology sectors such as Alibaba, Adagene, Asia Info, BangEr, Eyebright, FenBeiTong, Innovent, Innovusion, Kyligence, Medbanks, MediTrust, PingPong, Pony.ai, WuXi Apptec, etc.
Globally, the Eight Roads platform has backed more than 300 companies including AppsFlyer, Cazoo, Icertis, Made.com, Neo4j, Paidy, Shadowfax, and Spendesk, to name a few. The firm is managing over $8bn of assets across offices in China, India, Japan, Europe and the US.
Berlin-based AlphaQ Venture Capital launches $1 billion ‘fund of funds’
Berlin-based AlphaQ Venture Capital (AQVC) has launched a venture capital fund of funds to strengthen the VC ecosystem by backing top-performing venture capital funds worldwide. Dubbed the ‘VC for VCs’, AQVC will invest in top performing venture capital funds globally.
The initial target fund volume is €500 million, which will be mainly invested in Europe, with exposure to the startup nation Israel and the homeland of venture capital, the U.S. The capital will be allocated to 50-60 funds which in turn would finance more than 1,200 early and growth-stage startups.
AQVC is screening over 2,000 VC funds per year for investment and has secured allocations or already invested in 50 top-tier VC funds like Northzone, Partech, Speedinvest, Headline, Nucleus Capital, White Star Capital and many others.
FTV Capital Raises Seventh Growth Equity Fund, at $2.3 Billion
FTV Capital, a growth equity investment firm, closed its seventh vehicle, FTV VII, at $2.3 billion.
The fund saw substantial renewed and increased commitments from existing investors, with nearly 100 percent of limited partners in its previous fund committing to FTV VII, as well as commitments from new limited partners. These investors are diversified by size, type and geography across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
The firm will continue its 24-year track record of investing in innovative, high-growth companies across the enterprise technology, financial services and payments landscapes. This new fund provides FTV flexibility to make control and significant minority equity investments, often as the first institutional investor, generally ranging from $30 to $200 million that align with the objectives of company management teams to accelerate growth and expansion.
European FinTech deals this week include in3, Insurely, Encompass, Xempus, Lunar, +Simple, ClearBank and Lendable
We feature Q&As with Harald Axelius of Billender and Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Harald Axelius of Billender
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Billender is the first buy now-pay later solution for paying bills. You simply snap a pic, you can pay any bill in seconds with a variety of flexible payment options. Billender simplifies payment of bills while giving the user a better overview of their personal finance. With services like Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay etc, consumers today are used to having access to all types of payment options, including flexible credits any time they want to purchase something. Billender applies the same model for paying bills. Before I started Billender, I was involved as an angel investor, chairman of the board and many other different roles at Savelend, Sweden’s largest peer-to-peer platform. I have a Master of Laws (LLM) but always worked in tech. I currently reside in Stockholm, Sweden and Marbella, Spain with my girlfriend Jenny. When I’m not working I enjoy taking 20 minute meditation naps with noise cancellation earphones or watching Youtube videos about the construction of different “mega projects” around the world.
7 Questions with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Cynthia, I am a Partner at Seed X Liechtenstein. I am an operator turned investor and I have previously worked with different accelerators including Techstars, King’s College and Founders Factory in London. Prior to being an investor I have worked for 11+ years at the fintech unicorn Markit (Now IHS markit, being bought by S&P). I learned there everything I know about great product development, corporate innovation and the hurdles of fast growth (IPO on the NASDAQ in 2014 at $5bn valuation, merger with IHS in 2016, now worth more than $40bn).
Work-wise I like connecting the dots and people, understanding the big problems needing solving and who we can learn from. Having the right network also helps to support founders in their growth.
Some of my spare time is also spent on tech boards that I sit on, and supporting female entrepreneurs across Europe.
Dutch Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Fintech in3 has secured $11.1 million in capital and entered a deal with payments company Worldline in order to bring its products and services to more merchants.
In3 was launched back in 2018 by a professional team that had reportedly been a part of the early BNPL trend in the 2010s. It enables clients to make payments for products over three manageable installments within 60 days with 0% interest and without requiring any credit registration.
The company’s management noted that revenue has surged 300% YoY since the firm launched operations, with partner merchants like Kwik Fit, EP, La Souris, Matt sleeps and Dekbed-Discounter all signed up.
Via the collaboration with Worldline, in3 will offer a tech stack that will enable online and offline merchants, who are part of the Worldline network, to provide BNPL services.
And the $11.1 capital injection from Finch Capital will reportedly be used to build out the tech stack and engage in key hiring across the business.
Insurely, a Stockholm-based insurtech startup, has raised a €19 million Series A led by Insight Partners. Founded in 2018, the company offers a platform for accessing data on the insurance market.
Developer of an insurance tracking platform built to keep track of insurance policies. The company’s platform retrieves all existing insurances automatically and keeps track of the covers provided and payments made while also showing and comparing other available partner insurances, enabling insurance companies to get more customers and be more transparent with them.
Encompass, a London, UK-based provider of intelligently automated Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions, raised $33M in funding.
The round was led by Perennial Partners, with participation from Serendipity Capital, Seven Seat Capital, Microequities Asset Management, Alan McIntyre, Tim Frost, and Ray Scott.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its growth globally, which has included office openings and extensive recruitment in New York and Amsterdam, and ongoing product innovation and development, undertaken from three main engineering centers in Sydney, Belgrade, and Glasgow.
Launched in 2012 by Roger Carson, Encompass transforms regulatory compliance and customer onboarding with Know Your Customer (KYC) automation. As a global leader in automated KYC due diligence worldwide, the company serves global banks and financial institutions to streamline their KYC process and comply with regulations and requirements. Encompass serves customers across the globe with offices in Amsterdam, Belgrade, Glasgow, London, New York, Singapore and Sydney.
Xempus digitizes your pension – and gets 63 million in return
The insurtech Xempus has completed its Series D. In the financing round, the Munich-based company received fresh capital in the amount of the equivalent of 63 million euros (70 million dollars). The majority of this comes from Goldman Sachs Asset Management – the US investment bank has often invested in German tech companies, including the fintech Elinvar, the IT startup Leanix or the savings portal Raisin.
In addition to the lead investor, the existing shareholders, led by HPE Growth and Cinco Capital, have participated “substantially” in the round, according to the company. The new funds are intended to promote internationalisation and the expansion of product categories.
Xempus builds digital products for company pensions. With the so-called “Xempus Manager”, the Munich-based Insurtech is aimed at employers who can digitally offer their employees the pension scheme for self-closure. This should save effort, time and costs, according to Xempus.
With “My Xempus”, employees can adjust their pension provision and get an overview of the current status of their retirement provision from retirement. In addition to the statutory pension, the dashboard shows, for example, the monthly supplementary pension from the pension plan.
Scandinavian Fintech Lunar collects 70 million euros
Neobank is building a complete range of financial services. In addition: Xpeng launches electric sedan in Europe and trade in NFTs increased by 21,000 percent in 2021. Lunar, a Scandinavian digital banking platform, has announced a €70 million Series D funding round. According to “Techcrunch”, the cloud-based fintech based in Copenhagen thus achieves a valuation of two billion US dollars. Lunar is also launching a crypto trading platform and B2B payments for its small and medium-sized business customers. The latest investment is an expansion of the Series D, which had a first deal of 210 million euros in July last year. The round – led by Heartland with participation from Kinnevik, Tencent and IDC Ventures – will now close with €280 million.
In the last year, Lunar’s customer base has grown by more than 90 percent. With the fresh money, the company wants to expand further. Lunar is building a complete financial services offering: in April 2021, it acquired Swedish consumer credit and peer-to-peer savings platform Lendify to strengthen its position in Scandinavia.
French startup +Simple scores €90 million for its insurtech solution
Founded in 2015, +Simple, has scored €90 million and acquired three European companies to grow its insurtech offering. The funding round was led by global investment firm KKR and saw the participation of +Simple’s founders and existing investors, including Eurazeo, Speedinvest and Tikehau Capital.
The French platform operates as an insurance Robo-Broker for freelancers, small and medium businesses. The tech behind the platform generates tailor-made and competitive insurance packages, based on a simple questionnaire. The firm was founded by Eric Mignot (Chairman), Anthony Jouannau (CEO) and Salah Hamida (Deputy CEO and CTO) with the aim to create a one-stop shop for professional insurance needs.
Eric Mignot commented: “KKR’s expertise in the insurance sector globally and track record in growth investing makes them ideally placed to support our development. Our ability to raise debt from a player such as Tikehau reflects confidence in our strategy to generate strong growth and profitability.”
UK’s clearing bank now eyes European expansion, swipes off £175 million funding
Next-generation clearing and embedded banking platform in the UK, ClearBank has raised a £175 million equity investment. The round was led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity arm of private equity advisory firm Apax, and saw the participation of existing investors such as CFFI UK Ventures (Barbados) and PPF Financial Holdings.
The platform created some news in 2017 when it became the first new clearing bank in the UK in 250 years. Now, with the additional capital, it is setting sights on international expansion.
The investment will drive ClearBank’s ambition to power banking services for both financial institutions and non-financial brands, using its single API cloud-native embedded banking platform. It will also drive the company’s global expansion, initially in Europe before moving into North America and Asia Pacific.
Founded by Nick Ogden in 2016, who was also the founder of WorldPay, which was later on acquired by Fidelity, the clearing bank has a portfolio of 13 million accounts and £3 billion held in balances at the Bank of England. The UK banking rails provider serves over 200 financial institutions and fintech customers, including Tide, Coinbase, Chip and Oaknorth Bank.
Lendable Raises GBP 210M in Funding At Valuation in Excess of GBP 3.5 Billion
Lendable, a London, UK-based AI-powered consumer finance platform, raised GBP210M in funding at a valuation in excess of GBP 3.5 Billion.
The round was led by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’), through its Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP).
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate international growth and expand operations and development efforts.
Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Martin Kissinger, Lendable is an AI-powered consumer finance platform that connects global institutional investors with borrowers across all major products (loans, credit cards, car finance). The company applies AI and automation to enhance underwriting, and offer customers better rates, transparency and service, while offering institutional investors ranging from global banks to family offices access to the asset class.
March 15 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) said on Tuesday it would buy Global Shares, an Irish fintech firm whose software helps businesses manage employee stock plans. The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, was expected to close in the second half of this year. Founded in 2005, Global Shares manages nearly $200 billion in assets and its cloud-based platform is used by more than 600 clients. The U.S. bank plans to integrate the company into its asset and wealth management business, according to a statement. Global Shares will remain headquartered in Cork, Ireland.
FT Partners’ Long-Term Client PPRO Acquires Alpha Fintech
PPRO, the provider of virtual payments infrastructure, announced the acquisition of Alpha Fintech, a next-gen payments tech firm. The deal will reportedly “expand PPRO’s offering, strengthen its presence and networks in Asia Pacific (APAC), and allow it to deliver products and services faster to its customers.”
Alpha Fintech’s Cloud-powered platform “allows for the seamless integration of digital payments products and services, from payment processing and merchant management to risk management, fraud prevention, and data analytics.”
The APAC-focused firm has served a key role in “accelerating the growth of banks, fintech enterprises, and payment service providers, including New Zealand’s BNZ and Southeast Asia’s super-app Grab.”
By adding Alpha’s platform to its infrastructure, PPRO is now poised “to offer a plug-and-play orchestration layer that will let its customers integrate products and services faster and at scale.” Clients may look forward to more global payment flows, “the ability to integrate third-party applications, stronger compliance and risk capabilities, and deeper data insights.”
Visa (NYSE: V) completed its acquisition of Tink, a Stockholm, Sweden-based open banking platform that enables financial institutions, fintechs and merchants to build financial products and services and move money.
The amount of the deal was 1.8 billion Euros, inclusive of cash and retention incentives.
Founded in 2012 in Stockholm and led by Daniel Kjellén, CEO, Tink provides an API that enables its customers to move money, access aggregated financial data, and use smart financial services such as risk insights and account verification. Tink is integrated with more than 3,400 banks and financial institutions, reaching millions of bank customers across Europe. Its 500 employees serve more than 300 banks and fintechs in 18 European markets, out of offices in 13 countries.
With the transaction complete, the combination of Visa and Tink is expected to enable clients to deliver benefits for consumers to control their financial experiences, including managing their money, financial data and financial goals. Businesses large and small will also have access to more customized range of tools to operate digitally and securely, whether initiating payments, reconciling bank statements and accounts or enabling alternative financing.
In the near-term, Tink will operate as a standalone subsidiary of Visa. Kjellén and the existing management team will continue to lead the organization.
Finleap co-founders raise over €100m for new “embedded” fintech VC fund
The fund, called embedded/capital, was founded this year by Ramin Niroumand and Michael Hock, who set up finleap, a Berlin-based fintech business that offers SaaS solutions to enterprises and builds stand-alone fintech companies.
A Berlin-based VC fund focused on the “next generation” of fintech founders has raised over €100m to invest in startups “embedding” financial services in their business models.
The VC fund, called embedded/capital, was founded this year by Ramin Niroumand and Michael Hock, who set up Finleap, a Berlin-based fintech business that offers SaaS solutions to enterprises and helps build fintech companies.
Embedded/capital’s fund focuses on founders who are “embedding” financial services in their offerings, particularly at pre-seed and seed stages with initial investments of up to €4m.
The fund has raised money from institutional investors, entrepreneurs and founders.
Along with capital support, embedded/capital says it can help fintech founders by drawing on a “strong network” of European financial service providers.
Furthermore, it said it also works with key institutional players, unicorn founders, and global investors to support ventures.
Niroumand said: “We continue doing what we love most: Helping founders in the most critical stages to succeed.
“The Berlin fintech ecosystem has made incredible progress over the last few years, and it’s exciting that the new generation of fintechs can build on the platforms created.
CommerzVentures, a Frankfurt, Germany-based specialist fintech investor, closed its third fund, at €300m.
The fund, which saw Commerzbank return as the sole LP, brings their combined total fund size to €550m.
Led by partners Heiko Schwender and Paul Morgenthaler, the vehicle will go towards supporting early and growth-stage companies in the fintech and insurtech sectors, as well as the emerging Climate FinTech space.
The third fund follows on from their first €100m fund, launched in 2014, and their second €150m fund in 2019, as well as investments in 28 companies to date. Continuing their strategy of targeting founder teams with the ambition to solve billion dollar problems, CommerzVentures continue to invest with a global outlook, focusing on Europe, Israel and the USA.
The launch of Fund III will see the firm grow their headcount by 50%, enabling them to strengthen their position in fintech globally, and establish a foothold in new geographies, notably Africa. This follows CommerzVentures’ recent participation in MFS Africa’s $100m Series C and desire to support founders in the region’s vibrant fintech market.
The firm has already backed unicorns such as Bought By Many, Mambu, eToro and Marqeta and has a strong presence within Climate FinTech, with recent investments including ClimateView and Doconomy. Other notable investments within fintech and insurtech include Afilio, ByMiles, GetSafe and iwoca. Portfolio company Marqeta IPOed on Nasdaq, while Curv and Payworks were acquired by Paypal and Visa, respectively.
European FinTech deals this week include HUBUC, Ageras group, Weavr, Atom, PayHawk and Scalapay
We feature Q&As with Stefan Klauser of Aisot and May Wang of Fin VC
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Stefan Klauser of Aisot
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hi, I am Stefan, Co-Founder & CEO at Aisot Technologies. We are a leading provider of real-time insights for trading and asset management. I always had a passion for both entrepreneurial work and predictive tools. The Oracle of Delphi was by far the coolest thing in Latin class. And my first business I „founded” as a kid, when selling cherries from our garden on our village’s streets. In my free time, I like to be in nature or sing. I have played in rock bands since I was a teenager.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m an investor at Fin VC, a B2B Fintech/Insurtech focused global venture capital, based out of San Francisco. Fin VC is a team of FinTech nerds with capital, based in SF/NYC and focus on FinTech SaaS in the US and EU/UK. We deploy out of 3 strategies: Regatta (pre-seed, checks of $100K-$1M), Flagship (Early Stage – Seed->B, checks of $1-10M) and Horizons (Growth – C+, checks of $25-50M+, primary/secondary) and have an operating value playbook focused on global BD, corp dev, capital formation, product/GTM, key talent sourcing, and board leadership.
Personally, I’m an avid traveler and a global citizen who has lived in 4 countries across 3 continents. When not at work, you’ll find me hiking/surfing in the summer and skiing in the winter. I’m also mentoring students from underrepresented communities, and an advisor at a Uganda-based NGO.
Offering any and all brands managed embedded financial services, Y Combinator alum HUBUC raises $10 million
By managing contracts, knowledge, regulatory requirements, integrations, and risk in-house, Barcelona’s HUBUC offers customers the ability to implement embedded finance services and go to market on average in 7-8 weeks.
Barcelona-based embedded financial services startup HUBUC has raised $10 million in a seed round. The new funding will be used to bolster the company’s European footprint, strengthen the compliance team, continue product development and further streamline the customer implementation process. Traditionally dogged by regulatory restraints that vary from country to country, the process of implementing embedded finance solutions can be complex, time-consuming, and ultimately, costly. And while there’s certainly no shortage of providers on the market today, where HUBUC aims to stand apart from the crowd is through its managed service, and thus, speed of implementation.
Bringing transparency to crypto capital markets fetches $10 million for London-based Haruko
London startup Haruko is building one-stop shop for institutional crypto investors with $10-million seed funding.
The crypto ecosystem shows enormous promise as the breeding ground for game-changing innovation. While institutional capital is increasingly convinced of the opportunity, unfamiliar and unreliable technology remains a major barrier to entry. Bridging this gap with a platform that provides both a sophisticated but easy-to-use API and a convenient dashboard enabling institutional investors to easily interact with crypto markets is London-based Haruko.
The startup bringing an institutional-grade technology layer to connect capital to the blockchains, has now closed a $10 million funding. The seed round was led by Portage Ventures and White Star Capital.
Founded by Adam Carlile, Omer Suleman and Shamyl Malik, the startup powers institutional access to digital assets globally. Its platform enables large institutions to interact with crypto markets both on centralised exchanges (CeFi) and decentralised protocols (DeFi).
The Ageras Group, a Copehagen, Denmark-based small business-focused financial services software and accounting marketplace, closed a €30m ($34m) funding round.
Backers included new investors Centripetal Capital and Saeid Esmaeilzadeh, which joined existing investors Investcorp Technology Partners, Lugard Road Capital and Roosgruppen, which all are participating in the round.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the expansion of its marketplace and acquire other fintech software startups.
Founded in 2012 by CEO Rico Andersen and CMO Martin Hegelund, Ageras Group provides small businesses with financial services software and accounting marketplace.
The company began as the online marketplace Ageras.com (matching SMEs with accountants) and has expanded into a 250-person team offering a complete ecosystem of tools and services for SMEs. Today, Ageras Group offers cloud-based accounting software through the products Zervant, Billy and Tellow and payroll software through Salary. In late 2021, the group launched an embedded fintech service providing financing options to its customers directly through its software. Ageras Group’s solutions have been used by more than 1 million small businesses across Europe and the U.S.
Weavr, a London, UK-based fintech provider that enables businesses with Plug-and-Play financial solutions, raised $40M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Tiger Global with participation from QED Investors, Anthemis, Mubadala, Latitude, Headline, Seedcamp, Force Over Mass Capital and UFP Fintech.
The company intends to use the funds to support international expansion plans, beginning with an official U.S. market launch.
Led by CEO Alex Mifsud, Weavr is an open platform for embedded finance for the digital economy.
Atom bank, a Durham, UK-based app-based bank, raised more than £75m in new equity funding as it continues to grow its profitability and drive to IPO.
The round will be led by BBVA and by Toscafund with participation from co-investors Infinity Investment Partners. The round is now being opened to other existing shareholders. The digital lender has now raised more than £115m in the last 12 months.
Led by Mark Mullen, Chief Executive Officer, Atom launched operations in April 2016, offering Fixed Saver accounts and secured business lending for small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’), followed by its automated mobile mortgage proposition in December 2016. Atom launched an Instant Saver in September 2020.
With a team of over 400 people, the company delivered its first monthly operating profit during Q2 and has continued to grow its revenues throughout the year while maintaining a tight control on its costs.
Bulgaria now has its first unicorn in Payhawk as the company adds an additional $100 million
In adding another $100 million to an already impressive $115 million Series B round, payments and expense management startup Payhawk has provided Bulgaria with its first card-carrying member of the unicorn club
Payments and expense management firm Payhawk has added $100 million to its Series B round, now standing at $215 million, and in so much, provides the company with a $1 billion valuation and Bulgaria with its first unicorn.
As a testament to the company’s rapidly accelerating velocity, this Series B extension arrives only three months after the company’s initial announcement of $115 million, a round that was announced only 7 months since the closing of a $20 million Series A round.
Preceded only by now publicly listed UiPath, Payhawk’s Series B round is the second-largest ever of its kind for a B2B company in the CEE region, with the new funding fueling the addition of 60 senior software engineers in the Sofia office, alongside planned office openings in Amsterdam and Paris in March, and New York in September. The company reports that it’s well on track to triple the headcount from 100 to more than 300 staff members by the end of this year.
Scalapay, a Milan, Italy-based payment solution that enables customers to buy now and pay later (BNPL) without interest, raised $497M in Series B funding.
The round, which brought total funding raised to date to over $700M, was led by Tencent and Willoughby Capital, with participation from Tiger Global, Gangwal, Moore Capital, Deimos, and Fasanara Capital.
Founded by Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski in 2019, Scalapay is an innovative payment solution for e-commerce merchants across the globe that allows customers to buy now and pay later, without interest. Their BNPL offerings include three options for customers (Pay in 3, Pay in 4, and Pay Later) in which customers are not required to make any payments upfront, and can instead opt to pay in 3 installments, 4 installments, or entirely after 14 days.
CommerzVentures closes €300 million fund to boost European fintech and insurtech startups
Specialising in fintech companies, Frankfurt-based CommerzVentures has announced the close of their third fund at €300 million. The fund will go towards supporting early and growth-stage companies in the fintech and insurtech space. The freshly emerging climate fintech space will also benefit from the fresh funds – building towards being Europe’s foremost VC in this emerging sector.
The latest fund, which saw Commerzbank return as the sole LP, brings their combined total fund size to €550 million.
Launched in 2014, CommerzVentures has successfully invested in 28 companies. Continuing their strategy of targeting exceptional founder teams with the ambition to solve billion-dollar problems, CommerzVentures continues to invest with a global outlook, focusing on Europe, Israel and the USA.
Catalyst Romania wraps up €50 million fund to invest in early-stage tech firms in South Eastern Europe
Targeting investments in technology companies, Catalyst Romania has announced the closing of its second venture capital fund. On the back of strong demand from institutional and private investors, the original target of €40 million was substantially exceeded and the fund reached its hard cap of €50 million.
The second-generation venture fund in Romania will continue focusing on early-stage technology companies and make investments of €1-3 million to high-potential technology SMEs from Romania and South Eastern Europe.
Since its first closing in November 2020, it has invested in two companies and three more are in the due diligence phase. The first investment was in Seedblink, which is a next generation crowd-investing platform. Its second investment was in Code of Talent, a leading micro-learning solution dedicated to employee training.
European FinTech deals this week include HUBUC, Ageras group, Weavr, Atom, PayHawk and Scalapay
We feature Q&As with Stefan Klauser of Aisot and May Wang of Fin VC
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Stefan Klauser of Aisot
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hi, I am Stefan, Co-Founder & CEO at Aisot Technologies. We are a leading provider of real-time insights for trading and asset management. I always had a passion for both entrepreneurial work and predictive tools. The Oracle of Delphi was by far the coolest thing in Latin class. And my first business I „founded” as a kid, when selling cherries from our garden on our village’s streets. In my free time, I like to be in nature or sing. I have played in rock bands since I was a teenager.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m an investor at Fin VC, a B2B Fintech/Insurtech focused global venture capital, based out of San Francisco. Fin VC is a team of FinTech nerds with capital, based in SF/NYC and focus on FinTech SaaS in the US and EU/UK. We deploy out of 3 strategies: Regatta (pre-seed, checks of $100K-$1M), Flagship (Early Stage – Seed->B, checks of $1-10M) and Horizons (Growth – C+, checks of $25-50M+, primary/secondary) and have an operating value playbook focused on global BD, corp dev, capital formation, product/GTM, key talent sourcing, and board leadership.
Personally, I’m an avid traveler and a global citizen who has lived in 4 countries across 3 continents. When not at work, you’ll find me hiking/surfing in the summer and skiing in the winter. I’m also mentoring students from underrepresented communities, and an advisor at a Uganda-based NGO.
Offering any and all brands managed embedded financial services, Y Combinator alum HUBUC raises $10 million
By managing contracts, knowledge, regulatory requirements, integrations, and risk in-house, Barcelona’s HUBUC offers customers the ability to implement embedded finance services and go to market on average in 7-8 weeks.
Barcelona-based embedded financial services startup HUBUC has raised $10 million in a seed round. The new funding will be used to bolster the company’s European footprint, strengthen the compliance team, continue product development and further streamline the customer implementation process. Traditionally dogged by regulatory restraints that vary from country to country, the process of implementing embedded finance solutions can be complex, time-consuming, and ultimately, costly. And while there’s certainly no shortage of providers on the market today, where HUBUC aims to stand apart from the crowd is through its managed service, and thus, speed of implementation.
Bringing transparency to crypto capital markets fetches $10 million for London-based Haruko
London startup Haruko is building one-stop shop for institutional crypto investors with $10-million seed funding.
The crypto ecosystem shows enormous promise as the breeding ground for game-changing innovation. While institutional capital is increasingly convinced of the opportunity, unfamiliar and unreliable technology remains a major barrier to entry. Bridging this gap with a platform that provides both a sophisticated but easy-to-use API and a convenient dashboard enabling institutional investors to easily interact with crypto markets is London-based Haruko.
The startup bringing an institutional-grade technology layer to connect capital to the blockchains, has now closed a $10 million funding. The seed round was led by Portage Ventures and White Star Capital.
Founded by Adam Carlile, Omer Suleman and Shamyl Malik, the startup powers institutional access to digital assets globally. Its platform enables large institutions to interact with crypto markets both on centralised exchanges (CeFi) and decentralised protocols (DeFi).
The Ageras Group, a Copehagen, Denmark-based small business-focused financial services software and accounting marketplace, closed a €30m ($34m) funding round.
Backers included new investors Centripetal Capital and Saeid Esmaeilzadeh, which joined existing investors Investcorp Technology Partners, Lugard Road Capital and Roosgruppen, which all are participating in the round.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the expansion of its marketplace and acquire other fintech software startups.
Founded in 2012 by CEO Rico Andersen and CMO Martin Hegelund, Ageras Group provides small businesses with financial services software and accounting marketplace.
The company began as the online marketplace Ageras.com (matching SMEs with accountants) and has expanded into a 250-person team offering a complete ecosystem of tools and services for SMEs. Today, Ageras Group offers cloud-based accounting software through the products Zervant, Billy and Tellow and payroll software through Salary. In late 2021, the group launched an embedded fintech service providing financing options to its customers directly through its software. Ageras Group’s solutions have been used by more than 1 million small businesses across Europe and the U.S.
Weavr, a London, UK-based fintech provider that enables businesses with Plug-and-Play financial solutions, raised $40M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Tiger Global with participation from QED Investors, Anthemis, Mubadala, Latitude, Headline, Seedcamp, Force Over Mass Capital and UFP Fintech.
The company intends to use the funds to support international expansion plans, beginning with an official U.S. market launch.
Led by CEO Alex Mifsud, Weavr is an open platform for embedded finance for the digital economy.
Atom bank, a Durham, UK-based app-based bank, raised more than £75m in new equity funding as it continues to grow its profitability and drive to IPO.
The round will be led by BBVA and by Toscafund with participation from co-investors Infinity Investment Partners. The round is now being opened to other existing shareholders. The digital lender has now raised more than £115m in the last 12 months.
Led by Mark Mullen, Chief Executive Officer, Atom launched operations in April 2016, offering Fixed Saver accounts and secured business lending for small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’), followed by its automated mobile mortgage proposition in December 2016. Atom launched an Instant Saver in September 2020.
With a team of over 400 people, the company delivered its first monthly operating profit during Q2 and has continued to grow its revenues throughout the year while maintaining a tight control on its costs.
Bulgaria now has its first unicorn in Payhawk as the company adds an additional $100 million
In adding another $100 million to an already impressive $115 million Series B round, payments and expense management startup Payhawk has provided Bulgaria with its first card-carrying member of the unicorn club
Payments and expense management firm Payhawk has added $100 million to its Series B round, now standing at $215 million, and in so much, provides the company with a $1 billion valuation and Bulgaria with its first unicorn.
As a testament to the company’s rapidly accelerating velocity, this Series B extension arrives only three months after the company’s initial announcement of $115 million, a round that was announced only 7 months since the closing of a $20 million Series A round.
Preceded only by now publicly listed UiPath, Payhawk’s Series B round is the second-largest ever of its kind for a B2B company in the CEE region, with the new funding fueling the addition of 60 senior software engineers in the Sofia office, alongside planned office openings in Amsterdam and Paris in March, and New York in September. The company reports that it’s well on track to triple the headcount from 100 to more than 300 staff members by the end of this year.
Scalapay, a Milan, Italy-based payment solution that enables customers to buy now and pay later (BNPL) without interest, raised $497M in Series B funding.
The round, which brought total funding raised to date to over $700M, was led by Tencent and Willoughby Capital, with participation from Tiger Global, Gangwal, Moore Capital, Deimos, and Fasanara Capital.
Founded by Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski in 2019, Scalapay is an innovative payment solution for e-commerce merchants across the globe that allows customers to buy now and pay later, without interest. Their BNPL offerings include three options for customers (Pay in 3, Pay in 4, and Pay Later) in which customers are not required to make any payments upfront, and can instead opt to pay in 3 installments, 4 installments, or entirely after 14 days.
CommerzVentures closes €300 million fund to boost European fintech and insurtech startups
Specialising in fintech companies, Frankfurt-based CommerzVentures has announced the close of their third fund at €300 million. The fund will go towards supporting early and growth-stage companies in the fintech and insurtech space. The freshly emerging climate fintech space will also benefit from the fresh funds – building towards being Europe’s foremost VC in this emerging sector.
The latest fund, which saw Commerzbank return as the sole LP, brings their combined total fund size to €550 million.
Launched in 2014, CommerzVentures has successfully invested in 28 companies. Continuing their strategy of targeting exceptional founder teams with the ambition to solve billion-dollar problems, CommerzVentures continues to invest with a global outlook, focusing on Europe, Israel and the USA.
Catalyst Romania wraps up €50 million fund to invest in early-stage tech firms in South Eastern Europe
Targeting investments in technology companies, Catalyst Romania has announced the closing of its second venture capital fund. On the back of strong demand from institutional and private investors, the original target of €40 million was substantially exceeded and the fund reached its hard cap of €50 million.
The second-generation venture fund in Romania will continue focusing on early-stage technology companies and make investments of €1-3 million to high-potential technology SMEs from Romania and South Eastern Europe.
Since its first closing in November 2020, it has invested in two companies and three more are in the due diligence phase. The first investment was in Seedblink, which is a next generation crowd-investing platform. Its second investment was in Code of Talent, a leading micro-learning solution dedicated to employee training.
I am Italian, I studied in a French Business School and I live in London since 2017. I was previously working in Investment Banking at Citi covering the FinTech sector. I co-founded an HR tech startup named DailyInternship, a talent recruiting platform with over 100k students subscribed. That experience led me very close to the Venture Capital world.. so close that I ended up in VC myself! At Eight Roads I focus on investments in Southern Europe, Nordics, and more broadly speaking in FinTech investments all across Europe. I am passionate about travels, motorbike, photography and all type of animals. A funny fact about me is that by the age of 22 I had already visited all the European capitals in motorbike.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am Teo Blidarus, CEO and co-founder of FintechOS. We allow banks and insurers to create customer-centric digital financial products and services using our digital on top and lean core solutions. Many financial institutions who want to innovate quickly are underserved or ill-served by current vendors. Our low-code, modular approach augments legacy systems and allows institutions to build, test and scale new digital products and services in weeks, rather than months.
FloodFlash, a London, UK-based parametric insurance technology company that pays catastrophic flood claims within 48 hours, raised $15m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Buoyant Ventures with participation from Munich Re Ventures, Sony Financial Ventures/Global Brain, MS&AD Ventures and PropTech1, Pentech, Local Globe and Insurtech Gateway.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate international expansion with target markets including the US, Germany, Australia, and Japan.
Led by CEO Adam Rimmer, FloodFlash is an insurance technology company that combines computer models, cloud software and internet-of-things sensors into flood cover. Customers choose a depth and payout amount for their policy. When flooding reaches the depth selected, the insurance pays out, typically within 48 hours.
FloodFlash is a registered coverholder at Lloyd’s of London and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Amsterdam-based Insify raises €15M to simplify insurance process for European entrepreneurs and SMEs
Insify, an Amsterdam-based digital insurance platform designed for Europe’s entrepreneurs and SMEs, announced on Thursday that it has raised €15M in a Series A round of funding led by global venture firm Accel.
Other investors, including Visionaries Club, Frontline Ventures, Fly Ventures, and angel investors from European fintech companies, also participated.
The funding will primarily be used to scale operations, workforce and expand into new markets in Europe, as well as enhance its underwriting and data analytics capabilities.
Koen Thijssen, CEO and founder of Insify, says, “As an entrepreneur myself, I know firsthand that running a small business can be difficult at the best of times. The last thing business owners need is to be overextending themselves with convoluted insurance policies and dealing with excessive premiums. Insurance should be something that supports entrepreneurs, not overwhelms them. We designed our digital insurance platform with the entrepreneur and SMEs at its core.”
Banked adds $20 million to the bank via Bank of America, calculates US expansion plans
Bypassing the exchange of personal details and using biometric authorisations, London fintech Banked has created a Pay by Bank infrastructure that virtually eliminates fraud. Now raising $20 million in a Series A round, the company aims to take on the US.
London’s Banked has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. The fintech provides an account-to-account payment software platform that virtually eliminates fraud as there is no need to create an account, zero financial details are shared, payment authorisations are biometric. The investment from Bank of America is the telltale sign that the startup is now eying a trans-Atlantic expansion. To date, Banked has raised approximately $30 million.
Although the idea of Banked dates back to 2017, the startup was officially unveiled in November of 2018 and since this time steadily been building a fintech infrastructure that operates within tier 1 banks, payment providers, gateways, and tech platforms allowing them to offer a highly secure Pay by Bank option to their merchants.
Amsterdam-based startup wires $25 million to make insurance accessible for migrants
Tel Aviv and Amsterdam-based financial services platform Rewire is attempting to make the transactions of migrant workers easier and has raised $25 million funding for doing so
Migrant workers face unique hurdles when transferring money back to their home countries, often navigating financial bureaucracies in languages and cultures they do not understand and dealing with complicated financial obligations in multiple countries. These barriers extend to insurance, as well, where migrants face limited access to coverage, unclear policies and even discrimination.
Tel Aviv and Amsterdam-based financial services platform Rewire is attempting to change this and has raised $25 million funding. The round saw participation from Israeli insurance giant Migdal, Standard Bank of South Africa, BNP Paribas, Opera Tech Ventures, Viola Fintech, Moneta Capital Partners, Renegade Partners, OurCrowd, Yehuda Zisapel, former Yahoo Co-Founder and CEO Jerry Yang and additional angel investors.
UK Fintech Vitesse Acquires $26M via Series B to Drive Digitization of Insurance Sector
Vitesse PSP, the payment, liquidity and treasury management platform, recently announced that it has secured $26 million in Series B funding led by Prime Ventures.
The Series B investment round also includes contributions from Octopus Ventures, which led the 2020 Series A round and are one of Europe’s most active VC investors as well as Hannover Digital Investments, the corporate VC fund of HDI Group, one of Europe’s largest insurance firms. Additional participants include existing angel investors and industry giants like Ron Kalifa, OBE, former Worldpay CEO and author of the Kalifa Review and Shane Happach, CEO of Mollie, the Dutch payments unicorn.
Vitesse’s tech serves as the backbone to the financial infrastructure that “runs throughout the insurance value chain, as well as for many corporates who use Vitesse for faster, more cost-effective payments.” Its liquidity and treasury management platform is “built on top of a globally distributed payments network providing control and transparency as well as improved capital efficiency and additional investment returns for its customers.”
Seyna, a Paris, France-based insurtech company, raised €33m in Series A funding.
Pending approval by the French supervisor, this round was jointly led by Elaia Partners and White Star Capital. Existing investors (Global Founders Capital, Allianz and la Financière St James) all participated in the round. This capital brings Seyna’s total funding to €47m.
The company intends to use the funds to scale its service to all brokers and merchants in Europe.
Led by Stephen Leguillon, CEO, Seyna Seyna provides an insurance creation, management and distribution platform for brokers to protect their customers. Since obtaining its licence to operate as an insurance company in December 2019, rhe company now enables over 70 insurance brokerage and retailers, and protects over 200 000 customers.
In 2022, Seyna plans to increase the software feature set offered to brokers, expand into events and health insurance, and start hosting insurance products from other carriers.
Specialist VC launches €50 million fund to back startups based in the Baltics and beyond
Specialist VC (formerly known as United Angels VC) has just announced the first close of a new €50 million fund at €42 million. The main focus of the fund is on pre-seed and seed stage startups and is the first of its kind in the Baltic region to implement a dual strategy of integrating secondary transactions into a traditional venture capital fund.
Founded in 2017 by Riivo Anton and Gerri Kodres, Specialist VC is an Estonian-based tech investor that focuses on B2B, SaaS, fintech and marketplace startups in the Baltic region. So far, the firm has invested in and built long-term relationships with over 45 tech companies. Specialist VC has unicorns such as Bolt and Veriff in its portfolio, alongside stand-out startups such as Starship, COMODULE, Monese, and NFTPort.
European FinTech deals this week include Billhop, Vivid, Silvr and Selina Finance
We feature Q&As with Matti Rönkkö of Cooler Future and Semih Kacan of Swisscom Ventures
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Matti Rönkkö of Cooler Future
1.Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and leisure.
I’m a born and raised Finn but have done most of my career outside of Finland. I am not good at anything, so I have big hopes that soon generalists will be in demand. I am a nature lover; the thicker the forest and the more snow there is, the more I enjoy it.
My career I have built mainly on building and scaling companies. I love the excitement of building something from scratch. In the last few years I have thought a lot about my personal values and the topic of climate change and I decided back in the end of 2017 to make a switch to focus on ways to create a positive impact. That led us into founding Cooler Future back in 2019, to use the skills we have hopefully developed over the years for creating positive climate impact.
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Semih Kacan, and I am Investment Manager at Swisscom Ventures. I’ve joined Swisscom Ventures at the beginning of 2021 to strengthen the Fintech and Blockchain allocation in the portfolio. Prior to Swisscom Ventures I spent over 10 years in Strategy Consulting, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Asset Management at Credit Suisse, BearingPoint and Haspa before I co-founded and successfully exited my venture in Zurich. I hold a Master Degree in Corporate Finance from Henley Business School.
I enjoy the time with friends and family and a cup of coffee on sunny days at the beautiful Zurich Lake but also like reading books and watching videos to educate myself about upcoming trends/technologies.
Billhop, a Stockholm, Sweden-based B2B payments platform, raised €10.5m in funding.
The round was led by EQT Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds for hiring, customer acquisition, and geographical expansion.
Co-founded by Sebastian Andreescu (CEO), Erik Malm (CTO) and Ingemar Sjögren (CFO), Billhop enables businesses to pay supplier invoices using existing cards, regardless of the suppliers’ payment stack, and allow the, to optimize working capital and gain process efficiencies.
The solution manages the complete payment process without having to onboard the end recipient, who is paid through a bank-to-bank transfer, removing barriers to card acceptance in B2B payments (e.g. setting up new card acceptance infrastructure, processing fees).
Billhop serves over 20 markets, catering to Fortune 500 enterprise customers across Europe; and sole traders and SMEs in the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy, Ireland and Finland.
N26 challenger Vivid receives 100 million euros from investors
The Berlin-based start-up bank Vivid is on its way to a billion-dollar valuation. The competitor of the smartphone bank N26 wants to increase its pace of expansion.
The smartphone bank Vivid Money has successfully completed a financing round of 100 million euros. With the new round, the Berlin-based company doubles its valuation to 775 million euros, Vivid announced on Monday. The third round of investments was led by Greenoaks Capital with participation from Ribbit Capital and Softbank Vision Fund 2.
On the one hand, Vivid wants to use the investors’ money to win additional customers. So far, over 500,000 people have signed up for Vivid. However, the account is not actively used by all users. Artem Iamanov, co-founder of Vivid, said the money will also be used to hire additional employees. The financial platform should be expanded into a “super app”.
Vivid not only offers the classic functions of a current account. Customers can also invest their money in stocks, funds and other financial products in the app. In addition, you can also invest in crypto currencies via Vivid. Even after the downturn in the prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other coins in recent weeks, interest in crypto currencies remains unbroken. Industry insiders expect that the larger Vivid competitor N26 will also introduce similar investment functions in the foreseeable future.
French fintech startup Silvr secures €130 million in its mission to support companies to grow
Founded in 2020, French fintech Silvr is reinventing the way entrepreneurs get funded, and they’ve just secured €130 million to do so – one of the largest fundraising operations in the RBF sector in Continental Europe.
The funding was led by XAnge, Otium, Bpifrance, Eurazeo, ISAI and business angels, Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi (co-founders of Qonto), Raphaël Vullierme (co-founder of Luko), Louis Chatriot (co-founder of Alma) and Pierre Dutaret (co-founder of Libeo).
Silvr works to empower entrepreneurs that are building the businesses of the future by making access to funding easier, more scalable and equity-free. The startup leverages digital businesses data to predict future revenues and offer funding in just 24 hours. Currently, the startup is focusing on two verticals – ecommerce and SaaS.
Headquartered by Paris and created by two serial entrepreneurs Nima Karimi and Grégory Tappero, this new finding comes after a €3 million seed raise in 2021. The startup now has about 20 employees and has already financed more than 100 companies – including Pixpay, Cuure, Poiscaille, Lovys and Partoo.
UK fintech Selina Finance raises $150m in Series B funding round
Consumer lending fintech Selina Finance has raised a total of $150 million in a Series B round made up of a combination of equity and debt financing.
The firm secured $35 million in equity funding led by Lightrock with additional participation from existing investors.
Additionally, $115 million in debt was secured from Goldman Sachs and GGC to fund further expansion as Selina builds towards going public.
Founded in 2019, Selina describes itself as “the UK’s first Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) fintech”. It enables homeowners to unlock the value in their homes by borrowing against their equity at low interest rates with a flexible line of credit, only paying for the funds they use.
The practice is already widespread in the US, where the market is valued at $150 billion annually.
Since it gained regulatory approval for consumer lending in 2020, Selina says it has made over $100 million (£74m) worth of loans via its HELOC product in the UK.
AI-powered buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Biller, has acquired and “joined” Banking Circle.
Biller states that it will benefit from immediate access to the firm’s technology infrastructure, financial resources, payment rails, and licenses to accelerate its European expansion.
Banking Circle is a provider of financial infrastructure that is said to provide Biller with access to “fronting banking services” and “account infrastructure” while Banking Circle will support Biller’s growth plans.
Biller, based in Amsterdam, offers an AI-driven payment method that allows business buyers to order online and pay directly while performing real-time credit and fraud checks along with an automated debt management service.
Biller was founded by three former managers of Mollie and Klarna, and Dutch venture studio, Slimmer AI. The Biller founders state they were operational and live with their first customer in just three months.
Biller now expects to boost its European expansion plans covering the UK, Germany, Belgium, and Nordics in the first half of 2022. Full European coverage is expected to be achieved within 12-24 months.
Amsterdam’s Connected Capital closes €154 million fund to boost European B2B SaaS startups
Connected Capital, a leading investor focused on rapidly growing B2B SaaS businesses, has just closed its oversubscribed Fund 11 at a total of €154 million, bringing the firms total committed capital to over €200 million.
After a massive 2021 for European tech, we are seeing more and more of these big funds being announced by European VC’s – it’s a good sign of things to come for the year, fresh money boosting fresh innovation and ambition.
2021 was a record-breaking year for the European tech startup ecosystem, and European innovation is captivating attention across the world for its dynamic and progressive energy. Amsterdam-based Connected Capital is reaffirming its commitment to growth and buy-out investment in European B2B SaaS businesses with this fund, which is 3x the size of its previous fund.
European FinTech deals this week include Laka, Circula, Tumm, PennyLane, Moss, Descartes Underwriting and Wayflyer
We feature Q&As with Philipp Buschmann of AAZZUR and Hala Zahran of Arab Bank
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Philipp Buschmann of AAZZUR
1.Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and leisure.
I am an entrepreneur, a husband and passionate about fintech. At my first job at Razorfish I helped build trading tech for State Street Bank; as a strategy consultant I helped design the portal for online banking at Sparkasse and as an entrepreneur have helped lenders and challenger banks get launched.
My personal passion is cooking and snowboarding. One is good for the head (almost like a meditation) and the other is good at enjoyment and hurting myself on the slopes. These I think are natural Austrian hobbies: eat, drink and ski!
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am an early stage investor focusing on FinTech primarily B2C in MENA and B2B globally. I also spend a lot of time thinking and reading about the future of finance and ways technology can close the wealth gap across the globe and improve lives. I am a strong believer in the power of many, and the depth and breadth of the impact collaborative ecosystems and communities can have. I seek such opportunities
UK’s mobility insurtech startup Laka secures €10.6M from Ponooc, ABN AMRO, others
London-based Laka, a peer-to-peer bicycle insurance platform that insures bicycles and cycling equipment against theft or damage, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $12M (approx €10.6M) in its Series A round of funding. Prior to this, the company had raised €4.29M in funding, in February 2020.
According to a statement, the e-mobility sector is set to grow further as consumers and commercial businesses turn to cleaner forms of transport. With 19 per cent of commuters now likely to cycle to work after the lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the retail mobility market has a strong growth outlook. Laka aims to capitalise on this year-on-year sector growth.
Berlin-based employee finance app, Circula, scores €12 million and plans international expansion
SaaS fintech startup Circula has today announced the close of a €12 million funding round for its employee finance app that is bringing more time and money to employees. The funding includes participation from ALSTIN Capital, Peak, and Storm Ventures. Existing investors Capnamic, Main Incubator and WENVEST Capital are also participating again.
The Berlin-based startup offers companies a comprehensive employee finance app that can be used by employees to digitally process expenses (e.g allowance and travel costs), and use employee benefits in a tax-compliant manner. It also provides employees with corporate credit cards with real credit lines, cashback and real-time statements, seamlessly integrated with Circula workflows.
Founded in 2017, Circula offers mid-sized and large companies alike a consolidated platform for managing expenses, credit card payments and corporate benefits in the areas that are important to every employee: meals, mobility and home office. The product reflects the current changes in the working world: simplicity, automation and appreciation are not only reflected in the expectations for modern products but also for employee experiences.
Tuum, a Tallinn, Estonia-based core banking platform, raised €15m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Portage Ventures joined by existing investors Blackfin Capital Partners and Karma Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to continue investing in product innovation and support global growth, focusing initially on strengthening its EU and UK presence, and to make investment in its team, projecting to double the team to 140 employees by the end of 2022.
The new funding announcement follows a robust year of growth, with Tuum’s contracted annual recurring revenue increasing more than 3 times in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Founded in 2019 and led by CEO Vilve Vene, Tuum is a next-generation core banking technology provider. Its API-first, cloud-agnostic and highly configurable banking platform covers all retail and business banking processes, allowing banks, fintech startups or even non-financial companies to easily roll out customer-centric financial solutions. The modularity aspect enables each company to pick and choose the exact capabilities they wish to start with and always add additional ones in the future.
French fintech Pennylane raises €50 million to accelerate expansion of its financial OS for European SMBs and accounting firms
Launched in 2020, Pennylane is continuing its journey of fast-paced growth with a fresh funding boost of €50 million just secured. The company wants to become the leading financial OS on the European market, enabling thousands of small businesses to centralize their financial management in a single tool.
This latest round of funding for the Parisian fintech comes from existing investors Sequoia Capital, Global Founders Capital and Partech and will make Pennyland one of the only platforms combining a complete software solution for accountants and a financial management tool for VSEs/SMEs.
Since raising €15 million last year, the French startup has seen incredible progress in its mission to help companies regain control of their finances. We also reckoned they were one to watch last year. Over the past few months, it has built and delivered a unique solution to the market: a platform that combines a complete software solution for accountants and management and a decision-making tool for company managers. Pennylane also provides small and medium-sized businesses with the ability to manage their cash flow, pay their clients, use numerous integrations, and exchange information with their accountants in real-time.
The company now has 180 employees representing 20 nationalities, with a plan to grow to 500 employees by the end of the year, creating one of the largest tech teams seen in the European account-tech industry. To drive this recruitment effort they have a 15 person talent team and crucially they operate as remote-first throughout Europe for their technical team. With almost half of the developers recruited in 2021 located in Spain, Germany or Romania, Pennylane has developed a highly successful remote-first working culture.
German fintech start-up Moss secures $86m Series B funding at $573m valuation
Berlin-based spend management start-up Moss has raised €75 million ($86 million) in Series B financing.
Moss has raised around $149m in total funding
The round was led by US VC firm Tiger Global with participation from A-Star and comes just six months after a $29 million Series A extension round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
The firm says it has doubled the size of its team and quadrupled its number of customers in the months since its last round.
Moss has now raised around €130 million ($149 million) in total funding, and this latest cash injection takes the company’s valuation to over €500 million ($573 million).
The start-up offers corporate credit cards and spend management software for start-ups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Moss claims to have dished out more than 20,000 physical and virtual credit cards since its launch in 2020, processing more than 250,000 transactions.
Initially only available in Germany, the fintech expanded its services to the Netherlands last year, and now has its eyes set on further growth into the UK market.
The firm says it plans to launch in the UK in the “next few months”, with other markets set to follow “later this year”.
Moss adds the new funds will also be used for further product development, with a focus on “spend controlling, liquidity planning and accounting automation”, as well as expanding its team “significantly” in the areas of product, technology, marketing and sales.
Index-based insurance provider Descartes Underwriting triggers $120 million in new funding
Parisian insurtech Descartes Underwriting has raised $120 million in a Series B funding round. The company is specifically helping corporate customers mitigate their exposure to climate-related and emerging risks through a number of parametric insurance products. The new funding will be used to further develop its technology platform, expand new business verticals, and continue global expansion plans. Since 2019, Descartes Underwriting has raised a total of $122.8 million.
According to a 2019 report from the UN’s International Labour Organization, “80 million jobs would be at risk if rising temperature predictions materialize, with productivity impacted by unlivable working environments.” Couple that with a Nature report that noted, “the U.S. alone could lose $520 billion across 22 sectors due to global temperature rise,” and connecting the dots begins to become a much easier exercise.
Taking on one of the insurance industry’s traditional methods, catastrophe (CAT) risk modeling, Descartes Underwriting is leveraging new data sources and fusing them with a host of AI algorithms to provide what they refer to as a “product offering which covers the full spectrum of natural catastrophes and emerging risk exposures.”
Working in tandem with corporate brokers Descartes Underwriting and its team of 50 engineers and data scientists, offer over 200 corporate clients, many in the Fortune 500, fully tailored insurance solutions to provide adequate insurances in a rapidly changing environment, both physically and on the markets.
Revenue-based financing platform Wayflyer brings in $150 million, now at $1.6 billion valuation
Dublin-based revenue-based financing platform Wayflyer has raised $150 million in an all-equity Series B funding round, and in doing so, joins the unicorn club at a $1.6 billion valuation. A portion of the funding is slated to be used to double the startups’ headcount to a robust 500+ staff within the next six to nine months, as well as increase the amount of capital it is able to provide to qualified clients. Since October of 2020 Wayflyer has raised approximately $336 million.
Wayflyer is now the sixth home-grown unicorn for the Emerald Isle, and the fastest to achieve unicorn status, having garnered the title in just 2.5 years.
Much like theircompetitors, Wayflyer provides non-dilutive, revenue-based debt funding to fledgling companies, and in the case of e-commerce, paves the way for the advanced purchasing of inventory. I.e. working capital.
Having only gone live in April of 2020, Wayflyer has distributed over $500 million to qualified businesses, with 2021’s year-over-year number rising a staggering 900 percent, and typically issues a ticket size ranging between $10,000 and $20 million. The company counts a healthy 800 customers across 11 countries and has a staff of approximately 250 working from Dublin, London, New York, Atlanta, and Sydney.
BitMEX’s Acquisition of Bankhaus von der Heydt is Another Step in the Rehabilitation of the Crypto Trading Platform
Last week, BitMEX announced its intent to acquire Bankhaus von der Heydt. The deal is actually structured so that BXM Operations AG, founded by BitMEX CEO Alexander Höptner and CFO Stephan Lutz, will acquire the bank located in Munich, Germany. While the purchase is subject to the standard approvals of BaFin, the acquisition should propel BitMEX forward in its quest to offer a regulatory compliant crypto exchange operating in Europe. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 1745, Bankhaus von der Heydt has been open to Fintech innovation. Last fall, the privately-owned bank announced a partnership with Fireblocks to expand into digital assets and provide crypto custody.
For BitMEX, it aims to offer a single location for regulated crypto in Europe, and around the world, starting with DACH countries.
Focusing on European marketplace startups, DutchFounders close second fund at €62 million
Amsterdam-based DutchFounders has announced the close of their second fund at €62 million, a figure nearly quadruple the first fund which clocked in at €16.7 million. The boutique firm places a specialist emphasis on supporting European marketplace platforms, with 70% of its pre-seed and seed-stage funding reserved specifically for this geography.
While DutchFounders is reaffirming its commitment to marketplace platforms, with this iteration, supply chain services, including technologies that enable frictionless transactions, such as fintech solutions or web3 applications, are at the top of the list.
DutchFounders, or Dutch Founders Fund, was established in the late summer of 2018 and consists of a cooperative that includes successful Dutch entrepreneurs Laurens Groenendijk (Just Eat, Treatwell, Miinto, Hiber), Patrick Kerssemakers (fonQ), Bas Beerens (WeTransfer), Hidde Hoogcarspel (Spacebuzz) and Remco van Zanten (Booking.com, Zalando, Vinted and BCG).
“Besides efficiency gains, a marketplace allows for a more equitable distribution of resources. Not so long ago, the rules were set by the dominant player. Now, people can track their orders, compare reviews, and bargain for a better price, which has created a level playing field for both supply and demand,” elaborated Groenendijk.
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am an early stage investor focusing on FinTech primarily B2C in MENA and B2B globally. I also spend a lot of time thinking and reading about the future of finance and ways technology can close the wealth gap across the globe and improve lives. I am a strong believer in the power of many, and the depth and breadth of the impact collaborative ecosystems and communities can have. I seek such opportunities.
2.What are your focus areas, overall and within the FinTech space?
Embedded finance is a big one especially right now. We believe however in models that target the millennials whether its trading apps and BNPL, NFTs, and the creative economy.
3.Any recent deals that you would like to share with us, and why you invested or partnered?
We recently invested in Khazna, a company in Egypt that is addressing the underbanked segment by availing salary advances, bill payments, P2P transfers. We are very proud of the growth Khazna has accomplished, especially as their services improves the well-being of a very large segment in the Egyptian market. We are also proud of Baraka, which is the first neo-broker in MENA, based in the UAE they already have a strong MENA scope, we like them because they are laser focused on first-time investors and their product is clearly very centric around that.
4.What does it take to get to Series A today?
Aggressive growth, laser focus on execution, and investors who can support.
5.Which are the trends to watch out for in the next 6-18 months?
Embedded Finance and banking as a service. NFTs and crypto.
1.Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and leisure.
Hey I’m Huss, CTO & Co-founder of 9fin. I think I’d describe myself as an engineer in every sense of the word. So, via a degree in Aerospace Engineering, taking apart my siblings’ toys as a child, learning programming at school from age 12, I find myself now running a technology startup serving up news, data and analysis to the financial markets. I love Formula 1, and it’s been a very stressful (but exciting) 2021 championship this year. I’m trying to get better at badminton after taking it up for the first time a couple of years ago… At least my height lets me get away with not being any good yet!
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m a Senior Analyst in the Ventures & Acquisitions team of RGAX, based out of Amsterdam. RGAX is the transformation engine of RGA, promoting and accelerating innovation within the Life and Health insurance sectors by means of organic and inorganic initiatives. RGA is one of the largest global life and health reinsurance companies.
I joined the organization in 2018 to support the EMEA region on deal sourcing activities, executing partnerships and managing our portfolio of 30+ startups globally.
Prior to joining RGAX I worked in Corporate Banking at ABN AMRO and in Port Logistics at the Port of Rotterdam. I hold a Master Degree in Business Management from Cass Business School in London and a Corporate Communication’s Master from the University of Amsterdam.
Personally, I enjoy travelling and experiencing new cultures. I’m also a sports fan and play soccer and squash. In addition, I volunteer for a foundation that promotes dialogue and understanding between the Arab World and Europe through education.
Embedded finance fintech Banxware raises EUR 10 million in seed expansion round
Germany-based embedded finance fintech Banxwarehas announced raising EUR 10 million in a seed expansion round led by Element Ventures.
Co-investors included D4 Ventures, FinVC, and Varengold Bank AG and Banxware’s existing investors Force over Mass, VR Ventures and HTGF significantly increased their investments in this round. In February 2021, the company already collected EUR 4 million and the leading investors at the time were UK-based venture capitalist Force over Mass and VR Ventures.
Banxware sees itself as a lending-as-a-service provider and its solution enables digital platforms as well as marketplaces and payment service providers to offer their business customers embedded financing products in real-time. The United Volksbank Raiffeisenbank is the first bank partner to provide a total of EUR 100 million in credit for SMEs. According to a Banxware representative, the capital injection will be used to further develop the offer, enlarge the team and expand product development, sales and marketing to digital platforms across Europe.
Founded in 2019, Element Ventures has backed some of the best founders and companies in the industry over the last decade and had the privilege of investing with the world’s leading financial services and venture firms.
Global Processing Services adds $100 million to the pile, closes round at $400 million
London-based Global Processing Services has announced an additional $100 million raise, adding on to an already impressive $300 million round. The funding is slated to be used in further R&D projects as the company aims to remain at the forefront of powering some of the world’s leading fintechs that include Revolut, Curve, Starling Bank, Zilch, WeLab Bank, and Paidy. Since 2018 GPS has raised a total of $458 million.
Providing a host of underpinning services including virtual cards, mobile wallet solutions, real-time transaction data, chargeback facilitation, and the list goes on and on, GPS might not be a household name, but chances are you’ve indirectly used one of their products within the past few years.
In so much, through its customers and partners, the company is active in 48 countries and has issued over 190 million physical and virtual cards, and last year processed more than 1.3 billion transactions.
Adding on to an impressive track record, GPS has also scored a win in the recent appointment of Gene Lockhart as chair of the GPS board. Lockhart, chair and general partner at investor MissionOG will be able to provide valuable insight to the company as he formerly served as CEO and president at Mastercard International and president of the global retail bank at Bank of America.
Incorporated in 1974, Temasek is an investment company headquartered in Singapore. Supported by 13 offices internationally, Temasek owns a net portfolio value of S$381 billion (US$283 billion) as at 31 March 2021. Their portfolio covers a broad spectrum of sectors, including: financial services; telecommunications, media & technology; transportation & industrials; consumer & real estate; life sciences & agribusiness; as well as energy & resources.
Headquartered in Pennsylvania, MissionOG partners with high-growth businesses that have proven models in segments where we have had success as operators and investors, including financial services and payments, data platforms, and software.
Levenue acquires Amsterdam-based fintech company Requr to consolidate its position in RBF market
Levenue, a revenue-based finance marketplace, announced that it has acquired Amsterdam-based fintech company Requr for an undisclosed fee. With this move, Levenue aims to capitalise on the growing popularity of Revenue-Based-Financing (RBF).
For the uninitiated, RBF is a way to raise funds based on the company’s revenues. Companies that opt for RBF will have to pledge a part of their annual revenue in exchange for capital. In this case, founders do not have to give up equity or collateral.
Levenue says the acquisition of Requr has consolidated its position as the “one-stop go-to funding solution” for all European subscription-based businesses.
Requr’s founders have emphasised that they believe their data flow, underwriting, and data analysis model will work well with Levenue’s technological capabilities, international team, marketing strategy, and experience.
The acquisition follows Levenue’s expansion into the Nordics after successful launches in the Benelux and the UK.
Tandem Bank Acquires Manchester based Oplo, a Consumer Lending Platform
Tandem Bank has reportedly acquired consumer lending platform Oplo.
The strategic acquisition has formed a combined business with £1.2 billion of total assets, £1 billion of funding and 171,000 clients being serviced by a UK-headquartered team of 500 professionals.
Tandem was established back in 2014 as one of the United Kingdom’s first digital banking challengers. Over the years, the firm has undergone several key changes in order to establish a profitable business model. The firm acquired Harrods Bank back in 2018, closing down its credit card business in 2020 and repositioning itself as a “green” lender with the acquisition of Allium Lending Group a few years back.
European FinTech deals this week include Sygnum and PrimaryBid
We feature Q&As with Daniel Andemeskel of Universal-Investment and Kristoffer Borg Petersen of Hufsy
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Daniel Andemeskel of Universal-Investment
1.Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and leisure.
Hello, I am Daniel Andemeskel, Director and Head of Innovation Management at Universal-Investment. I am currently responsible for the Group’s innovation agenda while at the same time developing the next generation investment platform for digital assets, leveraging on Blockchain and AI. Prior to joining Universal-Investment, I gained over 20 years’ experience in investment management in several functions. My motto is to envision new innovations instead of building faster horses (just like the famous quote of Henry Ford) which is why I enjoy speaking at international conferences and panels on innovation and digital transformation. Besides, I am a member of several Blockchain consortiums and forums and like to initiate collaborations on Blockchain.
Work aside, in my personal life I like to travel and discover new cultures and countries. Alongside my passion for cooking and wine. To compensate my full calendar, I am trying to do as much sports as possible, frequent morning runs are my favorite. This is rounded up with the fact that I am an early bird (waking up every morning between 4:30am and 5:00am). I use these morning hours for the innovation visioning and creative part of my job.
I’m Kristoffer and I’m the CEO of Hufsy. I’m overall responsible for running the business both in our HQ in Copenhagen as well as our office in Berlin. Prior to working with Hufsy I spent many years in the digital media business. I have worked for Microsoft and Bonnier Publications amongst others. My focus has always been commercial whether it has been sales management or business development and I bring my experience from the more corporate world to the start-up world of Hufsy.
Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum secures €79.5M funding, eyes global expansion
Sygnum, a Zurich-based digital asset bank, and trading platform, announced on Thursday that it has raised $90M (approx €79.5M) funding in an oversubscribed Series B funding round.
Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited, a Hong Kong-listed alternative investment financial services institution, led the round.
Other new and existing investors such as Meta Investments, Animoca Brands, Wemade, SBI Holdings, and Siam Commercial Bank’s digital investment arm, SCB 10X, also participated in the round.
The round also saw the participation of a large group of employees as personal investors, claims the company in a press release. The Series B round gives Sygnum a post-money valuation of $800M (approx €707M).
Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited (SEHK: 86) is a leader in alternative investing headquartered in Hong Kong. Since its establishment in 1969, the Group has owned and operated market-leading platforms in Financial Services. The Group invests across public markets, alternatives and real assets and has an established track record of generating long-term risk adjusted returns for its shareholders.
British fintech PrimaryBid close to finalising $150 mln funding from SoftBank – Sky News
Jan 8 (Reuters) – British fintech company PrimaryBid is close to finalising the details of a $150 million funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund II, Sky News reported on Saturday.
The Series C fund-raising was likely to value the company at more than $500 million on a pre-money basis, Sky News said, citing sources.
PrimaryBid’s latest capital-raising will take the total sum it has raised since it was founded in 2016 to more than $200 million, the report said.
The funding from Softbank’s Vision Fund II will provide PrimaryBid with “greater financial firepower” to continue its expansion beyond the UK, Sky News said.
SoftBank and PrimaryBid were not immediately available for comment outside business hours.
Through the SoftBank Vision Funds, SoftBank Investment Advisers, headquartered in London, are investing in more than $100 billion in the businesses and technologies. They offer the operational expertise, global network and patient capital required to help exceptional founders build market-leading companies.
We feature Q&As with Spiros Margaris of Margaris Ventures and Dirk Soehnholz of Soehnholz ESG GmbH
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar
7 Questions with Spiros Margaris, Margaris Ventures
1.Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and leisure.
My name is Spiros Margaris, and I am a venture capitalist (VC) and the founder of Margaris Ventures. I have been in the investment business for quite some time, with more than 25 years of international experience in investment management/research and startups. In my role as a VC, I also act as an advisor to my globally spread FinTech and InsurTech startup portfolio. I am the first international influencer to achieve ‘The Triple Crown’ of influencer rankings by being ranked the global No. 1 FinTech, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain influencer by Onalytica in 2018. I am very fortunate to regularly appear in the top three positions of the established global industry influencer rankings due to the generous support of great FinTech industry friends and participants. In 2017, I had the opportunity to give a speech at the TEDxAcademy Talk. In addition, for the enterprise software vendor SAP, I wrote an AI white paper, ‘Machine learning in financial services: Changing the rules of the game’.
7 Questions with Prof. Dr. Dirk Soehnholz, Soehnholz ESG GmbH
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
After my business studies in Germany and the US, I started my career as a management consultant. In 1999, together with a German multi-family office, I started an alternative investment fund of funds advisor. From 2012 to 2015, I was executive board member of a mutual fund company focusing on portfolios of index funds and we started three responsible Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds. In 2016, I started my own company Diversifkator. The focus is on pure and customized ESG portfolios.
Ibancar, a Madrid, Spain-based provider of a credit platform for consumers, received a debt facility up to an amount of €10m.
The round was led by Knuru Capital.
The facility has been led by global venture capital and private credit investor Knuru Capital and will allow the platform to fund its growing loan book and continue its explosive growth trajectory. The facility will complement Ibancars existing and ongoing debt funding from crowdlending marketplaces. The company intends to use the funds to scale fast in Spain, expand its activity to Mexico as well as launch other auto related credit products.
Led by Alex Melis, founder and CEO, Ibancar provides an asset based consumer credit platform that makes affordable online loans available to the full social and credit spectrum of borrowers with a focus on ethical and inclusive lending practices. Its use of cars as collateral also allows it to bring underbanked, unbanked and credit invisible borrowers into the online consumer finance market.
Headquartered in Dubai, Knuruis a venture capital investor deploying transformative capital into growth stage technology businesses globally with a particular interest in the financial services industry and emerging markets.
Tink Completes Acquisition of FinTecSystems
Tink, a Swedish open banking platform, completed the acquisition of FinTecSystems, a Germany based open banking infrastructure fintech companyy, following regulatory approval.
The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
Following the acquisition, the combination of Tink’s pan-European open banking platform and FinTecSystems’ product suite and expertise in the DACH market, will offer both local and international customers in the region a xomprehensive solution when partnering for open banking technology.
The completed acquisition also brings fintech and banking customers to Tink, including N26, DKB, Santander, Solarisbank and Check24. FinTecSystems’ 78 employees become part of the Tink organization, with the new DACH management team including René Sauer, Hannes Rogall and Caroline Jenke alongside Tink’s Cyrosch Kalateh.
Through this completed acquisition, Tink now increases its total number of employees to almost 600. FinTecSystems will continue to function as an independent, regulated company in Germany.
Founded in 2012 in Stockholm, Tink is an open banking platform that enables banks, fintechs and startups to develop data-driven financial services. Through one API, the system allows customers to access aggregated financial data, initiate payments, enrich transactions, verify account ownership and build personal finance management tools. Tink connects to more than 3,400 banks that reach over 250 million bank customers across Europe. The company serves more than 300 banks and fintechs in 18 European markets, out of offices in 13 countries.
ACE & Company Closes Fourth Buyout Co-Investment Fund, at $244M
ACE & Company, a Geneva, Switzerland-based global investment firm, closed its fourth private equity co-investment fund, at $244m.
Led by Rob Callahan, Head of ACE Buyout Strategy, ABO IV will continue the strategy of its predecessor funds, supporting high caliber sponsors in their core areas of expertise. While the fund has a North American focus, it will include 20 to 25 companies diversified by sector, size, deal archetype and general partner. The fund will identify and pursue the best opportunities across the private equity universe.
The firm’s buyout program has completed over 70 co-investments since 2011.
Led by Adam Said, Founder and CEO, ACE & Company is a global investment group specialized in private investments with total assets of over $1.6 bn across three investment strategies and investment solutions. Headquartered in Geneva with offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, and Cairo, ACE’s global presence brings the company in direct contact with sourcing partners, investment firms, as well as entrepreneurs and provides investors unparalleled access to a network of opportunities.
European FinTech deals this week include Numeral, Silverflow, Pliant, Re:cap and Modifi
We feature Q&As with Enrique Lizaso Olmos of Multiverse Computing and Paula Blazquez Solano of InnoCells (Banco Sabadell)
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar
FinTech Rising Stars 2021 – nicht verpassen
Der jährliche Online-Report der Szene. Junge FinTech- & InsurTech-Startups aus Deutschland und Österreich, die aktuell den Markt erobern. Rising Stars kommt 2021 das erste Mal heraus. Und ab sofort jährlich im Herbst. Jedes Jahr die neuesten FinTechs/InsurTechs zu entdecken, die im aktuellen Jahr auf den Markt kamen. Und die Trends und Entwicklungen der anderen jungen FinTechs/InsurTechs (die schon in den Jahren davor gelauncht sind — im Report bei jedem Startup steht zB: welche Meilensteine sie in den letzten 12 Monaten erreicht haben, was sie im nächsten Jahr planen, welche Kontakte sie aktuell suchen, etc.)
7 Questions with Enrique Lizaso Olmos of Multiverse Computing
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Multiverse Computing. Largest European Quantum Software Company. Backed by the European Investment Council and large VC. Third largest in the world after two American not-so-much-larger competitors. Delivering solutions to financial problems in optimization, machine-learning and pricing that are not correctly answered (or even not answered) with classical computers. Problems that range from $200-300 to $3B in impact in net income. Working for large customers (Top 10 Banks in the world), appeared in the Boston Consulting Group reports, The Economist, Forbes… Single European Company in McKinsey’s Quantum global Technology Council. 24 new patents/year, 34 people now, we are nearly 3 yr old!
Me: Mathematician, 20+ yr in finance (also Computer Engineer, PhD in biostatistics, MBA from IESE Business School -and also MD, yep). I can just speak when my Physics cofounders let me do
7 Questions with Paula Blazquez Solano of InnoCells (Banco Sabadell)
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Paula Blazquez, I lead the Corporate Investment Vehicle of Banco Sabadell, the 4th largest private bank in Spain. At InnoCells, we invest in Fintech related startups across the globe, from seed to series A (tickets between $500k up to $3M). I have worked in venture capital most of my career, having worked for a listed Venture Debt fund based out of Palo Alto, California and later on in a venture fund based in Madrid with a focus on Latam, Spain and India prior to joining InnoCells. I am a proud advisor, investor and Board Member in several Fintech startups.
Addressing the bank payments bottleneck, Numeral raises €13 million
After only six months since its inception, Paris-based Numeral has raised €13 million. The company provides a payment operations automation service specifically targeted at tech companies operating in a variety of industries. The funding will be used to grow the team size from 10 to 40 over the coming months, continue product development, and augment its bank coverage.
Co-founded by Édouard Mandon (previously at Ibanfirst and Jumia) and Hichem Mâalmi (previously at Qonto and Boursorama Banque), Numeral is the newest startup arising from Logic Founders, a joint venture between Camille Tyan and eFounders.
The startup is working on an API and web app solution that allows tech companies to automate payments from creation to reconciliation through a direct bank link. The API side of the offer gives developers the tools to integrate payment options within their own productions, while the web app can be used by the finance and operations teams to keep tabs on the books and make sure payments and accounts are all up to date.
Balderton Capital is a venture capital firm based in London, UK, that invests in early-stage, technology and internet startup companies in Europe. It is considered to be among the four-biggest venture capital firms in the English capital.
Amsterdam-based fintech startup Silverflow raises €15M; plans to grow its team in next 2 years
Amsterdam-based fintech startup Silverflow announced that it has raised $17M (approx €15M) in its Series A round of funding led by Coatue Management.
The round also saw participation from existing investors Crane Venture Partners and INKEF Capital, along with Global Paytech Ventures. In addition, angel investors Jason Gardner, founder and CEO of Marqeta, and Gokul Rajaram, a former Square product lead and current Coinbase board member, also invested in this round.
Michael Gilroy, General Partner at Coatue, says, “The Founder-market fit is the first thing we noted when looking at the Silverflow team. The depth of experience within payments gives this team a unique perspective from which to solve a problem plaguing the industry – outdated infrastructure. The platform is built for the payments industry of today, and has the scalability, flexibility, and usability its partners need.”
New York based Coatue Management LLC is a global investment manager focused on public and private companies in the technology, media and telecommunications industries. Coatue invests in public and private markets with a focus on technology, media, telecommunications. the consumer and healthcare sectors
Berlin-based pliant scores €18 million for its corporate credit card solution
Just 4 months after announcing its first seed round, Berlin-based pliant has closed €18 million for its corporate credit card. The funding was led by Alstin Capital, Main Incubator and Saber, with participation from Ramin Niroumand.
Pliant offers a flexible corporate credit card solution that focuses on seamless integrations into existing processes, alongside providing fully digital card management and cashback. The fintech startup was founded in 2020 by Malte Rau and Fabian Terner.
The young company aims to offer customers an optimal solution through adopting a technology-first approach. The credit card solution can be combined with other SaaS offerings – namely in the areas of accounting, travel expense, and, invoice management. In doing so, pliant is pioneering a flexible credit card solution for companies.
The flexibility of pliant means that its product can individually adapt to the needs, processes and structures of both scaling and established companies. Seamless integration removes the headache that normally arises for companies bringing in new technology to their processes.
ALSTIN Capital is an independent venture capital fund based in Munich. Their sector focus is technology companies in the field of Fintech / Insurtech / Regtech & Cyber Security / Mobility
German revenue-based financing platform Re:cap raises $111.5M Seed round
Re:cap, a non-dilutive funding platform in a similar vein to Pipe.com and Capchase but based in Europe, has closed a Seed financing round of $111.5 million, in a mix of growth capital and liquidity for the revenue-based financing platform. re:cap’s first product is now officially going live, following a pre-seed funding in May of this year.
The growth capital has come from pan-European VCs Felix Capital and Project A Ventures, with participation from existing investor Entrée Capital. The new capital will be invested into further expansion of the team as well as product and entering new European markets from its launch base of Germany. Initially focused on SaaS businesses, it has plans to move into other verticals.
The company was founded by Paul Becker (CEO) and Jonas Tebbe (CPO), who previously built the LIQID fintech startup.
re:cap allows recurring revenue businesses to fund their growth, but without needing to dilute ownership via VC or taking on debt, with the ability to convert up to 50% of their ARR into instant, non-dilutive upfront cash. At the same time, institutional investors can invest directly in the recurring revenues of software companies.
London based Felix Capital offers flexible capital, investing $500,000 to $10 million early, typically in first or second rounds, and up to $15 million at growth stage or even later in breakout companies in our target segments
Modifi Raises 145MUSD in Debt Financing
Modifi, a Berlin, Germany-based global fintech company, raised 145M USD in debt financing.
Backers included Silicon Valley Bank and Solarisbank.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its reach among small and medium-sized enterprises who want to trade internationally on its digital platform.
Led by CEO and Co-Founder Nelson Holzner, Modifi is a global fintech company that allows small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to finance and manage their international trades. Serving over 1,000 buyers and sellers across more than 40 countries, the company offers digital solutions that enable SMEs to trade like large corporates.
Modifi currently operates out of 9 offices in Berlin, Amsterdam, New York, Delhi, Mumbai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dubai and Dhaka. Having raised its Series B round in September, the company is now working on major upgrades to its digital platform, which will expand the product offering beyond trade finance and allow customers to take care of all trade-related activities in one place.
Silicon Valley Bank, a subsidiary of SVB Financial Group, is a U.S.-based high-tech commercial bank. The bank has helped fund more than 30,000 start-ups.
Founded in 2016, Solarisbank is a Berlin-based fintech company that offers Banking-as-a-Service Platform with its German banking license
US subsidiary sold for $16.3 billion
The major French bank BNP Paribas is withdrawing from the American retail banking business. It sells its subsidiary, the Bank of West, to a Canadian competitor.
The major French bank BNP Paribas is selling its Californian subsidiary Bank of the West to the Bank of Montreal (BMO) from Canada. The purchase price is 16.3 billion US dollars, BNP said. With this, the French end their involvement in the American retail market, which has never really been crowned with success because the competition from the domestic banks is great.
Management expects the deal to be completed within the coming year. Shareholders should benefit from this: BNP then wants to buy back its own shares from the market. In addition, it intends to use proceeds from the sale for the expansion of its own business and for possible takeovers. The authorities have yet to approve the sale.
Multiverse Computing. Largest European Quantum Software Company. Backed by the European Investment Council and large VC. Third largest in the world after two American not-so-much-larger competitors. Delivering solutions to financial problems in optimization, machine-learning and pricing that are not correctly answered (or even not answered) with classical computers. Problems that range from $200-300 to $3B in impact in net income. Working for large customers (Top 10 Banks in the world), appeared in the Boston Consulting Group reports, The Economist, Forbes… Single European Company in McKinsey’s Quantum global Technology Council. 24 new patents/year, 34 people now, we are nearly 3 yr old!
Me: Mathematician, 20+ yr in finance (also Computer Engineer, PhD in biostatistics, MBA from IESE Business School -and also MD, yep). I can just speak when my Physics cofounders let me do 😉
2.Give us the backstory- how did you get the founding idea, and how did the first sale come about?
The group meet first time in a not-for-profit association (Quantum World Association) who set up a workgroup called “Quantum for Quants”, intended for finance where I was the President. 12 people in this workgroup, just four working for real. These four people are the founders of Multiverse
3.Could you summarize your journey to scale from a sales, go-to-market and business development perspective, perhaps split into 2-3 key phases?
Beware, this is Deep-tech, not just Fintech
i. Initial paper on what you can do and don’t in quantum for finance
ii. Initial customer (BBVA)
iii. Initial round 10M
iv. 2nd year revenues, €3M
v. And now cycling everything again, and again
4.Which was the most challenging phase, and what would you have done differently?
a. Funding
b. So far, trajectory is not so bad. Maybe, a faster acceleration
5.When did you decide to expand to the international/ US market, and how?
From the very beginning. Canadian subsidiary with equal size in HR was created nearly at the same time that the European one.
6.When did you first decide to raise venture capital, and what has been your approach to financing growth over the years?
From the very beginning. Speed is key; so funding is key
7.How is building an Enterprise FinTech firm different from a “regular” SaaS / Enterprise Tech company, and what three things should founders get right?
This is deep tech. You must first demonstrate that the solutions work with this edge technology. Paid project come next. And SaaS product later.
8.What’s on the priority list for you and your team for the next year?
a. Massive round
b. Scaling to €6M revs
c. Team to 60 people
9.Where is the financial services sector headed in the next 12-18 months, and what should we be watching out for?
From our point of view, Quantum is here to stay. The BCG also states that. We are even working with Central Banks. Core methods of pricing, allocation of capital, segmentation, etc are going to change for faster, more precise and even greener ones.
10.Your favorite place(s) for a meal, coffee or drink (pre-/ post-COVID19)?
Akelarre, 3 Michelin stars, San Sebastian. Because finance people have always been so posh 😉
We feature Q&As with Matti Rönkkö of Cooler Future and Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Matti Rönkkö of Cooler Future
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m a born and raised Finn but have done most of my career outside of Finland. I am not good at anything, so I have big hopes that soon generalists will be in demand. I am a nature lover; the thicker the forest and the more snow there is, the more I enjoy it.
My career I have built mainly on building and scaling companies. I love the excitement of building something from scratch. In the last few years I have thought a lot about my personal values and the topic of climate change and I decided back in the end of 2017 to make a switch to focus on ways to create a positive impact. That led us into founding Cooler Future back in 2019, to use the skills we have hopefully developed over the years for creating positive climate impact.
7 Questions with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Cynthia, I am a Partner at Seed X Liechtenstein. I am an operator turned investor and I have previously worked with different accelerators including Techstars, King’s College and Founders Factory in London. Prior to being an investor I have worked for 11+ years at the fintech unicorn Markit (Now IHS markit, being bought by S&P). I learned there everything I know about great product development, corporate innovation and the hurdles of fast growth (IPO on the NASDAQ in 2014 at $5bn valuation, merger with IHS in 2016, now worth more than $40bn).
Work-wise I like connecting the dots and people, understanding the big problems needing solving and who we can learn from. Having the right network also helps to support founders in their growth.
Some of my spare time is also spent on tech boards that I sit on, and supporting female entrepreneurs across Europe.
Fintech group SPG raises £25m to grow payments businesses
UK fintech group SPG, which owns Shieldpay and Paycast, has raised $34m (£25m) in a Series A funding round. The investment was led by Marqeta and Mastercard along with participation from CreditEase, Elliott Management, and Techstars.
With the fresh capital, SPG aims to scale up Shieldpay and capitalise on growing demand in the professional services market. Funds will also be used to fuel Paycast in its early stage of growth and bring the payments platform to a consumer audience.
London-headquartered SPG was founded in 2016 and aims to help unknown people transact securely.
The company says it processed more than payments totalling $3bn for its clients and has witnessed a surge in business during the pandemic. Its revenue grew by more than 360% in 2020, according to its own figures.
SPG’s first business, Shieldpay, is a digital platform used in the professional and financial services sectors. It aims to simplify payments and uses automation to replace paper-based transactions.
Founded in 2009, Marqeta Instantly issues & processes card payments with their world class open API platform.
Mastercard is a leading global payments & technology company that connects consumers, businesses, merchants, issuers & governments around the world.
British-based FNZ is acquiring Appway, a Swiss fintech which has worked with a major Swiss bank.
Appway, which provides digital solutions for banks to onboard and advise clients, is selling to FNZ, a British-based firm, the two companies said in a statement on Tuesday. They didn’t disclose financial details of the deal.
Part of the deal is for Appway founder-CEO Hanspeter Wolf (pictured below) to become technology chief of FNZ as well as part of top management.
For FNZ, founded in Wellington, NZ and now based in London, the deal will speed up personalized propositions at scale with its financial services clients. The company said Appway, which developed Credit Suisse’s digital onboarding process, will enable up to 90 percent faster client onboarding.
Der jährliche Online-Report der Szene. Junge FinTech- & InsurTech-Startups aus Deutschland und Österreich, die aktuell den Markt erobern.
Rising Stars kommt 2021 das erste Mal heraus. Und ab sofort jährlich im Herbst. Jedes Jahr die neuesten FinTechs/InsurTechs zu entdecken, die im aktuellen Jahr auf den Markt kamen. Und die Trends und Entwicklungen der anderen jungen FinTechs/InsurTechs (die schon in den Jahren davor gelauncht sind — im Report bei jedem Startup steht zB: welche Meilensteine sie in den letzten 12 Monaten erreicht haben, was sie im nächsten Jahr planen, welche Kontakte sie aktuell suchen, etc.)
We feature Q&As with Gabriel Levie of Wequity and Gerrit Sindermann of F10 Global.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Gabriel Levie of Wequity
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I was born and raised in Belgium and was lucky to have a Dutch-speaking mother and French-speaking father, which means I speak both languages fluently. Before starting Wequity I completed my undergraduate studies in Economics and Philosophy in the UK. Since 2019 I have been back in Belgium.
With my cofounder Franck we launched Wequity in February 2021, and we have been working full time with a team of 5 people. On the side I run, climb, and play the piano.
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am leading the Swiss business for F10 Global, a Fintech and Insurtech-focused open accelerator, headquartered in Zurich with further hubs in Singapore and Spain. I am also in the board of our investment company, which invests in F10 startups. Besides that, I am representing F10 in the Swiss Green Fintech Network, launched 2020 to support and leverage the Swiss government’s ambition to develop the country into a leading hub for sustainable finance. With the Green Fintech Network I co-drafted the Swiss Green Fintech Action Plan, and with F10’s partner New Energy Nexus I work on our new global Climate Fintech Accelerator programming.
Prior to F10, I worked 10 years in banking (mostly at ABN AMRO Bank) and 10 years in tech (mostly fintech), founded one and worked with several startups at different stages and on topics ranging from mobile and micropayments to data and analytics.
Off work, I love any kind of outdoor sports (Switzerland being a perfect spot for that…), love(d) traveling and learning about different cultures. Due to the latter and an adventurous mind/heart, I left Germany in 2006 and lived since in The Netherlands, Colombia, Morocco and Ireland. Climate change and environment are major topics of concern and interest for me, thus I am excited that Sustainable Finance is picking up broadly now!
The Finnish fintech Enfuce has today announced its €45m Series C, the largest funding round for a female-founded fintech in the Nordics this year.
The round was led by UK-based VC firm Vitruvian Partners, known for having invested in startups like Marqeta and Wise — both now publicly listed at unicorn valuations. Enfuce is one of only a few female-founded fintechs in Europe, along with the likes of MoneyHub and Juno. The two founders, Monika Liikamaa and Denise Johansson, are both in their 40s and both come from a banking background.
Founded in 2016, the company describes itself as a CaaS (card-as-a-service) platform for card issuing. It has plenty of customers in the non-banking community including Danish expense management startup Pleo, Swedish financial services companies Gee Finance and Qred as well as loyalty programmes like ST1.
Founded in 2006, UK based Vitruvian Partnersis an international investment firm that supports the most ambitious and talented entrepreneurs and companies to achieve their goals. They target growth capital and management buyout deals, investing between €25m-€350m in companies typically valued between €75m-€1bn+.
Moody’s Corporation Acquires PassFort
Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) acquired PassFort Limited, a UK-based provider of onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) technology solutions.
The amount of the deal – funded with cash – was not disclosed.
The acquisition complement Moody’s technology, data, and analytical capabilities, and enhance its customer solutions for KYC, anti-money laundering, compliance, and counterparty risk. Moody’s will integrate the service into its KYC business within Moody’s Analytics, where they will augment the Orbis company database and the GRID database of risk profiles, adverse news, politically exposed persons, and sanctions.
Founded in the UK by Donald Gillies, PassFort is a U.K. SaaS-based workflow platform for identity verification, customer onboarding, and risk analysis. Its software delivers data from over 25 third-party providers and automates the collection, verification, and secure storage of customer and supplier due diligence documentation. The integration of PassFort’s platform into Moody’s suite of KYC and compliance offerings will create a more holistic workflow solution, allowing customers to incorporate Moody’s data, including credit, cyber, ESG, and climate analytics, directly into their proprietary processes.
European FinTech deals this week include Timeless, Pomelo and Thought Machine.
We feature Q&As with Korbinian Spann of Insaas.ai and Semih Kacan of Swisscom Ventures.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar
7 Questions with Korbinian Spann of Insaas.ai
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Korbinian, I’m the founder and managing director of Insaas.ai. Our company and I are based in Munich, Germany. I have one son, live in the countryside and love sports like cycling, sailing, running and hiking. As Insaas.ai is a remote-first team, I´m used to working with my team every day via Zoom, Slack and Google. I love being an entrepreneur and work in a team on difficult problems. The understanding and processing of languages is my favorite topic since my studies (Arabic, Hebrew). I enjoy digital marketing and communication, as an expert and as a lecturer at Steinbeis SMI. I’m open minded, curious, and full of positive energy.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Semih Kacan, and I am Investment Manager at Swisscom Ventures. I’ve joined Swisscom Ventures at the beginning of 2021 to strengthen the Fintech and Blockchain allocation in the portfolio. Prior to Swisscom Ventures I spent over 10 years in Strategy Consulting, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Asset Management at Credit Suisse, BearingPoint and Haspa before I co-founded and successfully exited my venture in Zurich. I hold a Master Degree in Corporate Finance from Henley Business School.
I enjoy the time with friends and family and a cup of coffee on sunny days at the beautiful Zurich Lake but also like reading books and watching videos to educate myself about upcoming trends/technologies.
German NFT pioneer Timeless receives twelve million euros
In Europe, a winner has already been determined: Within a short time, the football card startup Sorare has grown into a billion-dollar company. There was a real competition between the prominent financiers to be allowed to invest in the NFT company. German footballers such as André Schürrle or Oliver Bierhoff joined in, the main investor in an early round of financing was Headline (formerly Eventures) and the community has also arrived in Germany, which trades with the football cards on the blockchain. The hyped company is only based in Paris.
While fintechs around the hype topic of non-fungible tokens – NFT for short – are booming, especially in the USA, it was surprisingly quiet in Germany in particular. Despite Berlin’s bustling crypto scene, the big breakthrough has so far failed to material materially.
Now there is a first market signal that a larger player could emerge: Timeless from Berlin secures twelve million euros. The Swedish financier EQT has invested nine million euros, with a further three million coming from existing investors such as Porsche Ventures or EOS VC as well as La Roca Capital.
EQT Ventures, headquartered in Sweden is the venture capital arm of the Swedish company EQT Partners. EQT Ventures deploys a multi-stage, sector-agnostic strategy, making equity investments from €1 to €75 million in start-ups and scale-ups across Europe and the US.
Pomelo Pay Raises US$10M in Series A Funding
Pomelo Pay, a London, UK-based digital payments company, raised US$10m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Inference Partners.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its presence across global markets including Europe and Asia, starting with plans to double their workforce in London, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
Launched in 2018 in the UK and Singapore and led by Vincent Choi, CEO, Pomelo is an innovative digital payments service provider that allows businesses to take payments from anyone, in any location (physical or digital), at a low cost and without the need for hardware. The company provides an integration with over 30 payment networks globally. Its payments platform is also used by banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) for an improved acquiring experience, enabling them to offer a broad suite of payment acceptance solutions to their end customers.
Inference Partners is an independent technology investment firm exclusively focused on early-stage infrastructure software investments.
Thought Machine Raises $200M in Series C Funding
Thought Machine, a London, UK-based cloud native core banking technology company, closed $200m Series C funding round.
This round, which saw the company achieve unicorn status, was led by Nyca Partners, with participation from ING Ventures, JPMorgan Chase, and Standard Chartered Ventures, Lloyds Banking Group, British Patient Capital, Eurazeo, SEB, Molten Ventures (formerly Draper Esprit), Backed, and IQ Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to continue developing and expanding Vault and its Universal Product Engine, expand its international reach, strengthening its five global offices and targeting new key markets to accelerate the adoption of cloud native core banking globally.
Nyca is a New York based fintech venture capital firm focused on connecting innovative companies to the global financial system. With over $500 million under management and investments in more than 80 portfolio companies, Nyca is one of the premier fintech venture capital firms in the world.
Luxembourg-based Banking Circle acquires London-based B4B Payments to streamline payment infrastructure
Luxembourg-based Banking Circle, a financial infrastructure provider built for payments businesses and banks, has announced the acquisition of London-based B4B Payments, a company that specialises in smart corporate payments and card solutions for businesses.
The deal is currently going through the regulatory approval process. After closing the acquisition, B4B Payments will operate as an independent sister company of Banking Circle.
Founded in 2006 by Paul Swinton and Rob Anderson, B4B Payments (formerly Payment Card Solutions) is a fintech company that offers payment processing solutions for businesses to manage expenses, simplify payroll, reimbursements, and offer employee rewards and incentives.
Introducing Partech Growth II, the $750M Fund Dedicated to European Scale-Ups
Back in 2016, we were thrilled to announce the final closing of our first $440M Growth fund, a true pioneer in its asset class. We made our initial investments in leading companies such as Amboss, M-Files, NA-KD, Sendinblue, and Ecovadis. We helped the likes of MADE.com navigate the journey to IPO; and supported Brandwatch, through a $450M acquisition, finding a larger platform in Cision to help achieve its mission.
It’s been a rewarding journey to say the least, and today we get to celebrate another milestone as we mark the closing of Partech Growth II. The debut of the sequel!
German VC Greenfield One Raises $160M Crypto Fund With Backing From Swisscom, Others
Berlin-based venture capital (VC) firm Greenfield One has raised a $160 million (142 million euros) fund from telecom giant Swisscom, Galaxy Digital and others, to invest in crypto projects, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk.
Greenfield One’s third fund is likely one of the largest crypto funds in Europe to date. Fabric Ventures’ $130 million fund, which was announced earlier this year, was previously thought to be one of the largest European crypto funds.
German media giant Bertelsmann also invested in the $160 million fund. Bertelsmann had invested in Greenfield One’s second fund, which had a target volume of $56 million (50 million euros).
Other investors include Hamburg-based family office Lennertz & Co., Frankfurt-based VC CommerzVentures, and Barcelona-based fund of funds Aldea Ventures. All investors in the fund come from the private sector.
Estonia’s Karma Ventures brings in €100 million to continue backing European deeptech
Tallinn-based Karma Ventures has closed its second fund with a hard cap at €100 million. The firm will use the capital to continue backing the most promising early-stage European deeptech startups in Seed and Series A rounds, with a ticket size ranging up to €5 million.
Led by Tommi Uhari, Margus Uudam, and Kristjan Laanemaa, the trio has over a decade of experience both working with, and investing in deeptech startups with a number of successful exits to SAP, Dynatrace, and Splunk, to name a few.
The firm’s second fund is backed by Baltic Innovation Fund 2 (BIF 2), an initiative created by cooperation between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania and European Investment Fund, the founding engineers of Skype, Jaan Tallinn and Ahti Heinla (currently at Starship Technologies), Till Quack (Qualcomm, Apple, Mapillary), Jani Huoponen (Google) and Sergei Anikin (CTO at Pipedrive). They join longstanding investors Isomer, Skype founder’s investment company ASI and the pension funds of Swedbank and LHV.
Apply to South Summit, Madrid’s Startup Competition
South Summit (Madrid, June 8th-10th, 2022) is a three-day event that supports entrepreneurship and innovation. It is where startups, investors and corporations come together to share ideas, form alliances, and shape the future. This year’s edition of the Startup Competition welcomes projects from any industry, development stage and country. Apply before February 28th to become one of our 100 finalists and get free tickets, a 3min pitch on stage, networking with our partners and investors, media coverage, mentoring, demo stand and more!
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
FinTech Forum concludes its first hybrid edition at the Airport Club, Frankfurt
Kicking off with a networking lunch, the event – streamed digitally to participants who could not make it in person – started with Samarth Shekhar, Co-Founder of FinTech Forum, summarising the European FinTech scene’s record funding volumes and deals of note this year. This was followed by the first round of startup presentations (Aazzur, aisot, ALLINDEX and Delega – check out the “startups in a tweet” below). David Schaeffler from Hannover Digital Investments / Talanx and Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein covered the trends to watch in InsurTech and FinTech respectively.
Daragh Hanratty of IDA Ireland provided an overview of how Ireland’s agencies can help leading FinTechs and financial institutions scale, following which we made time for a short coffee break.
The 2nd round of startup presentations (QuickCashAI, Insaas.ai, Vermögensheld and Wequity) set the scene for some interesting discussions around ESG for startups and VC firms to follow.
Ertan Can from Multiple Capital shared a fascinating account of his journey setting up one of the first European Fund of Funds, which has invested into 500 ventures via 30 micro VC funds across Europe and the US.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m an investor at Fin VC, a B2B Fintech/Insurtech focused global venture capital, based out of San Francisco. Fin VC is a team of FinTech nerds with capital, based in SF/NYC and focus on FinTech SaaS in the US and EU/UK. We deploy out of 3 strategies: Regatta (pre-seed, checks of $100K-$1M), Flagship (Early Stage – Seed->B, checks of $1-10M) and Horizons (Growth – C+, checks of $25-50M+, primary/secondary) and have an operating value playbook focused on global BD, corp dev, capital formation, product/GTM, key talent sourcing, and board leadership.
Personally, I’m an avid traveler and a global citizen who has lived in 4 countries across 3 continents. When not at work, you’ll find me hiking/surfing in the summer and skiing in the winter. I’m also mentoring students from underrepresented communities, and an advisor at a Uganda-based NGO.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hi, I am Stefan, Co-Founder & CEO at Aisot Technologies. We are a leading provider of real-time insights for trading and asset management. I always had a passion for both entrepreneurial work and predictive tools. The Oracle of Delphi was by far the coolest thing in Latin class. And my first business I „founded” as a kid, when selling cherries from our garden on our village’s streets. In my free time, I like to be in nature or sing. I have played in rock bands since I was a teenager.
London’s fintech startup Payhawk secures €99.44M; plans to open offices in the US, Netherlands, Australia, Singapore
Payhawk, a London-based fintech startup that provides spending software to simplify expenses, payments, and card spending for growing businesses, announced that it has raised $112M (approx €99.44M) in its Series B round of funding.
With this, the company’s valuation jumped to $570M (approx €506.1M) in just three years after its inception.
The news comes after the London-based platform’s $20M (approx €16.55M) Series A round of funding announced earlier this year in April. The funding was led by QED Investors, which has a strong track record of investing in 18 fintech unicorns including Klarna and Nubank.
San Francisco-based investor Greenoaks, a firm that has a strong track record of investing in high-growth technology companies such as Gorillas, Robinhood, Stripe and Brex. Greenoaks Capital makes concentrated, long-term investments in technology-enabled businesses globally
United Fintech acquires trading analytics firm FairXchange
As a first transaction in a multi-stage acquisition towards full ownership, United Fintech has acquired a 25 per cent stake in London-based FairXchange for an undisclosed amount in a transaction integrating the company, its products and employees onto its digital platform.
Trading firms use FairXchange’s state-of-the-art analytical tools to facilitate data-driven dialogue with their counterparties, bringing clarity and transparency to execution performance through the provision of independent data. And according to United Fintech CEO Christian Frahm, FairXchange fits hand-in-glove with United Fintech’s strategy of acquiring state-of-the-art Capital Markets software products ready for scaling and global roll-out on United Fintech’s platform.
Balderton Capital announces €529 million early-stage fund to back Europe’s next wave of breakout tech
London-based Balderton Capital has raised its second fund of 2021, and their largest-ever fund for early-stage startups, of €529 million. The fund is part of a wider mission to be the leading provider of venture capital and founder support to European startups with global ambitions.
Earlier this year the firm launched an ‘early growth’ fund to invest in future tech giants born in Europe.
Founded 21 years ago, Balderton Capital has made almost 300 investments and has extensive experience backing founders from seed to growth stage across Europe. In 2021, the company has invested in 20 new startups in sectors ranging from reproductive health and instant commerce to data labelling and gaming.
South Summit (Madrid, June 8th-10th, 2022) is a three-day event that supports entrepreneurship and innovation. It is where startups, investors and corporations come together to share ideas, form alliances, and shape the future. This year’s edition of the Startup Competition welcomes projects from any industry, development stage and country. Apply before February 28th to become one of our 100 finalists and get free tickets, a 3min pitch on stage, networking with our partners and investors, media coverage, mentoring, demo stand and more!
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
FinTech Forum concludes its first hybrid edition at the Airport Club, Frankfurt
Kicking off with a networking lunch, the event – streamed digitally to participants who could not make it in person – started with Samarth Shekhar, Co-Founder of FinTech Forum, summarising the European FinTech scene’s record funding volumes and deals of note this year. This was followed by the first round of startup presentations (Aazzur, aisot, ALLINDEX and Delega – check out the “startups in a tweet” below). David Schaeffler from Hannover Digital Investments / Talanx and Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein covered the trends to watch in InsurTech and FinTech respectively.
Daragh Hanratty of IDA Ireland provided an overview of how Ireland’s agencies can help leading FinTechs and financial institutions scale, following which we made time for a short coffee break.
The 2nd round of startup presentations (QuickCashAI, Insaas.ai, Vermögensheld and Wequity) set the scene for some interesting discussions around ESG for startups and VC firms to follow.
Ertan Can from Multiple Capital shared a fascinating account of his journey setting up one of the first European Fund of Funds, which has invested into 500 ventures via 30 micro VC funds across Europe and the US.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am VP for financial Services with IDA Ireland, the state agency responsible for FDI into Ireland. I am based in Frankfurt, have a keen interest in fitness and travel. During lockdown I took up running. I am currently working to improve my times for 5km and 10km park runs
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am an entrepreneur, a husband and passionate about fintech. At my first job at Razorfish I helped build trading tech for State Street Bank; as a strategy consultant I helped design the portal for online banking at Sparkasse and as an entrepreneur have helped lenders and challenger banks get launched.
My personal passion is cooking and snowboarding. One is good for the head (almost like a meditation) and the other is good at enjoyment and hurting myself on the slopes. These I think are natural Austrian hobbies: eat, drink and ski!
BNPL Zilch Claims Title of Fastest European Firm to Gain Unicorn Status, Raises $110 Million Series C at $2 Billion Valuation
Zilch, a London-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) Fintech, has closed on a $110 million services C funding round at a $2 billion valuation. Zilch last raised money in 2020 at a valuation of “just” $500 million. Zilch is claiming the title of the fastest European company to earn unicorn status. Zilch states that it has “leapfrogged” other high-flying firms to become a double unicorn in just 14 months, faster than any other in the European Union. Zilch says its growth is “unparalleled within the BNPL industry” having increased by 8X since this past March.
The funding round was led by Ventura Capital and Gauss Ventures with numerous other new investors and existing investors participating in the round. https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2021/11/182760-bnpl-zilch-claims-title-of-fastest-fintech-to-gain-unicorn-status-raises-110-million-series-c-at-2-billion-valuation/
Founded in 2012, London based Ventura Capital provides investors with exposure to disruptive consumer technology companies that are growing exponentially and approaching IPO. To date, the firm has invested over $750m in 23 pre-IPO companies including Spotify, Paytm, Delos, and Lyft, delivering high returns and building a strong reputation for ‘picking winners’ on behalf of its investors.
Guass Venture specialises in hands-on domain specific investments in fintech and smart industry companies.
Revolut backer Balderton raises $600m for early-stage European startups
British VC firm Balderton Capital, known for backing companies such as Revolut and Depop, has raised its largest early-stage fund ever.
The firm says it will deploy the $600m into 25-30 new companies in the region and is sector agnostic. The average cheque size will be between $1m-$20m.
Balderton has historically been known as one of Europe’s most prolific Series A investors, but has transitioned to a multistage strategy, launching its first later-stage fund earlier this year. The firm has also historically invested opportunistically at the seed stage. (Revolt was a late-seed/early A deal.)
Kicking off with a networking lunch, the event – streamed digitally to participants who could not make it in person – started with Samarth Shekhar, Co-Founder of FinTech Forum, summarising the European FinTech scene’s record funding volumes and deals of note this year.
This was followed by the first round of startup presentations (Aazzur, aisot, ALLINDEX and Delega – check out the “startups in a tweet” below). David Schaeffler from Hannover Digital Investments / Talanx and Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein covered the trends to watch in InsurTech and FinTech respectively.
Daragh Hanratty of IDA Ireland provided an overview of how Ireland’s agencies can help leading FinTechs and financial institutions scale, following which we made time for a short coffee break.
The 2nd round of startup presentations (QuickCashAI, Insaas.ai, Vermögensheld and Wequity) set the scene for some interesting discussions around ESG for startups and VC firms to follow.
Ertan Can from Multiple Capital shared a fascinating account of his journey setting up one of the first European Fund of Funds, which has invested into 500 ventures via 30 micro VC funds across Europe and the US.
Theresa Bardubitzki of KfW Capital brought the ESG topic front and centre, sharing key results from the recently published study of BCG and KfW Capital, the regulatory pressure that is driving alignment to ESG across LPs, GPs and startups, as well as providing answers to practical questions from the audience.
The final session was a panel discussion conducted virtually with San Francisco-based May Wang of FinVC and Zürich-based Semih Kacan of Swisscom Ventures, who shared their key themes and opportunity areas to watch and invest in – including B2B players assisting the move to the cloud and remote working; B2B startups supporting other FinTech startups to connect to other parts of the financial services landscape as well as to the cloud; and the rise of DeFi, NFT, Cryptocurrencies and Web 3.0.
The event concluded with Frank Schwab, Co-Founder of FinTech Forum, bringing together the audience on some of the concrete insights and next steps from the discussions around ESG through the day, followed by a networking session.
Check out some photos and social media updates from the event below.
Startup Pitches – Round 1
AAZZUR Create fully-customised and branded mobile banking apps within just 6 to 10 weeks using their Smart Finance Blocks.
aisotreal-time insights for trading and asset management for data-driven decision-making.
ALLINDEX SaaS solution helping asset managers, banks etc. create and back-test direct indexing solutions tailored to themes (e.g. ESG) or tax savings.
Delega Helps corporates and their banks digitise and manage signatory rights via an end-to-end workflow solution.
Startup Pitches – Round 2
QuickCashAI SaaS platform for 20x faster AI-driven, paperless SME lending automation and credit risk assessment.
Insaas.ai next generation market research to understand consumers and power personalised financial services.
Vermögensheld gaming-driven financial education and wealth advice “as a service” for the digital generation.
Wequity “be the first to know the ESG risks of your investments” – real-time AI-powered insights from news & social media.
astorya.vc Retweeted a Tweet you were mentioned in
Excited to be back in Frankfurt for the 2021 @FinTechForum_DE I will be speaking at 16:00, sharing the #openbanking #baas #intuitivebanking #iaas model @Aazzur_ has to offer. #buildsmartbanking @MartinDamaske @rrrrunger @FrankJSchwab https://pic.twitter.com/AKHipDw23u
It’s #live #FTF2021 @SamarthShekharS presenting the crazy #investment boom of this year! Seed #funding is hit topic apart of the big #unicorn rounds. #startup #seed #3D
Countdown to next Thursday, 18th Nov. as FinTech Forum returns to its physical roots – the Airport Club Frankfurt – where @FrankJSchwab and I have had the privilege of hosting European FinTech success stories at their earliest stages (and their investors)…https://lnkd.in/dXyK2Xmw
Enjoyable being back FinTech ForumAirport Club Frankfurtafter a 2 year absence. Thanks Frank Schwab and Samarth Shekhar for the opportunity to speak about the fintech ecosystem in Ireland and how IDA supports companies to setup or expand in Ireland.
Meet and hear from the startups, investors and financial institutions behind “what’s next in European FinTech” – on 18th November, FinTech Forum returns to the Airport Club, Frankfurt. Check out the line-up and register here.
Early stage European FinTech deals this week include Moralis and Viceversa
We feature Q&As with Karim Rabbani of RGAX and Hussam EL-Sheikh of 9fin.
Check out the 2nd edition of Scaling Enterprise FinTech | The Handbook, launched in partnership with Money20/20 and SixThirty Ventures, and featuring Q&As with the founders and investors behind Europe’s leading B2B / SaaS FinTech scale-ups? http://www.fintechforum.de/sef/
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Karim Rabbani of RGAX
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m a Senior Analyst in the Ventures & Acquisitions team of RGAX, based out of Amsterdam. RGAX is the transformation engine of RGA, promoting and accelerating innovation within the Life and Health insurance sectors by means of organic and inorganic initiatives. RGA is one of the largest global life and health reinsurance companies.
I joined the organization in 2018 to support the EMEA region on deal sourcing activities, executing partnerships and managing our portfolio of 30+ startups globally.
Prior to joining RGAX I worked in Corporate Banking at ABN AMRO and in Port Logistics at the Port of Rotterdam. I hold a Master Degree in Business Management from Cass Business School in London and a Corporate Communication’s Master from the University of Amsterdam.
Personally, I enjoy travelling and experiencing new cultures. I’m also a sports fan and play soccer and squash. In addition, I volunteer for a foundation that promotes dialogue and understanding between the Arab World and Europe through education.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hey I’m Huss, CTO & Co-founder of 9fin. I think I’d describe myself as an engineer in every sense of the word. So, via a degree in Aerospace Engineering, taking apart my siblings’ toys as a child, learning programming at school from age 12, I find myself now running a technology startup serving up news, data and analysis to the financial markets. I love Formula 1, and it’s been a very stressful (but exciting) 2021 championship this year. I’m trying to get better at badminton after taking it up for the first time a couple of years ago… At least my height lets me get away with not being any good yet!
Decentralised app making tool Moralis raises $13.4 million via EQT Ventures
Stockholm-based blockchain development platform Moralis has secured $13.4 million in seed funding via EQT Ventures. The Swedish startup helps developers build and scale decentralised apps (dApps) without a tremendous amount of cost or complexity. The team reports that the funding will be used to continue product development, as well as make key hires across the board. Moralis was founded in 2020 by Ivan Liljeqvist (CEO) and Filip Martinsson (COO) and has been live since June of this year. Both founders have deep experience in the blockchain world, with Ivan running the 450,000+ subscribers YouTube channel, Ivan on Tech, the duo has trained more than 30,000 students via the Ivan on Tech Blockchain Academy.
Revenue-based financing provider Viceversa has raised a €23 million round that consists of €3 million in equity and €20 million in debt financing, Tech.eu reported. Fasanara Capital and Fabrick reportedly provided the capital for the Milan-based startup, with participation from several angel investors.
Nauta Capital Closes Fifth Venture Capital Fund, at €190M
Nauta Capital, a pan-European Venture Capital firm investing in capital-efficient B2B software companies, closed its fifth fund, at €190M.
With a €120M first closed announced in 2020, the fund’s final close brings the firm’s assets under management to €550+M. Limited Partners include institutions across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The vast majority of Limited Partners joining the fund are private institutions with strategic interest in fund’s B2B focus as well as Family Offices with links to corporations aligned with the fund’s investment thesis. Among these are Netherlands based European Family Office Merifin Capital and the private markets division of the Spain based giant BBVA Asset Management. The fund has also had backing from leading investors such as British Patient Capital, ICO, the European Investment Fund, ICF, and Germany-based KfW Capital.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hey I’m Huss, CTO & Co-founder of 9fin. I think I’d describe myself as an engineer in every sense of the word. So, via a degree in Aerospace Engineering, taking apart my siblings’ toys as a child, learning programming at school from age 12, I find myself now running a technology startup serving up news, data and analysis to the financial markets. I love Formula 1, and it’s been a very stressful (but exciting) 2021 championship this year. I’m trying to get better at badminton after taking it up for the first time a couple of years ago… At least my height lets me get away with not being any good yet!
2. Which product or service do you offer, and who are your competitors?
When a company chooses to raise financing by borrowing money, they may choose to do this via the Debt Capital Markets. There are many moving parts and many players in that process, who all want and need different things.
9fin provides a specialist market intelligence platform covering European Leveraged Finance. Across High Yield Bonds, Leveraged Loans, CLOs, Restructurings and Insolvencies. Our clients are Sell-Side and Buy-Side firms, Restructuring Advisers, Distressed Hedge Funds and Law Firms. Providing everything investors need to analyse an investment, giving traders an edge with breaking news alerts and arming Investment Banks with deep data & analytics to help them pitch and win deal mandates.
I’d say there are not many peers to our all in one platform for Leveraged Finance, combining many aspects of more generalist larger market data providers. We’re expanding to the US and are always adding to our product lines.
3. How did you get the business idea and take it from launch to the first customers?
This is where I introduce my friend of 10 years, housemate of 6 years and co-founder of 5 years, Steven. If you’re doing your maths right, yes… this does mean there was a period where we were in the same house while founding the same company! During that time, both of us and our third housemate Tom, would always vent about the less than ideal technology experiences within our day jobs. All of us were at Investment Banks at the time, experiencing awful software tools, forever delayed projects, archaic red tape or simply just a lack of any modern technology at all.
So the kernel of the idea that Debt Capital Markets, especially Leveraged Finance, operated like it was still in the 1980s and that it was in need of modernisation was directly from Steven’s own experiences. After years of not doing anything about it, I guess we got convinced… so I decided to quit my job and join the party to start 9fin.
4. How have you financed your startup? Any lessons would you like to share from the fund-raising journey?
We have had quite a “typical” series of Venture Capital investment rounds, but that shouldn’t make it sound like it was all a walk in the park! We had to explain the mechanics of the complex leveraged finance market many many times over, to then even be able to get to laying out the vision we had of a new global financial data and technology platform.
So my advice is to not be put off by the inevitable setbacks you’ll face, fundraising is a process and it has to run its course. It is at the same time the most orchestrated, methodical and planned operation while also being totally random. Talking to other founders has always been helpful, whether to be a sounding board or to just vent. So do make the effort to maintain those relationships, it’s easy to let slip when you’re no longer all in the same co-working space. Just keep going, and good luck!
5. What’s your ask/ how could our network help you in the next 6-12 months?
Any connections to Sell-Side and Buy-Side firms, Restructuring Advisers, Distressed Hedge Funds and Law Firms operating in Leveraged Finance in Europe or the US are most welcome!
6. Which key trends and opportunities should we be watching in (European) finance?
Europe is naturally going to be fruitful grounds for technologies and innovation in Capital Markets. Every country has its own financial centers, as well as being within the wider continental financial ecosystem at the same time too. We’re almost forced to relentlessly use technology, as it’s the only way to enable all the collaboration and interconnection required to make it all work.
I think it’s a really exciting time! 3-4 years ago, when you heard the word “fintech” it was taken to mean retail banking apps or maybe neo insurance apps. But now there are a growing number of fintechs who are very much in the Capital Markets technology space. That is, technology for core Investment Banking, Market Trading, Capital Raising and Capital Allocation functions. Many of the traditional ways of doing Banking are broken: human intensive manual processes (analyst burnout is real), paper/powerpoint/excel based processes, lack of data driven decision making and overall legacy technology from the 1980/90s. Yes, some firms have already been going for a decade plus, but there are a lot of new startups doing new things to address all of these problems.
7. What’s on your bookshelf/ reading list, and your favorite place for a coffee or a drink?
I’m very bad at reading fiction! So for that escapism, I usually turn to a screen. Movies, a Series or Documentaries. I really enjoyed reading “Crossing the Chasm” – Geoffrey Moore, that really helped me understand the process of selling to very large enterprise customers. “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth”’ – Chris Hadfield, was also a great motivational book on just simply getting your head down and working hard toward your goals.
Unlimited Chai at the end of a meal at Dishoom in Kings Cross is always a winner in my book.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m a Senior Analyst in the Ventures & Acquisitions team of RGAX, based out of Amsterdam. RGAX is the transformation engine of RGA, promoting and accelerating innovation within the Life and Health insurance sectors by means of organic and inorganic initiatives. RGA is one of the largest global life and health reinsurance companies.
I joined the organization in 2018 to support the EMEA region on deal sourcing activities, executing partnerships and managing our portfolio of 30+ startups globally.
Prior to joining RGAX I worked in Corporate Banking at ABN AMRO and in Port Logistics at the Port of Rotterdam. I hold a Master Degree in Business Management from Cass Business School in London and a Corporate Communication’s Master from the University of Amsterdam.
Personally, I enjoy travelling and experiencing new cultures. I’m also a sports fan and play soccer and squash. In addition, I volunteer for a foundation that promotes dialogue and understanding between the Arab World and Europe through education.
2.What are your focus areas, overall and within the (B2B) FinTech / InsurTech space?
As an investor, RGAX operates similar to a Corporate Venture Capital Fund with a strategic investment approach. Therefore, the investments and partnerships that we enter into are aimed at solving pain points and pursuing growth of our core business and that of our clients within the Life and Health (Re)insurance sectors.
3.Any recent deals that you would like to share with us, and why you invested or partnered?
We invest and partner to accelerate industry innovation and to help solve specific client challenges. On the global network page of our website (www.rgax.com), we showcase many of our current portfolio companies as well as those we actively partner with to bring transformative solutions to the life and health (Re)insurance industry.
4.What does it take to get to Series A today?
Prior to reaching Series A funding, startups should be creating, testing and validating a product or service that solves a real-life problem. To get to Series A (and beyond) companies will build upon that foundation and have a ‘market-ready’ product that allows them to differentiate themselves from their competitors, deliver on their strategy and demonstrate a path towards scaling revenue. Focusing on delivering excellence for the core business first will then allow you to provide additional customer value, focus on your internal organization and provide a strong base to develop partnership and attract investments. Being able to show traction with your target users is essential.
In addition, people and company culture are key to the success of businesses and to get to Series A, a startup needs a strong and balanced team that can execute, convey their message in a clear and simple manner and are open to working with others. In fact, the startup’s core team is usually the first aspect we look at when considering a startup partnership.
5.Which are the trends to watch out for in Europe/ EMEA in the next 6-18 months?
I’m looking forward to keeping an eye out for increased vertical integration by Insurtechs as the industry matures. In the coming 6-18 months, I expect startups that are currently operating as facilitators and intermediaries to further develop end-to-end solutions. We have witnessed this trend take place in the larger FinTech space and have already seen several Brokers and Managing General Agents pivot to becoming full-stack Insurance carriers. I expect this to be something to track in EMEA in the near future.
Other trends worth mentioning specific to Life and Health, are startups exploring new distribution channels through embedded insurance as well as a growing focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts by startups.
6.What should startups expect or plan for in the coming months?
Over the last year we have seen multiple record quarters with Insurtech funding reaching an all-time high, both in terms of volume of deals as well as total capital raised. In addition to the later stage ‘mega-rounds’ raised, we are seeing an increase in early stage investments and more people choosing to work in or form new startups, indicating that this trend isn’t slowing down any time soon.
Startups can expect an increasing amount of capital available to be deployed in the Insurtech space, with global growth in the number of venture funds and dry powder available for investment. Despite funding being more easily available, it is extremely important that a startup chooses a partner that fits them, not only from a financial perspective but from a strategic and cultural perspective as well.
Finally, given ESG developments and public interest, we should expect new initiatives that are further aligned with these principles.
7.Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
One of my favorite places for a coffee is a café called Kaafi in the city center of The Hague. Primarily because they have great coffee, nice atmosphere and an interesting and seasonal brunch menu – highly recommend if you are ever in town. Reach out to me – would be happy to meet you there and tell you more about what we are doing!
Meet and hear from the startups, investors and financial institutions behind “what’s next in European FinTech” – on 18th November, FinTech Forum returns to the Airport Club, Frankfurt. Check out the line-up and register here.
Early stage European FinTech deals this week include Yokoy and Moonfare.
We feature Q&As with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein and Christian Kronseder of Allindex.
Apply / register for the FinTech Forum 2021 on 18th Nov. at the Airport Club, Frankfurt) here.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Cynthia, I am a Partner at Seed X Liechtenstein. I am an operator turned investor and I have previously worked with different accelerators including Techstars, King’s College and Founders Factory in London. Prior to being an investor I have worked for 11+ years at the fintech unicorn Markit (Now IHS markit, being bought by S&P). I learned there everything I know about great product development, corporate innovation and the hurdles of fast growth (IPO on the NASDAQ in 2014 at $5bn valuation, merger with IHS in 2016, now worth more than $40bn).
Work-wise I like connecting the dots and people, understanding the big problems needing solving and who we can learn from. Having the right network also helps to support founders in their growth.
Cynthia is among the investors on stage at the FinTech Forum event on 18th Nov. 2021 at the Airport Club, Frankfurt: check out the line-up and register here.
7 Questions with Christian Kronseder of Allindex.
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Work: Before starting ALLINDEX, I was global COO of STOXX and Head of Markets at Royal Bank of Scotland, Switzerland. I have a professorship for data science which is a synergetic activity also for building our FinTech.
Leisure: I live in Switzerland and hence very much enjoy the hiking and skiing opportunities, spending my free time with my family.
Yokoy, a Zurich, Switzerland-based provider of a spend management platform, raised $26M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Left Lane Capital with participation from European investor, Balderton Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations, accelerate growth into the US, Europe and more regions across the globe, and further enhance the technologies underpinning the platform.
Founded in 2019 and led by CEO Philippe Sahli, CTO Dr Devis Lussi, CCO Lars Mangelsdorf, CMO Melanie Gabriel, and CFO Thomas Inhelder, Yokoy is a fintech platform that provides an AI-based full spend management suite for midsize and enterprise companies. By combining automation, API integrations and machine learning developed in its own research lab, the company offers expense management, supplier invoice management and corporate credit cards in a single tool. All underpinned by security and stability.
Berlin-based fintech Moonfare raises 110 million euros
The Berlin-based startup has raised the equivalent of almost 110 million euros (125 million dollars) in a Series C financing round. This brings the total funding of the company, which was founded in 2015, to around 160 million euros (185 million dollars). The investment is led by New York-based private equity firm Insight Partners. Fidelity, a US asset manager and existing investor, is also participating in this round.
The valuation of the startup is thus estimated at around half a billion euros, as Finance Forward reports. With the recently raised money, Moonfare wants to expand its international business and expand its investment offering.
The fintech is a digital asset manager that does not invest its clients’ money in stocks or ETFs, but in so-called private equity funds (PE funds). Normally, investments in such funds are reserved for particularly wealthy persons or institutions, as you can only participate from a million euros. With Moonfare, the entry hurdle is not so high, so investors should be able to participate with a minimum investment sum of 50,000 euros.
7RIDGE to acquire US FinTech group Trading Technologies
The acquisition, backed by Cboe and Singapore Exchange, will help drive Trading Technologies’ organic growth.
Trading Technologies has agreed to be acquired by 7RIDGE, the private equity fund owned by former Deutsche Börse chief Carsten Kengeter.
As part of the acquisition, 7RIDGE will help drive the organic growth of Trading Technologies, a Chicago-based trading technology provider, and help with future strategic acquisitions moving forward.
Global exchanges Cboe and Singapore Exchange (SGX) are amongst a group of limited partners of the fund managed by 7RIDGE and have shown support for the transaction.
Accenture Acquires BCS Consulting to Enhance its UK Financial Services Consulting, Tech Solutions Business
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has reportedly acquired BCS Consulting, a UK-based management consultancy that provides complex business change for financial services companies.
With head offices in London, BCS Consulting’s 250 strong team joins Accenture’s U.K. Financial Services Strategy and Consulting practice, the announcement noted while adding that the terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Established in 2001, BCS Consulting focuses on driving change programs for the UK’s financial services companies across tech, finance, operations, and risk and regulation.
Its industry advisory expertise and experience in key areas such as payments, open banking, operational resilience, financial crime and cost optimization, “complements and strengthens Accenture’s existing industry consulting and technology capabilities,” the update noted.
ALLINDEX is among the startups selected to present at the FinTech Forum event on 18th Nov. 2021 at the Airport Club, Frankfurt: check out the line-up and register here.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Work: Before starting ALLINDEX, I was global COO of STOXX and Head of Markets at Royal Bank of Scotland, Switzerland. I have a professorship for data science which is a synergetic activity also for building our FinTech.
Leisure: I live in Switzerland and hence very much enjoy the hiking and skiing opportunities, spending my free time with my family.
2. Which product or service do you offer, and who are your competitors?
Our platform allows investors across segments to build customized indices and portfolios. Our indirect competition are providers of active and passive investment products whom we are disrupting but also enabling with direct indexing – helping them to provide a more holistic offering to their clients. Our immediate competition are direct indexing providers, most of them sitting in the US. Our edge over them is our open-architecture platform where clients can directly interface with service providers and co-create products, our cross-asset approach which apart from equities includes fixed income and digital assets as well as our machine learning capabilities that allow thematic index creation at scale.
3. How did you get the business idea and take it from launch to the first customers?
The idea emerged based on the background of our founding team which comes from structured products, indexing and asset management. We have successfully launched client-interfacing platforms in trading and structured products in our corporate careers, the lessons of which we took to heart when creating ALLINDEX. Our ex-BlackRock CIO Chairman on the other hand, built a multi-asset franchise with Larry Fink and gave us the impetus to widen our scope to be the first cross-asset direct indexing company, which turned out to be a great move.
4. How have you financed your startup? Any lessons you would like to share from the fund-raising journey?
We have raised money from business angels who come from financial services, understand our business case and believe in our vision. Apart from their financial contribution they made value-adding introductions. Our philosophy is to continue building this network of partners that help us to create value. Other (former) senior executives and experts have introduced relevant people to us without expecting anything in return. They like our approach and want to see us succeed.
5. Which are the key trends and opportunities in (European) financial services?
We see the biggest opportunity in direct indexing, where Europe is lagging behind the US, where this trend started. Active Management has been disrupted by passive products, now those products are being disrupted by direct indexing. It is the perfect mix between a passive approach where portfolios don’t need to be actively managed on an ongoing basis but with active choices that investors can make, based on their convictions and investment policies (e.g. ESG criteria, religious views, etc.). We see this trend becoming increasingly relevant across client segments and are among the first ones globally who are taking it all the way to the retail investor.
6. What’s on your bookshelf/ reading list?
Literature from the beginning of the 20th century from authors such as Stefan Zweig and Robert Musil
7. Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
Meet and hear from the startups, investors and financial institutions behind “what’s next in European FinTech” – on 18th November, FinTech Forum returns to the Airport Club, Frankfurt. Check out the line-up and register
Early stage European FinTech deals this week include Kevin., Multiverse Computing, Resistant AI, Primer,Billie.
We feature Q&As with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein, Philipp Buschmann of AAZZUR, and Harald Axelius of Billender.
Apply / register for the FinTech Forum 2021 on 18th Nov. at the Airport Club, Frankfurt) here.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Q&A with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Cynthia, I am a Partner at Seed X Liechtenstein. I am an operator turned investor and I have previously worked with different accelerators including Techstars, King’s College and Founders Factory in London. Prior to being an investor I have worked for 11+ years at the fintech unicorn Markit (Now IHS markit, being bought by S&P). I learned there everything I know about great product development, corporate innovation and the hurdles of fast growth (IPO on the NASDAQ in 2014 at $5bn valuation, merger with IHS in 2016, now worth more than $40bn).
Work-wise I like connecting the dots and people, understanding the big problems needing solving and who we can learn from. Having the right network also helps to support founders in their growth.
Cynthia is among the investors on stage at the FinTech Forum event on 18th Nov. 2021 at the Airport Club, Frankfurt: check out the line-up and register here.
Q&A with Philipp Buschmann of AAZZUR
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am an entrepreneur, a husband and passionate about fintech. At my first job at Razorfish I helped build trading tech for State Street Bank; as a strategy consultant I helped design the portal for online banking at Sparkasse and as an entrepreneur have helped lenders and challenger banks get launched.
My personal passion is cooking and snowboarding. One is good for the head (almost like a meditation) and the other is good at enjoyment and hurting myself on the slopes. These I think are natural Austrian hobbies: eat, drink and ski!
AAZZUR is among the startups selected to present at the FinTech Forum event on 18th Nov. 2021 at the Airport Club, Frankfurt: check out the line-up and register here.
Q&A with Harald Axelius of Billender
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Billender is the first buy now-pay later solution for paying bills. You simply snap a pic, you can pay any bill in seconds with a variety of flexible payment options. Billender simplifies payment of bills while giving the user a better overview of their personal finance. With services like Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay etc, consumers today are used to having access to all types of payment options, including flexible credits any time they want to purchase something. Billender applies the same model for paying bills. Before I started Billender, I was involved as an angel investor, chairman of the board and many other different roles at Savelend, Sweden’s largest peer-to-peer platform. I have a Master of Laws (LLM) but always worked in tech. I currently reside in Stockholm, Sweden and Marbella, Spain with my girlfriend Jenny. When I’m not working I enjoy taking 20 minute meditation naps with noise cancellation earphones or watching Youtube videos about the construction of different “mega projects” around the world.
kevin., a Lithuanian Fintech, Celebrates $10M Seed Round
kevin., a Lithuanian Fintech startup providing payment infrastructure for online, mobile, and physical sales, has secured $10 million of new capital in a seed funding round. The investment, which brings the company’s total capital raised to $14 million, was co-led by OTB Ventures and Speedinvest, two of Europe’s leading venture capital investors in early-stage European technology companies. Also joining the funding round were OpenOcean, Javier Perez’s Global PayTech Ventures, and individuals including AmRest founder Henry McGovern.
kevin.’s advanced A2A (account-to-account) payment infrastructure solution was created to change card payments to payments linked directly from customers’ bank accounts without using any third-party providers. The technology scales to businesses of any size and across industries, including retail, parking, fashion, car-sharing, deliveries, and insurance. kevin. focuses on mobile and POS payments where customers predominantly pay using cards. Its payment infrastructure is based on open banking – regulated by the European PSD2 Directive – which requires all banks and financial institutions in the European Economic Area to open their API for licensed third-party providers. kevin. develops only its own connections to the banks without using any third-party aggregators.
Multiverse Computing, a San Sebastian, Spain-based quantum computing startup dedicated to finance, closed a seed funding round of €10m (USD $11.55m). The round was led by JME Ventures and also included Quantonation, EASO Ventures, Inveready, CLAVE Capital (Mondragón Fondo de Promoción), Ikerlan, LKS, Penja Strategy, Seed Gipuzkoa and Ezten Venture Capital Fund. The company intends to use the funds to consolidate growth and globalization strategy as well continue to advance its technology and marketing, to gradually enter into new markets such as energy, mobility and smart manufacturing.
Resistant AI scores $16.6M for its anti-fraud fintech tools
Resistant AI, which uses artificial intelligence to help financial services companies combat fraud and financial crime — selling tools to protect credit risk scoring models, payment systems, customer onboarding and more — has closed $16.6 million in Series A funding. GV (formerly Google Ventures) led the round, with participation from existing investors Index Ventures (led by partner Jan Hammer), Credo Ventures (led by Ondrej Bartos and Vladislav Jez) and Seedcamp, plus several unnamed angel investors specializing in financial technology and security. The 2019-founded, Prague-based startup says the funding will be used to meet rising demand from global financial institutions, including by building out its product, engineering and sales operations teams beyond its existing footprint — which also includes offices in London and New York.
FinTech payments startup Primer raised $50 million from ICONIQ Capital, the wealth manager of technology billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey. Other backers included Balderton Capital, RTP Global, Seedcamp, Speedinvest and Accel.
Headquartered in London and founded in 2020 by Gabriel Le Roux and Paul Anthony, both former employees of PayPal, Primer offers end-to-end payments infrastructure that works with multiple payment methods, including buy now pay later (BNPL). The startup has a workforce of 70 people across 20 countries and is now valued at $425 million.
Berlin based BNPL Billie Raises $100 Million at $640 Million Valuation
Berlin-based BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) Billie has raised $100 million at a $640 million valuation according to a note from the Fintech. Simultaneously, Billie said it had received refinancing lines of $200 million per month. The capital will be provided by a consortium of German banks led by VVRB (Vereinigte Volksbank Raiffeisenbank eG) with participation from Raisin Bank and Varengold Bank.
The funding round was led by Dawn Capital, a firm with a Fintech portfolio that includes Tink, iZettle, Soldo, and Copper.
Other investors include Klarna and Tencent, alongside existing investors Creandum, Speedinvest, Picus and GFC.
Billie states that this funding round is the world’s largest to date in the B2B BNPL market.
Billie is a payment method for businesses, offering B2B companies digital payment services. Billie allows companies to pay and get paid on their own terms through modern checkout solutions. Based on proprietary, machine-learning-supported risk models, Billie offers fast liquidity, automated workflows, and access to modern payment solutions. Billie was founded in 2016 by the former founders of Zencap (Exit to Funding Circle). Billie is based in Berlin and employs over 130 people from over 35 countries.
Private equity buys into Italian fintech TAS Group, launches bid
Italian fintech company TAS Group said on Thursday a vehicle controlled by European private equity firm Gilde would launch a takeover bid for its shares at 2.2 euros each after taking control of its top shareholder.
Gilde Buy Out Partners aims to delist TAS Group from the Milan Stock Exchange. It agreed to acquire OWL, that controls 73.2% of TAS Group, valuing the stake 134.5 million euros ($156.61 million).
Shares in TAS, which develops software for payments and banking, jumped 4.85% to 2.16 euros at 0810 GMT on the Milan Stock Exchange.
AAZZUR is among the startups selected to present at the FinTech Forum event on 18th Nov. 2021 at the Airport Club, Frankfurt: check out the line-up and register here.
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am an entrepreneur, a husband and passionate about fintech. At my first job at Razorfish I helped build trading tech for State Street Bank; as a strategy consultant I helped design the portal for online banking at Sparkasse and as an entrepreneur have helped lenders and challenger banks get launched.
My personal passion is cooking and snowboarding. One is good for the head (almost like a meditation) and the other is good at enjoyment and hurting myself on the slopes. These I think are natural Austrian hobbies: eat, drink and ski!
2.Which product or service do you offer, and who are your competitors?
We are BaaS Integrators on a B2B2X SaaS basis. We connect API fintech and insurance services to our platform and ship smart banking blocks. What is that? Functional modules of banking tech (like a balance or an insurance or a transaction list) that you can combine like lego-blocks to build or augment financial services in record time.
Think of it as embedded finance with intelligence.
We enable challenger banking and we have working on a product matching engine to leverage the transactional knowledge into superior financial behavior and cross selling of financial products. If we can see you are going skiing for example there are a number of financial services like sport insurance or concierge services to book the right restaurants on the slopes that we can offer to the end customers.
The biggest competitor is to build it yourself, there are other shops out there that are BaaSi’s but there are only about 4-5 in Europe and it’s a new industry making front-end tech scalable.
3.How did you get the business idea and take it from launch to the first customers?
We wanted to build a challenger bank and figured out how to monetize this business model and how to build them much more rapidly and in a modular basis. We learned we are really good at tech but not B2C marketing in the setup we had and pivoted to become an enabler in this space.
4.How have you financed your startup? Any lessons would you like to share from the fund-raising journey?
Always be fund raising. We have raised over 2 million in four stages:
Founder
F&F
Angels
VC’s & Institutional early seed
Its not as neat as the list suggests since we did mostly rolling rounds except the last one which was roughly $1m
I love to quote a good friend of mine on this topic: It’s all sh*t, until its great and then its sh*t again.
People try to solve this nightmare of constant pressure and constant raising, but its part of the job and I love it.
5.Which are the key trends and opportunities in (European) financial services?
Hyper-specialised services in all fields and now (where we are)
Scalable front-end re-integration to bundle these specialist services into functioning products
6.What’s on your bookshelf/ reading list?
The hard thing about hard things.
From 0 to 1
Master and Margarita (if I ever get to it)
7.Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
My favorite grown up drink is an old fashioned based on Makers Mark … in the Dorchester Hotel Bar in London
My favorite coffee is the one my beautiful wife brings me in the morning on weekends.
Cynthia is among the investors on stage at the FinTech Forum event on 18th Nov. 2021 at the Airport Club, Frankfurt: check out the line-up and register here.
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Cynthia, I am a Partner at Seed X Liechtenstein. I am an operator turned investor and I have previously worked with different accelerators including Techstars, King’s College and Founders Factory in London. Prior to being an investor I have worked for 11+ years at the fintech unicorn Markit (Now IHS markit, being bought by S&P). I learned there everything I know about great product development, corporate innovation and the hurdles of fast growth (IPO on the NASDAQ in 2014 at $5bn valuation, merger with IHS in 2016, now worth more than $40bn).
Work-wise I like connecting the dots and people, understanding the big problems needing solving and who we can learn from. Having the right network also helps to support founders in their growth.
Some of my spare time is also spent on tech boards that I sit on, and supporting female entrepreneurs across Europe.
2.What are your focus areas, overall and within the FinTech space?
At Seed X we focus on FinTech, InsurTech, PropTech and LegalTech. We enter between pre-Seed and Series A. After joining the company, we intend to do follow-on investments.
While we look at the sector as a whole, we will deploy more capital of our fund towards impact startups (in the Fintech sector) as well as female founders.
We invest in companies that are solving real clients’ problems (saving costs, increasing revenue, improving effectiveness) in growing and changing markets, with a 5+ year perspective. Are they doing that in a sustainable way and growing fast? Like our investors we tend to have a longer-term horizon than an average VC. As it may take some time for early-stage startups to find their market-fit, we do not run only after trends, but also sticky customers and robust business models that can support growth.
3.Any recent deals or partnerships that you would like to share with us?
We like to get surprised about the significance of the problem solved by our startups. Dabbel is reducing energy costs in commercial buildings by 20% and more, even with new buildings. That fact impressed us massively!
Zelf is providing “banking solutions of the future” to Generation Z. It’s more than inspiring to rethink banking and offer that to the next banking generation.
On the other hand, Elucidate is quantifying the risk of exposure to financial crime for financial institutions. The team is working towards benchmarking a whole sector and establishing a standard, like Moody’s or S&P in other fields – we support that ambition. 4. Which are the trends to watch out for in the next 6-18 months?
There is a lot happening in payments, whether it is across borders or Buy-Now/Pay-Later, and it will be interesting to see how regulators react in each geography.
It’s too early to tell where Europe will be heading with the Digital Euro, but obviously we will be keeping an eye on what’s happening in China as they are moving much faster there and that will influence how European FinTechs in that space react.
We have seen many deals in Sustainable Finance, especially around carbon footprint calculations and how to offset, standards have not been defined yet, so it’s fascinating speaking with founders on how they are thinking about it, how they are building their algorithms and where they source their data.
With interest rates so low, lending is also a very interesting space, we see fast movers on mortgages, but also in CRE.
In InsurTech, embedded insurance and parametrics is where I expect the fastest growth in the next 18 months.
5.Your advice to European founders looking to scale up and raise funds?
Startup founders do have 3 main groups of people they’re interacting with:
Clients: Don’t skip the phase of making assumptions and taking the time to validate them. There is a temptation to start coding, thinking you’ll just figure things out as you go. You’ll have all the time in the world to be agile and to move fast once you have validated some assumptions.
Investors: Engage with investors early, it usually takes longer than you think to fundraise. If you know what KPIs and metrics are expected, it will save you time too down the line. Valuations are starting to go up again and there is more money coming from the US, so this is a good environment for startups to raise.
Employees: There is no excuse not to be building a diverse team anymore, now that founders can hire talent from almost anywhere. Diversity of point of views and backgrounds is very important to ensure that you’re looking at problems from many angles and coming up with the best solutions.
No matter which stage you’re at, never stop talking to your customers.
6.What’s on your bookshelf/ reading list?
Why Startups Fail by Tom Eisenmann
A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough
My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
7.Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
Outside preferably and always with the best founders in town.
Billender is the first buy now-pay later solution for paying bills. You simply snap a pic, you can pay any bill in seconds with a variety of flexible payment options. Billender simplifies payment of bills while giving the user a better overview of their personal finance. With services like Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay etc, consumers today are used to having access to all types of payment options, including flexible credits any time they want to purchase something. Billender applies the same model for paying bills. Before I started Billender, I was involved as an angel investor, chairman of the board and many other different roles at Savelend, Sweden’s largest peer-to-peer platform. I have a Master of Laws (LLM) but always worked in tech. I currently reside in Stockholm, Sweden and Marbella, Spain with my girlfriend Jenny. When I’m not working I enjoy taking 20 minute meditation naps with noise cancellation earphones or watching Youtube videos about the construction of different “mega projects” around the world.
Give us the backstory – how did you get the founding idea, and how did the first sale come about?
I had been involved in fintech for a long time and worked with different types of payment and credit solutions. When Savelend went public, I felt it was time for me to get back to startup mode. I got the idea during a brunch, and when the dot-com address for Billender was available I had no excuse not to go ahead. I needed a CTO and I met my co-founder Sini through a mutual friend. She quickly developed an MVP and we pretty much got traction from day one.
Which was the most challenging phase, and what would you have done differently?
We are under the supervision of the Financial Supervisory Authority. To get the license is always challenging for a small startup since many of the regulations such as anti-money laundry are written with big banks in mind. With that said, I think our biggest challenges lies ahead of us. Our first 1 000 paying users have been pretty smooth sailing.
When did you decide to expand to the international/US market, and how?
We have not yet decided to do this, right now I’m not even allowed to go to the US (because of the pandemic, nothing else). Instead, we are now deciding on what European country to expand to next. I can’t tell you which one we are investigating, danke schön.
When did you first decide to raise venture capital, and what has been your approach to financing growth over the years?
We raised VC money already in our pre-seed. There have never been so many VC firms and so much money out there as it is today.
How is building an Enterprise FinTech firm different from a “regular” SaaS / Enterprise Tech company, and what three things should founders get right?
If you’re handling transactions for thousands of consumers like we are, always keep in mind that it is a major responsibility. You can’t make it up as you go along, you need to have clear ideas and well-laid out policies from the start.
What’s on the priority list for you and your team for the next year?
We have reached the first step of product market fit where you feel you have something that really works. Our challenge now is how to develop this into a product that can be relevant for more people. How do you build a “people’s app”? Plus I want us to grow our 100% distributed team and still maintaining a company culture.
Where is the financial services sector headed in the next 12-18 months, and what should we be watching out for?
There are people better suited than startup CEO’s to give predictions about financial trends (and even those tend to be wrong), but I’m still pretty excited about Open Banking and think there are even more opportunities for us fintechies to explore there.
Your favorite place(s) for a meal, coffee or drink (pre-/ post-COVID19)?
Espacio Eslava in Seville, Spain. When Christobal waves you in for some free seats in the crowded bar, and you decide to order every tapa on the menu, you know you’re in for a great night.
Reconnect with and hear from the startups, investors and financial institutions behind “what’s next in European FinTech” – on 18th November, FinTech Forum returns to the Airport Club, Frankfurt here.
Early stage European FinTech deals this week include ilumoni, Weecover, 9fin, Humn, N26, Zopa and Juni.
We feature Q&As with Daragh Hanratty of IDA Ireland and David Putts of Billon.
Seen the 2nd edition of Scaling Enterprise FinTech | The Handbook, launched in partnership with Money20/20 and SixThirty Ventures, and featuring Q&As with the founders and investors behind Europe’s leading B2B / SaaS FinTech scale-ups? http://www.fintechforum.de/sef/
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Daragh Hanratty of IDA
Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am VP for financial Services with IDA Ireland, the state agency responsible for FDI into Ireland. I am based in Frankfurt, have a keen interest in fitness and travel. During lockdown I took up running. I am currently working to improve my times for 5km and 10km park runs
Scaling Enterprise FinTech: with David Putts of Billon
Tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
I am the Chief Growth Officer of Billon – the fintech scaleup which created the Unified Enterprise DLT System. What makes Billon special is that it saw weaknesses in the ability for blockchain protocols to handle the complexity of compliance. For this reason, Billon creates a new, eco-friendly layer 1 protocol which unifies fiat digital cash, documents and non-cash tokens into a single, high-performance distributed ledger (DLT). The system, designed for maximum throughput and low cost of maintenance, meets regulatory requirements and solves challenges for the wide adoption of blockchain technologies. As a result of this innovation, we are now moving past the early commercialisation stage, and we have over 20 clients…
Yorkshire fintech start-up launches ‘borrowing’ app after £1.63m investment
A Yorkshire fintech start-up has launched a ‘borrowing’ app following £1.63m investment. ilumoni, based in Barnsley, gained FCA authorisation earlier this year and has successfully completed its Beta testing and is now available to the wider market on Android and iOS devices.
The free to use, AI-driven app helps users identify how they can improve their borrowing. The app shows them the benefits of making changes to repayments as well as alternative borrowing options, all based on what the user can afford and the products they are eligible for.
The insight the app provides encourages users to stay on track to reach their goals, which in the long term not only improves their financial situation but could also alleviate stress and anxiety.
ilumoni previously raised £340K pre-seed investment from Move Ventures, and angel investors including Simon Moran, former CMO, and now non-executive director, Premium Credit, and Andy Deller, former CEO of Dunbar Bank plc, part of Zurich Insurance Group.
Insurtech startup Weecover secures €2.3M seed funding, plans to increase workforce and international presence
Weecover, a Spanish startup specialising in embedded insurance, has raised €2.3M in its seed round of funding. Nauta Capital, a venture capital firm that has previously invested in firms such as Holded, Privalia, and Brandwatch, led the investment round.
Weecover intends to use the proceeds to increase the company’s international presence and to hire more talent to expand its workforce.
Weecover CEO Jordi Pagés says, “The new funding allows us to increase our presence in European markets while strengthening the organisation by incorporating new talent.”
Weecover claims to have developed a plug-and-play insurance solution that enables businesses to integrate customised insurance products into their sales processes, both online and offline.
9fin, a London, UK-based provider of data, news and predictive analytics for debt capital markets, raised £8M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Redalpine, alongside previous investors Fly Ventures and angel investors Paul Forster, Co-Founder of Indeed, Alan Morgan, Co-Founder of MMC Ventures, Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital and a number of high net worth individuals.
The company, which has to date secured over £10M in funding, including the support from Seedcamp and AI Seed Fund, intends to use the funds to accelerate its expansion into the US, with the opening of a New York office following increased demand from existing customers in Europe.
Co-founded by Steven Hunter and Hussam El-Sheikh, 9fin provides intelligence for the debt capital markets community. Its tech platform uses machine learning and computer vision to extract and standardise debt capital markets data in real time to allow customers to save time, spot trading opportunities and increase their share of the $65bn of debt capital markets fees earned by advisors each year.
Humn, a London, UK-based insurtech company, raised £10.1m in Series A funding. The round was led by BXR Group and Shell Ventures as well as Hambro Perks Leaders Fund and Woodside Holdings.
The company intends to use the funds to further develop its insurance data capabilities and expand the commercial functions of the business, as well as expanding into Europe next year.
Founded in 2018 and led by CEO Mark Musson, Humn is an insurtech company producing real-time data-driven fleet insurance. The solution provides fleets with transparency by leveraging a risk platform, riskOS, which analyses thousands of in-vehicle and external data points, in real-time, to provide an entirely contextual assessment of driving risk and a clear basis for the pricing of Rideshur, their dynamic insurance product. Rideshur continuously adjusts the insurance premium cost based on the risk exposure at any given moment.
Berlin-based neobank N26 raises over €775 Million additional funding at a valuation north €7.75 billion
The mobile bank N26 today announced its record-breaking €775 million Series E funding round, the largest financing round to date for a digital bank in Europe. The recent funding increases the company’s valuation to more than €7.75 billion, making the Berlin-based pioneer the highest valued fintech in Germany, and ranking it amongst the top 20 fintechs in the world.
The round was led by the New York-based tech investors Third Point Ventures and Coatue Management, and joined by Dragoneer Investment Group as well as N26’s existing investors.
N26 was founded in 2013 with a mission to build the first mobile bank the world loves to use. Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal launched the initial N26 product in early 2015. Today, N26 has already welcomed more than 7 million customers in 25 markets. N26 has a 1,500-strong team of 80 nationalities based across the globe.
Digital Bank Zopa Raises $300 Million, Expects to be Profitable within Weeks
Zopa, a digital bank that started as a peer-to-peer lender, has raised $300 million (£220 million) in a funding round that reportedly gives the Fintech a $1 billion valuation. The deal is currently in the process of receiving regulatory approvals from UK regulators. JP Morgan acted as Sole Placement Agent for Zopa on this transaction.
The Softbank Vision Fund 2 led the round that included participation from Chimera Abu Dhabi. Existing investors also participated including IAG Silverstripe, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, NorthZone, and Augmentum Fintech. The announcement was timed to align with the UK Global Investment Summit (GIS) 2021, a one-day event hosted in London by the Prime Minister and attended by members of the Royal Family.
Swedish FinTech Juni secures a $52m Series A funding round
Juni, the financial companion for eCommerce entrepreneurs, has secured $52M in funding led by EQT Ventures, with participation from FJ Labs and other existing investors to add to the $21M already raised from their Series-A round in late June this year. This boosts Juni’s Series A round to $73M and takes the total funding to date to $76M. EQT Ventures joins Partners of DST Global, Felix Capital and Cherry Ventures in backing Juni to disrupt online banking for internet first business customers. The company will use the funds to triple the number of its employees and launch an industry first, fully integrated credit line product for their users.
Founded in June 2020 in Gothenburg, Sweden, co-founders Samir El-Sabini (CEO), Jonathan Sanders (COO), and Anders Orsedal (CTO) have a winning combination of payment, banking, FinTech and technical developer experience between them. As part of Juni’s mission to help eCommerce businesses grow faster, customers will soon access short-term credit, starting with an initial roll-out in the UK.
Mastercard-backed AvidXchange valued at $4.6 billion in tepid Nasdaq debut
Business payments firm AvidXchange Inc hit a market capitalization of roughly $4.62 billion on Wednesday in a lukewarm market debut, mirroring investor concerns of growing volatility in the U.S. capital market.
Shares of AvidXchange, which counts Mastercard Inc among its investors, opened at $24.14, down 3.4% from its initial public offering (IPO) price of $25 per share… AvidXchange, which makes software that automates payments, invoicing, and accounting for small and mid-sized businesses, had raised $660 million in its upsized IPO on Tuesday by selling 26.4 million shares.
European rival to PayPal and Square makes $317 million acquisition to expand in the U.S.
SumUp, a U.K.-based payment processor, has acquired marketing start-up Fivestars in a bid to expand its reach across the U.S. and take on giants like PayPal and Square.
The company said Thursday it was buying Fivestars for $317 million in a mix of cash and stock. San Francisco-headquartered Fivestars helps merchants set up rewards schemes and promotions for customers. The deal gives SumUp access to Fivestar’s 12,000 customers and $3 billion in sales per year.
Founded in 2012, SumUp is best known for its mobile credit card readers that let small businesses accept payments. The company also provides other payment tools, including the ability for merchants to set up their own online stores. It has over 3 million merchants signed up across Europe, the U.S. and Latin America.
SumUp competes with Sweden’s iZettle, which was acquired by PayPal in 2018, as well as Jack Dorsey’s Square. As the start-up plots an expansion in the U.S., rivalry with those big players is set to intensify. But SumUp thinks there’s enough room for a number of different companies to co-exist.
Evolution Equity Partners Closes $400M Cybersecurity Fund
Evolution Equity Partners, a global venture capital firm, closed a new fund, at $400m.
Backed by a premier base of new and returning institutional investors, corporates, and family offices from the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia, Evolution Technology Fund II L.P., will make investments in cybersecurity and enterprise software companies that safeguard the digital world.
The fund will make investments in the range of $10m to $50m in early and growth stage companies in cybersecurity and in companies utilizing machine learning, big data and SaaS to build market leading platforms.
Led by Founders and Managing Partners Dennis Smith and Richard Seewald, Evolution Equity Partners makes investments in cybersecurity and enterprise software companies that safeguard its digital world.
The firm currently has over $1 billion of assets under management. Over three funds, Evolution has backed companies including SecurityScorecard, Carbon Black, Arqit-Quantum, DefinedCrowd, Quantexa, DICE, Onapsis, Elliptic, Unbound, Cape Privacy, Satori Cyber, Solidus Labs, Truefort, Panaseer, AVG Technologies, DFLabs, Logpoint, Eperi, OpenDNS amongst a portfolio of 40 companies in cybersecurity.
Lendable to Launch $100 million Emerging Market Fintech Fund with Leading Impact and DFI Investor
Lendable Inc. (“Lendable” or the “Firm”), a leading emerging market fintech credit provider, is targeting a ground-breaking $100 million closed-ended fund focused on emerging and frontier market fintech investments.
The Lendable MSME Fintech Credit Fund (the “Fund”) is designed to unlock access to financial services for over 150,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), providing investors with high impact exposure to important markets and the potential of high uncorrelated returns.
This Fund provides credit to African and Asian fintech companies, who in turn offer fair credit facilities to MSMEs. These same MSMEs are the engines of wealth creation, financial inclusion, and economic growth in these regions, yet historically have had limited access to fair credit and financial services.
The ecosystem is growing and the Fintech report is growing with him – this year Portugal Fintech presents the Golden Edition.
The Report will present you an overview of the industry’s progress and main trends, maps the top of Portugal’s Fintechs and reflects on the industry’s best practices, real experiences and collaborations.
JOIN US FOR THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH on the 28th of October, and access first-handed the main insights:
The U.S Commercial Service Frankfurt invites U.S. FinTech companies to a briefing about market opportunities in Germany.
Are you a #USA #fintech company interested in doing business in #Germany?
The emergence of financial technology companies (FinTech) whose line of business combines #software and #technology to deliver #financial services – will reshape and improve #finance by cutting costs and expanding access to financial services.
Germany is an important FinTech market in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. It offers great opportunities for U.S. businesses with high-tech, leading-edge solutions.
Tune in on Wednesday, October 27, 11:00 – 12:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time:
Check out our Q&As with Teo Blidarus of FintechOS and Virginia Bassano of Eight Roads.
Early stage European FinTech deals this week include CoinShares International Limited (Flow Bank) and Abacon Capital (Getsafe).
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Scaling Enterprise FinTech: with Teo Blidarus of FintechOS
1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
I am Teo Blidarus, CEO and co-founder of FintechOS. We allow banks and insurers to create customer-centric digital financial products and services using our digital on top and lean core solutions. Many financial institutions who want to innovate quickly are underserved or ill-served by current vendors. Our low-code, modular approach augments legacy systems and allows institutions to build, test and scale new digital products and services in weeks, rather than months.
Scaling Enterprise FinTech: with Virginia Bassano of Eight Roads
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am Italian, I studied in a French Business School and I live in London since 2017. I was previously working in Investment Banking at Citi covering the FinTech sector. I co-founded an HR tech startup named DailyInternship, a talent recruiting platform with over 100k students subscribed. That experience led me very close to the Venture Capital world.. so close that I ended up in VC myself! At Eight Roads I focus on investments in Southern Europe, Nordics, and more broadly speaking in FinTech investments all across Europe. I am passionate about travels, motorbike, photography and all type of animals. A funny fact about me is that by the age of 22 I had already visited all the European capitals in motorbike.
virginia-bassano-of-eight-roads European Digital Asset Manager CoinShares Announces New Investment In Switzerland’s Online Bank, FlowBank
CoinShares International Limited (Nasdaq First North Growth Market: CS) is pleased to confirm a strategic investment of $11,845,790 in FlowBank, an online bank based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Following the investment, CoinShares “holds 110,000 shares in FlowBank, representing 9.02% of its enlarged share capital,” according to a release.
Established by Charles-Henri Sabet last year, and licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and a member of esisuisse, FlowBank aims to make investing accessible “to everyone.” It does so via an “intuitively-designed investing platforms, educational trading courses led by seasoned experts, and by offering highly competitive pricing.”
Abacon Capital and other investors invest $93 M in Getsafe
The ‘neo-insurer’ has made a name for itself targeting millennial customers, and currently serves a quarter of a million people across Germany and the UK. It was founded in 2015 by CEO Christian Wiens and CTO Marius Simon.
The company has digitised the entire insurance process, making it accessible through a smartphone app. Via the app, customers can buy, manage and adapt their policies as well as file a claim instantly.
Among its new investors are some of the largest family offices from Germany and Switzerland, including Abacon Capital. Existing investors Earlybird, CommerzVentures and Swiss Re also participated in the round.
Abacon Capital embraces disruptive innovation and invest in exponential technologies & exponential organizations whose recent investments include Tomorrow and Wirelane.
Deutsche Börse launches next-generation digital post-trade platform
– Digital post-trade platform D7 enables end-to-end digital securities processing
– Over 80 per cent of German securities eligible to be digitised through centralised digital register by mid-2022, enabling same-day-issuance and paperless, automated straight-through processing
– Launch partners include leading financial institutions and global technology partners
Global market infrastructure provider Deutsche Börse plans to launch a regulatory compliant, fully digital post-trade platform called D7, anchored in the recently introduced German digital securities law framework.
Cloud enabled Clearing Bank ClearBank Introduces Multi-Currency Solution for Fintechs
ClearBank, the Cloud-powered clearing bank, has announced the launch of a multi-currency solution that will aim to lower the friction for Fintech firms and financial institutions that provide cross-border payments and FX capabilities.
ClearBank’s API-driven tech and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) capabilities have created seamless payment solutions in Sterling, for use “in partnerships with the Department for Work and Pensions and PayPoint, Tide and other multi-national brands, so the expansion into multi-currency and FX is a natural and pertinent progression for the clearing bank.”
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am Italian, I studied in a French Business School and I live in London since 2017. I was previously working in Investment Banking at Citi covering the FinTech sector. I co-founded an HR tech startup named DailyInternship, a talent recruiting platform with over 100k students subscribed. That experience led me very close to the Venture Capital world.. so close that I ended up in VC myself! At Eight Roads I focus on investments in Southern Europe, Nordics, and more broadly speaking in FinTech investments all across Europe. I am passionate about travels, motorbike, photography and all type of animals. A funny fact about me is that by the age of 22 I had already visited all the European capitals in motorbike.
2. What are your focus areas, overall and within the (B2B) FinTech / InsurTech space?
I focus on investments on Southern and Northern Europe mostly in the enterprise, fintech and healthtech space. Amongst Fintech, areas we currently look into include, but are not
limited to, B2B Payments, Banking as a Service, B2B BNPL, B2B infrastructure, finance tools for SMEs, payment orchestration platforms and InsurTech.
3. Any recent deals that you would like to share with us, and why you invested or partnered?
We invested in Spendesk last year as we believe that one of the most exciting segments of this modern finance stack is the spend management category. Spend management platforms have the ambition to radically simplify the way employees make payments and provide real-time visibility for finance teams over all company expenses. Traditionally, companies have used shared company credit cards or bank wires with no visibility into spend until after it has happened. In contrast, spend management platforms help companies spend money and track that spend in real-time in one single tool, removing the need for multiple different applications. Longer term, we believe that spend management platforms will become end-to-end tools capturing most of an SMB operational spend excluding payroll. As a consequence they are very sticky, but also particularly well placed to add additional services over time, such as lending, insurance, suppliers marketplace, etc. Going after this attractive market and building the category of spend management was the main reason we got excited about Spendesk.
4. What does it take to get to Series A today?
With rounds of increasing size, it’s less and less a matter of “how big you are now” but more of “how successful can you become”. Following their seed round, startups will need to prove to have a practical solution to solve a real issue, while addressing a sizeable market. As series B investor, we typically invest in scale up stage startups: companies that have built a product, found a product market fit and are now looking to scale. To get to series A, startups should already have in mind their objective for the long term, creating a vision and strategy for where they would like to be. The best way to do it is with an experienced and credible team, a successful product solving the need of a large market and a well-played execution on the strategy.
5. Which are the trends to watch out for in Europe/ EMEA in the next 6-18 months?
As the customer base for the banking industry becomes more tech-savvy and more environmentally friendly by the day, digital-only banks have amplified in popularity and this trend is not going to stop. We are also seeing a “second wave” of neobanks: lighter, more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Open Banking has promised to provide more competitive financial services that are personalised to the needs of individual or business.
Buy Now Pay Later solutions are spreading across EMEA both on the B2C and B2B side. Embedded Finance and BaaS will become more and more relevant with API-based embedded payments (and, over time, other banking products) facilitating new business models. BaaS unlocks the promise of embedded finance: it enables nonbanks to offer financial services by integrating banks’ services via APIs, and building products on top of the traditional banking infrastructure. The next 6-18 months will be crucial to see how non-fintech companies will adapt to this shift. According to FinTech magazine, 41% of UK SMEs have now incorporated Fintech into their business. In Europe, I am expecting that more and more SMEs will continue to adopt Fintech (from new lending products to utilising open banking data) to improve their efficiency and offer better services to maintain a competitive edge.
6. What should startups expect or plan for in the coming months?
The past 18 months had a lot of uncertainty, but the financial technology boom powered by the pandemic was very clear.
Startups should plan ahead and be smart: create a set of leading indicators (could be linked to ARR, growth, #sales, pipeline, number of clients, monthly burn, etc) to guide them through their growth and plans and adjust the future roadmap accordingly. Additionally, startups should make sure to closely monitor the market they play in: it’s easy to see increasing competition from players that address a similar problem in a different or more creative way.
7. Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
As an Italian, this is an easy one: anywhere I can take the perfect Espresso macchiato.
I am Teo Blidarus, CEO and co-founder of FintechOS. We allow banks and insurers to create customer-centric digital financial products and services using our digital on top and lean core solutions. Many financial institutions who want to innovate quickly are underserved or ill-served by current vendors. Our low-code, modular approach augments legacy systems and allows institutions to build, test and scale new digital products and services in weeks, rather than months.
2. Give us the backstory- how did you get the founding idea, and how did the first sale come about?
I’ve been an entrepreneur for two decades and founded FintechOS in 2017. We saw that digital transformation at banks and insurers projects were often lengthy, complex and expensive, so developed FintechOS to make building digital products fast and easy for our customers. We wanted to help create solutions that use data as the core, fit market reality and are adaptable to our customers’ needs.
3. Could you summarize your journey to scale from a sales, go-to-market and business development perspective, perhaps split into 2-3 key phases?
We have enjoyed several major funding rounds, starting in 2019 when were raised more than one million euros from regional VCs and LAUNCHub Ventures before closing a €12.6M round led by Earlybird’s Digital East Fund and OTB Ventures. Then in 2021, we raised $60 million (€51 million) in Series B funding in a round led by Draper Esprit.
We’re now focusing on global expansion and have added 120 new staff – a 40% increase in headcount – and are now working towards setting up new offices in the USA, Dubai, Singapore, and other locations.
4. Which was the most challenging phase, and what would you have done differently?
The most challenging phase is happening right now. We’re expanding fast and growing our headcount, which means focusing on everything from developing our internal culture to deciding how a FintechOS office should look and feel. We’re focused on growth and things are happening fast, so the time to look back is a few years away.
5. When did you decide to expand to the international/ US market, and how?
There are more than 320 million bank customers in the US, who are now expecting digital services. Market penetration of digital banking will increase from 75.4% of all US bank users to 80.4% by 2022. The expansion to the US makes sense.
We launched in the US in 2021 and are forging links with American credit unions and traditional banks with a view to removing common obstacles to digitalization. We’ve appointed a new Senior Vice President to drive our expansion in the US and our customizable technology will allow institutions to start small, think big and scale fast.
6. When did you first decide to raise venture capital, and what has been your approach to financing growth over the years?
We’re delighted that the market has shown confidence in us during several major funding rounds. As well as funding rounds, we also won $10 million of investment from IFC — a member of the World Bank Group. We’re pleased that that market has shown faith and trust in us, with Series A and B funding helping to catapult us to where we are right now.
7. How is building an Enterprise FinTech firm different from a “regular” SaaS / Enterprise Tech company, and what three things should founders get right?
The financial sector is highly regulated, has its roots in analog, non-digital services and has only adopted direct to consumer models relatively recently. Digital-first players like neo banks have focused on making products that are simple, friendly, innovative, and can be brought to market very fast. All three are hard for incumbent banks due to their size and history – even though they know what good looks like.
In the enterprise space there is always a battle between innovation and manageability.
Due to their size and history, it is very hard for old players to innovate at the speed of their digital native counterparts. Banks need to strike a balance between the dreamers and the actual day-to-day management of the bank’s operations. The fintech revolution can be a headache for established incumbent financial institutions.
For an enterprise fintech to be successful, it must remember three key points.
– Firstly, it should showcase tangible benefits that can be achieved. It’s no good making pie in the sky promises and failing to deliver.
– Secondly, a fintech should talk the language of its customers. If you’re working with banks – you should be speaking like the people who work inside that bank and recognize that tech team innovators might not talk the same language as business leaders. It’s your job to crack the code and start communicating with the right people.
– Lastly, an enterprise fintech needs to have a product or platform which makes practical innovation faster and easier. It’s difficult and time-consuming to devise new ideas, solve problems and design products – but innovation is non-optional. Founders should seek to give businesses tools and platforms which grant them the ability to innovate at speed and bring new solutions to market quickly, because those are powerful abilities in an era of rapid digital change.8. What’s on the priority list for you and your team for the next year?We’re now focused on US growth and winning big name clients across the world. FintechOS believes in collaborating, so we have forged strong partnerships including Microsoft, Deloitte, Persistent and Capgemini and collaborations with US category leaders, analysts, consultancy firms and investors.
We hope to have 15 new US bank and credit union partners by the end of 2022 as well as making 100 new US hires across product management, sales, marketing and customer success. By the end of 2022, our total global workforce will total more than 400.
9. Where is the financial services sector headed in the next 12-18 months, and what should we be watching out for?
Not all financial markets were at the same stage of their digital transformation when COVID-19 changed the world. For more advanced markets we will see established banks, credit unions and new entrants in the fintech space rapidly launch digital-only customer products to meet growing demand. In more traditional markets where financial institutions had to digitize quickly to survive, we will see them in many cases accelerate their digital transformations using technology that is available and accessible to all institutions. This will allow them to easily vault challenges which more advanced banks had to painstakingly work over.
Customer experience will only continue to grow in importance to become the key battleground on which financial players will compete. It is a time of change, and the banking sector will look very different in a few years’ time.
10. Your favorite place(s) for a meal, coffee or drink (pre-/ post-COVID19)?
Before the pandemic, my favorite place to eat was Stadio Park, in Bucharest. That’s where we used to head after work to watch the football, have a few drinks and get a meal.
As the pandemic travel restrictions lift, we’ll be drinking and eating at restaurants around the world due to the international expansion of FintechOS. But I’m looking forward to getting back to Stadio Park.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Family man and proud member of the venture building team at FIS to create new compelling businesses that improve our customers way to transact, pay and invest in the merchant, corporate and financial institution space across the globe
2. What are your focus areas, overall and within the (B2B) FinTech / InsurTech space?
B2X, G2X and C2X Money Movement and Infrastructure
3. Any recent deals that you would like to share with us, and why you invested or partnered?
FIS invested into Modulr Financial
4. What does it take to get to Series A today?
A desirable MVP with pilot customers with a subsequent roadmap for growth to scale
5. Which are the trends to watch out for in Europe/ EMEA in the next 6-18 months?
Consumer-focused DeFi with a compelling UX,
Pre-CBDC commercial cash on ledger solutions under EMD2, Democratization of real-time payments through on-us networks
6. What should startups expect or plan for in the coming months?
More consolidation activities on domestic & regional level, Geo entries/expansions from global plays
7. Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
Sunrise at the Baltic sea (where I live), with a hot Americano
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am leading the Swiss business for F10 Global, a Fintech and Insurtech-focused open accelerator, headquartered in Zurich with further hubs in Singapore and Spain. I am also in the board of our investment company, which invests in F10 startups. Besides that, I am representing F10 in the Swiss Green Fintech Network, launched 2020 to support and leverage the Swiss government’s ambition to develop the country into a leading hub for sustainable finance. With the Green Fintech Network I co-drafted the Swiss Green Fintech Action Plan, and with F10’s partner New Energy Nexus I work on our new global Climate Fintech Accelerator programming.
Prior to F10, I worked 10 years in banking (mostly at ABN AMRO Bank) and 10 years in tech (mostly fintech), founded one and worked with several startups at different stages and on topics ranging from mobile and micropayments to data and analytics.
Off work, I love any kind of outdoor sports (Switzerland being a perfect spot for that…), love(d) traveling and learning about different cultures. Due to the latter and an adventurous mind/heart, I left Germany in 2006 and lived since in The Netherlands, Colombia, Morocco and Ireland. Climate change and environment are major topics of concern and interest for me, thus I am excited that Sustainable Finance is picking up broadly now!
2. What are your focus areas, overall and within the FinTech space?
F10 is a corporate-funded accelerator, with the ambition to help banks, insurances and other financial service players to shape their digital future. We therefore also scout left and right besides fintech/insurtech, looking for common pains between our partners, mostly B2B or at least B2B2C.
Currently, Sustainable Finance and SME-focused solutions are top of our (partners’) minds, yet digital assets, open wealth/wealthtech, security and data and analytics are also on our active radar.
Additionally, with our early stage program (“Incubation”) we take on more investor glasses, and more independently look for scalable propositions in above fields, including B2C.
3. Any recent deals that you would like to share with us, and why you invested?
Most recently, we e.g. invested into Relio – a forthcoming SME-challenger bank (launched by a Penta founder), into Stableton – a fast growing alternative asset marketplace, into Troc Circle – an invoice netting and collection platform or into Aisot – an exciting AI investtech startup focused on trading signals for crypto or conventional asset markets
4. Which are the trends to watch out for in the next 6-18 months?
Clearly, a currently accelerating, emerging megatrend topic is sustainable finance. Among the vast universe of topics under this global term, we especially picked Climate Fintech which ranges from carbon footprint calculators for B2C services, to ESG rating solutions for non-listed companies or DLT-based carbon credit marketplaces. We see a tipping point where it doesn’t need a green conscience anymore to commit to climate change mitigation. Regulators make sure, exteralised costs or impact is being made transparent, risks are being better understood and with the huge transition costs projected, there are huge investment opportunities. More and more local and global financial service players are pledging to work not only on their own but also on the carbon footprint of their supply chains and product distribution and use. Currently we are still in a phase where significant work is required to collect more and better data, covering a vastly bigger space of the economy. Lastly, interpreting and communicating partly complex information is still a big need.
Additionally, digital assets and related services and products (trading-related, risk management, KYC, ..) are picking up speed, with maturing and fast(er) scaling players driving further interest, investment, and application. In Switzerland we have the luxury of a regulator that dared to pick up DLT early on, which is why we see a lot of new players setting up shop and starting from here.
5. Your advice to European founders looking to scale up and raise funds?
I see a more maturing (currently maybe a bit overheating) European market, meaning (also more) funding being more easily available, which founders should take advantage of as long as the momentum lasts. At the same time, due to the current growth of European fintech market(s), founders should even more aim to early on identify differentiating factors of their business. With the vast amounts raised by some of the “incumbent fintechs”, young businesses may have a harder time to gain traction/win market share, if they are too close to the ”incumbent fintechs” in their propositions.
Lastly, with COVID having solved some earlier remote work-related questions, founders have the great(er) opportunity to build great teams, less constrained by local talent availability. To succeed here, of course skillful and effective remote team development and management becomes a key success factor.
6. What’s on your bookshelf/ reading list?
Recently re-read Peter Thiel’s Zero to One, currently at Bill Gates’ How to avoid a Climate Desaster, and generally reading up on Climate-related regulation matters, next book: The great CEO within.
7. Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
In Zurich Cafe Grande at the Limmat, for both, a small, casual place, easy to reach, also for anyone to meet.
The first set of startups and investors at FinTech Forum 2021 on 18th Nov. at the Airport Club, Frankfurt) have been announced- check them out here. We feature Q&As with Gerrit Sindermann of F10 Global and Alex Mifsud of Weavr.io.
Early stage European FinTech deals this week include Zilliqa Capital (Coinrule), Charles Delingpole (Comply Advantage), Illuminate Financial (Profian).
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Gerrit Sindermann of F10 Global
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I am leading the Swiss business for F10 Global, a Fintech and Insurtech-focused open accelerator, headquartered in Zurich with further hubs in Singapore and Spain. I am also in the board of our investment company, which invests in F10 startups. Besides that, I am representing F10 in the Swiss Green Fintech Network, launched 2020 to support and leverage the Swiss government’s ambition to develop the country into a leading hub for sustainable finance. With the Green Fintech Network I co-drafted the Swiss Green Fintech Action Plan, and with F10’s partner New Energy Nexus I work on our new global Climate Fintech Accelerator programming.
Prior to F10, I worked 10 years in banking (mostly at ABN AMRO Bank) and 10 years in tech (mostly fintech), founded one and worked with several startups at different stages and on topics ranging from mobile and micropayments to data and analytics.
Off work, I love any kind of outdoor sports (Switzerland being a perfect spot for that…), love(d) traveling and learning about different cultures. Due to the latter and an adventurous mind/heart, I left Germany in 2006 and lived since in The Netherlands, Colombia, Morocco and Ireland. Climate change and environment are major topics of concern and interest for me, thus I am excited that Sustainable Finance is picking up broadly now!
