Early stage European FinTech deals include Insurely, AccountsIQ, Katana etc. We feature Q&As with Matti Rönkkö of Cooler Future and Daniel Andemeskel of Universal-Investment. FinTech Forum goes on tour across the Atlantic: check out FTF On Tour | US X EMEA on 18th Mar. 2021. 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 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-matti-ronkko-of-cooler-future
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.
7-questions-with-daniel-andemeskel-of-universal-investment
Insurely Raises EUR 2.5M In Funding
Insurely, a Stockholm, Sweden-based open insurance platform, raised €2.5m in funding.
The round was led by Luminar Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds for recruitment and international expansion.
Launched in 2020 by Johan Forsman, Eric Sevelius, Martin Einemo and Lotta Rauséus, Insurely provides innovative APIs and solutions for Open Insurance for companies to create effective services for switching insurance contracts, as well as enabling insurance in their personal finance management apps and more.
https://www.finsmes.com/2021/02/insurely-raises-eur-2-5m-in-funding.html
AccountsIQ Raises €5.8M in Funding
AccountsIQ, a London, UK- and Dublin, Ireland based provider of a Financial Management Software (FMS) platform for mid-market SMEs with multiple subsidiaries, branches and locations, secured €5.8M in funding.
Finch Capital made the investment.
The company will use the funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach.
Led by Tony Connolly, CEO and founder, AccountsIQ provides Medium-sized businesses growing through franchising or multinational subsidiaries operating across multiple different locations, currencies and jurisdictions. with a cloud-based AI-driven Financial Management Software (FMS) platform to streamline and automate the capture, process and reporting of their financial performance across all business units.
https://www.finsmes.com/2021/02/accountsiq-raises-e5-8m-in-funding.html
Atomico doubles down on Estonian fintech with $11m Katana Series A
Tallinn-based startup Katana has raised $16m to date and will add Atomico partner Ben Blume to its board following the latest injection of capital.
Katana, a fintech that specialises in manufacturing ERP (enterprise resource planning) for SMEs has raised an $11m Series A.
The startup helps SMEs in manufacturing to sell their locally produced products on a global scale, providing them with the tools to scale production, better track inventory and sell products online.
Katana’s Series A round was led by venture capitalist Atomico with participation from fintech-friendly VC firm 42Cap and other notable angel investors, such as Ott Kaukver, CTO at Checkout.com and former CTO at Twilio, Sten Tamkivi, CPO at Topia and Kairi Pauskar, former HR architect at TransferWise (now Wise) and early investor in 42Cap.
https://www.altfi.com/article/7614_atomico-doubles-down-on-estonian-fintech-with-11m-katana-series-a
Scaling Enterprise FinTech | The Handbook
Scaling Enterprise FinTech brings together insights on the journey to scale – sales, (US) go-to-market, raising venture financing etc. – from the founders, investors and financial institutions behind Europe’s leading B2B FinTech scale-ups. Email contact (at) fintechforum.de if you would like to learn more or contribute to our upcoming Handbook (out in Mar. 2021), featuring proprietary research of ca. 65 scale-ups and Q&As with founders and investors.
http://www.fintechforum.de/sef/
Join us for Bar on The Block webinar on Thursday, March 4th to learn more about cryptocurrency derivatives.
About this Event
In this webinar, we’ll discuss one of the oldest forms of a financial contract- DERIVATIVES! We’ll deep dive into the types of crypto derivatives products, their common forms, policy, and regulatory regime. We’ll have an in-depth discussion on how derivatives are used in crypto trading, what kinds of Crypto derivatives can be traded both on traditional exchanges and regulated crypto exchanges, the biggest risks that traders face, and why investor interest seems to be surging in crypto-derivatives.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-insight-into-crypto-derivatives-tickets-137765609647
FinTech Forum On Tour | US X EMEA: Uncovering Opportunities Across the Atlantic
A year since the first lockdowns were announced, FinTech Forum goes on tour to the US, in partnership with SixThirty Ventures. Join us as we talk to leading financial institutions on both sides of the Atlantic to understand the topmost priorities and challenges that are shaping their innovation agendas. We discuss how they are fast-forwarding digitalization and engagement with FinTech innovators, and the opportunities this presents for B2B/ Enterprise FinTech startups across the globe.
Registration (subject to approval): http://ftfusa2021.eventbrite.com
Meet us at:
An Insight Into Crypto Derivatives, 4 Mar. 2021
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-insight-into-crypto-derivatives-tickets-137765609647
FinTech Forum On Tour | US X EMEA: Uncovering Opportunities Across the Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2021 http://ftfusa2021.eventbrite.com
Finovate Europe, 23-25 Mar. 2021
https://informaconnect.com/finovateeurope/
InsurTech Insights, 1-2 Sep. 2021, London
https://www.insurtechinsights.com/europe/
Meet Our Partners:
Heussen https://www.heussen-law.de
Nagarro https://www.nagarro.com/en
Opportunity Network https://www.opportunitynetwork.com/fintech-forum
Money2020 Europe https://europe.money2020.com
InsurTech Insights https://insurtechinsights.com
Finovate Europe https://informaconnect.com/finovateeurope/
FN FinTech 40 https://www.fnlondon.com