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Newsletter 1 Oct 2019

Our weekly round-up of European FinTech deals, alongwith insights from leading startups, investors and industry experts. Received this email in error? Unsubscribe from this list.

Quo vadis European FinTech? Ask the investors at the 11th FinTech Forum!  

Apart from an awesome line-up of startups, we will have leading investors from Idinvest Partners, G+D Ventures, Capnamic Ventures and SeedX.LI covering the latest trends in European FinTech & InsurTech at the event. If you are an investor, business angel or financial institution looking to stay on top of the sector, learn more/ register here:

http://www.fintechforum.de/announcing-the-second-set-of-startups-investors-at-11th-fintech-forum-21st-nov-2019-frankfurt/

 

10 million euros for financial portal Joonko

Raisin and the Ping An Global Voyager Fund are investing more than 10 million euros in Joonko , a digital finance portal that enables consumers to find the right financial and insurance products for them. Founded in 2019 by Carolin Gabor, Andreas Schroeter and Eric Lange, the company plans to use the fresh capital to advance the technological development of its portal and the expansion of its team.

https://www.deutsche-startups.de/2019/09/16/dealmonitor-16-09-2019/

 

Swiss fintech neon closes 5mn series A financing

Zurich-based fintech neon has successfully closed its next financing round of 5mn CHF for further product expansion. After its attention-grabbing market entry, the start-up is now focusing on further expanding its product. Beside lead investor Tamedia, also Zurich-based Backbone Ventures and several existing investors increased their engagement in neon.

https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/79937/swiss-fintech-neon-closes-5mn-series-a-financing

 

Paris-based startup Trustpair raises €4 million to fight IBAN fraud

Paris-based Trustpair is on a mission to prevent business transfer fraud. The startup has now raised a €4 million funding round led by Breega and existing investor Axeleo Capital, which it will use to pursue its ambition of becoming the go-to solution for finance departments fighting IBAN fraud.

https://www.eu-startups.com/2019/09/paris-based-startup-trustpair-raises-e4-million-to-fight-iban-fraud/

 

German fintech startup Centrifuge gets millions of support from the EU and Berlin

The Berlin-based FintechStartup Centrifuge has received funding from the public investment bank Berlin and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to further develop its financial market platform.

https://de.cointelegraph.com/news/das-deutsche-fintech-startup-centrifuge-bekommt-millionen-unterstutzung-von-der-eu-und-berlin

 

Deutsche Bank buys stake in a fintech company months after major restructuring

Deutsche Bank bought a 5% stake in German financial technology start-up Deposit Solutions, valuing the firm at north of 1 billion euros ($1.1. billion). The deal makes Deposit Solutions Germany’s second-largest fintech unicorn — a private business that’s worth $1 billion or more — according to publicly available data. Deutsche did not disclose how much money it had invested into the firm.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/deutsche-bank-buys-stake-in-fintech-startup-deposit-solutions.html

 

7 Questions with Petr Stransky, iCEIBA

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.

My background is combination of technology, marketing and business and working as a strategic advisor with both nimble (read it small) businesses, as well as with corporates on their tech-enabled strategic initiatives. I have also quite extensive experience in M&A on both buyer & seller side and expertise across number of industries including enterprise software, digital media, electronic payments, consumer electronics and several more…

http://www.fintechforum.de/next-7q-with-iceiba/

iCEIBA is among the startups selected to present to leading investors like SeedX Lichtenstein, Capnamic Ventures, G+D Ventures and Idinvest Partners at the 11th FinTech Forum, 21st Nov. 2019 in Frankfurt: https://ftf11.eventbrite.com

 

Bochum Security Startup VMRay Gathers Millions

Digital+ Partners and eCapital invest an undisclosed amount – but a high seven-digit sum – in VMRay. The Bochum startup, founded in 2013 by computer scientists Carsten Willems and Ralf Hund, analyzes malware such as computer viruses or worms, Trojans, spyware, kernel rook kits and boot kits for their behavior. The High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) invested in VMRay in 2014. In 2016, eCapital also provided the company with money. More than 3.5 million euros of investor funds migrated to VMRay. More than 70 employees worked for VMRay.

https://www.deutsche-startups.de/2019/09/12/dealmonitor-12-09-2019/

 

Teen-focused fintech startup bags €2M

Mitto, a Spanish startup that offers a payment card and app for teens, has raised €2 million, per TechCrunch. InnoCells, the VC arm of Spanish bank Banco de Sabadell, is said to have taken part in the round alongside Athos Capital and individual investors.

https://pitchbook.com/newsletter/teen-focused-fintech-startup-bags-2m

 

Accenture Buys Spanish (AI startup) Pragsis Bidoop

Global professional services company Accenture (NYSE:ACN) acquired Pragsis Bidoop, a Spanish company with expertise in big data, AI and advanced analytics.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

http://www.finsmes.com/2019/09/accenture-buys-spanish-pragsis-bidoop.html

 

HRS Buys conichi

The HRS Group, a global hotel solutions end to end technology provider in business travel, acquired conichi (legally “Hotel Beacons GmbH”), a Berlin, Germany-based provider of corporate hotel payment solutions.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

http://www.finsmes.com/2019/09/hrs-buys-conichi.html

 

Scalable Capital cooperates with Raisin

Der Münchner digitale Vermögensverwalter Scalable Capital, der mit seinen Robo-Advisor-Angeboten zu den deutschen Anbietern mit dem größten verwalteten Vermögen zählt, hat jetzt angekündigt, auch Tages- und Festgeldanlagen anbieten zu wollen. Realisiert wird das über die Zinsplattform Raisin, die mit dieser Integrationspartnerschaft das B2B-Geschäft ausweitet.

https://www.it-finanzmagazin.de/scalable-capital-erweitert-angebot-um-tages-und-festgeld-von-raisin-95118/

 

Contovista enhances VKB-Bank’s digital customer experience with immediate effect

The Upper Austrian VKB-Bank is working with the swiss Fintech Contovista to optimize their customer experience in the digital channels.

In addition to the Raiffeisen Banking Group, Contovista now also supports the VKB-Bank in preparing all transaction data, paving the way for the introduction of a new e-banking system with significantly enhanced functions: VKB CONNECT.

https://media.contovista.com/contovista-enhances-vkb-banks-digital-customer-experience-with-immediate-effect-b1d749606006

 

Banco Santander’s Openbank opens for business in Germany

Banco Santander’s digital banking subsidiary Openbank is launching in Germany. the first destination in an international expansion that will see the bank launch in the Netherlands and Portugal later this year, then a range of countries across Europe and the Americas in the medium term.

https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/34430/banco-santanders-openbank-opens-for-business-in-germany

 

Bafin: No major problems with new rules for online payments

Die Finanzaufsicht Bafin sieht trotz einzelner Schwierigkeiten keine grundsätzlichen Probleme bei der Umstellung auf die neuen Sicherheitsbestimmungen fürs Onlinebanking. „Bis auf die wenigen Ruckler ist die Lage ruhig“, sagte ein Sprecher der Behörde an diesem Dienstag auf Anfrage. „Die Bankenbranche ist gut für PSD2 gerüstet.“

https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/zahlungsdienste-bafin-keine-groesseren-probleme-bei-neuen-regeln-fuer-onlinezahlungen/25024578.html

 

Fintech Consolidation: The Great Revolution Is Not Coming

In diesem Jahr könnte ein neuer Rekord aufgestellt werden: Im ersten Halbjahr 2019 wurden bereits 16 Fintechs in Deutschland übernommen, zeigt ein Report von PwC. Zum Vergleich: Im gesamten Rekordjahr 2017 wurden gerade einmal 20 Fintechs gekauft. Gut möglich, dass 2019 die Rekordmarke geknackt wird, denn die Übernahmen reißen nicht ab.

https://www.finance-magazin.de/deals/ma/fintech-konsolidierung-die-grosse-revolution-kommt-nicht-2045191/

 

Wirecard has to pay 1.5 million euro fine for formal errors

Der Zahlungsabwickler Wirecard muss wegen formaler Versäumnisse eine millionenschwere Geldbuße zahlen. Die deutsche Finanzaufsicht Bafin hat bereits im April Strafen über 1,52 Millionen Euro gegen den Zahlungsdienstleister verhängt, wie sie an diesem Montag mitteilte.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/zahlungsdienstleister-wirecard-muss-wegen-formaler-fehler-1-5-millionen-euro-bussgeld-bezahlen/25046710.html

 

More and more consumers are using FinTechs

Eine aktuelle Studie der Prüfungs- und Beratungsgesellschaft EY zeigt: Im Wettbewerb liegen derzeit noch die traditionellen Banken und Versicherungsunternehmen vorne. Mehr als die Hälfte der Befragten (51 Prozent) würde sich zunächst an sie wenden, wenn sie ein neues Finanzprodukt erwerben wollen.  Nur sieben Prozent würden von sich aus auf ein neues Finanzunternehmen zugehen.

https://www.der-bank-blog.de/verbraucher-fintechs/studien/digitalisierung-finanzdienstleistung/37657544/

 

Meet us at: 

South Summit, Madrid, 2-3 Oct. https://www.southsummit.co

InsurTech Rising, Paris, 8-9 Oct. https://finance.knect365.com/insurtech/

Intelligent InsurTech, London, 14 Oct. https://newtonmedia.swoogo.com/insurtech2019

FinTech Junction Europe, Berlin, 10-12 Dec. 2019 https://www.fintechjunction.com

FinTech Forum partners:

www.heussen-law.de

www.europe.money2020.com

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