Early stage European FinTech deals include limbiq, Minima, SMEO, Urbantz etc. We feature Q&As with Marcus Polke of signals Venture Capital and Konstantin Stiskin of Finom.
The 12th FinTech Forum is a wrap- check out the event in tweets.
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 Marcus Polke, signals Venture Capital
Samarth Shekhar: …it would be great to have for our readers a bit about yourself- both at work and at leisure.
Marcus Polke: Sure. I’m a tech industry guy who became VC 13 years ago, so I think I have a good view on both the operational and the financing side of things. I was one of the first people to work for Amazon here in Europe, then I ran all of AOL’s ecommerce businesses in Germany, and led a large marketplace business, all of their European operations. That marketplace business we sold to Amazon.com in 2008, and that’s when I switched the side of the table to the VC side of things, actually. Since then, I’m a technology investor. Two years ago, I joined signals VC and now run it together with my partner Christian Weniger.
Other than that, I’m a marathon runner, I’m a family man, a father of three, and I live between Munich and Berlin and invest across Europe.
http://www.fintechforum.de/interview-with-marcus-polke-signals-venture-capital/
7 Questions with Konstantin Stiskin of Finom
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Konstantin Stiskin, I have spent most of my career in the VC space in every available form – as an analyst, associate, as a director, partner, as an angel investor, advisor and co-founder. So it turned out that the area that attracted me most was FinTech, although I also have success stories in biotechnology and marketplaces. Besides, I play football, volleyball and chess.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-konstantin-stiskin-of-finom/
limbiq.com sichert sich Erstfinanzierung über eine halbe Million EUR für Rollout
Das auf Supply Chain Management-Software spezialisierte Startup limbiq.com hat in einer ersten Finanzierungsrunde eine halbe Million EUR an Risikokapital von der NRW.BANK und namhaften deutschen Angel Investoren einsammeln können.
An der Finanzierungsrunde beteiligten sich mehrere Business Angels aus Deutschland sowie die NRW.BANK. Das Kapital wird primär für die Markteinführung und den Aufbau von Vertriebs- und Marketingstrukturen sowie die Entwicklung weiterer Produktfeatures verwendet.
Minima secures $2.5 million for a “truly decentralised” blockchain protocol
Minima, a blockchain startup based in Switzerland and the UK, has raised a $2.5 million funding round led by Blockchange Ventures. The company says that the fresh cash will be used to finish development of its protocol, which allows running blockchain nodes on Android smartphones and IoT devices.
The premise of Minima is to bring “true decentralisation” to blockchain with a protocol that allows launching a so-called node on consumer devices and IoT appliances by just downloading an app.
“Almost all existing blockchains are secured by farms of computers or staked tokens, which are often controlled by a handful of people and companies,” said Hugo Feiler, сo-founder and CEO of Minima.
https://tech.eu/brief/minima-secures-2-5-million-for-a-truly-decentralised-blockchain-protocol/
Polish fintech startup SMEO raises €4 million with eyes on international expansion
SMEO, a Warsaw-based fintech startup that set out to support small and micro-enterprises in Poland, has just raised €4 million to lay its sights on international expansion. Finch Capital and Precapital invested in the round.
The startup offers online factoring services for micro, small and medium businesses, a sector suffering from increasing cash flow challenges during the pandemic. Co-founder and COO Monika Wozniak put it plainly, that SMEO can “give entrepreneurs the cash they need.”
https://tech.eu/brief/smeo-funding/
Urbantz Raises Additional €6M in Series A; Total Round to €12M
Urbantz, a Brussels, Belgium-based SaaS company aiming to increase efficiency and sustainability of last mile delivery operations, raised €6m in Series A funding.
Korys, ETF Partners and Urbantz’ shareholders increased their initial investment to €12m.
The company intends to use the funds to further invest in innovation and recruitment.
Led by CEO Jonathan Weber, Urbantz is a SaaS company that offers innovative technology for sustainable and optimised delivery operations.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/12/urbantz-raises-additional-e6m-in-series-a-total-round-to-e12m.html
Swedish cybersecurity company Outpost24 takes in €19 million
Swedish cybersecurity company Outpost24 has raised €19 million from Swedbank Robur and Alcur Fonder to continue expanding worldwide.
Founded back in 2001, Outpost24 helps organisations understand their IT security risks, as well as monitor and prioritise threats, across web applications and wireless/cloud network infrastructures. Nordic growth investor Monterro acquiredOutpost24 in 2016.
Since then, the security company has itself acquired French provider SecludIT and Boston-based Pwnie Express, growing its footprint in Europe and the US. Outpost24’s North American headquarters is in Chicago.
https://tech.eu/brief/outpost24-funding/
Liberis Raises £70M in Financing
Liberis, a London, UK-based global embedded business finance platform, raised £70m in financing.
Backers included British Business Investments, Paragon Bank, BCI Europe, as well as financing and venture debt from new partner Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). This brings Liberis’ total funds raised to £200m total, including over £50m in equity funding.
The new funds will be used to accelerate company growth, launch new products and markets, and provide additional customer financing solutions.
Founded in 2007 and led by Rob Straathof, CEO, Liberis provides partners with financing solutions for their small business customers.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/12/liberis-raises-70m-in-financing.html
Lydia Secures $86M in Series B Extension Funding
Lydia, a Paris, France – based mobile financial services platform, raised an additional $86M of its Series B funding round.
The round, which now sits at $131M, was led by Accel, with participation from existing shareholders. In conjunction with the funding, Amit Jhawar, the former General Manager of Venmo and Accel venture partner, led the investment for Accel and will join the Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its product roadmap and to expand its geographic footprint.
Co-founded by Antoine Porte and Cyril Chiche, Lydia is a mobile financial services platform with over 4 Million users.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/12/lydia-secures-86m-in-series-b-extension-funding.html
GoCardless Raises $95M in Funding
GoCardless, a UK-based recurring payments company serving more than 55,000 businesses worldwide, raised $95m in a Series F funding round.
This round, which brings the total raised to-date to $240m, was led by Bain Capital Ventures.
The company will use the funding to accelerate its open banking strategy, combining the latest technology with its global bank debit network and expand its offering into the adjacent e-commerce market.
Merchants will be able to access instant open banking payments while bank debit maximizes cash flow and minimizes churn by pulling funds automatically from payers – all at a lower cost than cards.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/12/gocardless-raises-95m-in-funding.html
“Meet” us at:
Female Founders Demo Day, 21 Jan. 2021 https://hopin.com/events/grow-f-demo-day-4
Finovate Europe, 23-25 Mar. 2021 https://informaconnect.com/finovateeurope/
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