News

Newsletter: 10th Feb. 2018

Blockchain Project Raises $61 Million from A16Z, Polychain Capital

A blockchain project based in Switzerland has raised $61 million from a group of investors that includes venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz and token hedge fund Polychain Capital.
DFINITY Stiftung said the funding would go toward development of its blockchain protocol, aimed to support a public decentralized cloud computing platform.

https://www.coindesk.com/blockchain-project-raises-61-million-from-a16z-polychain-capital/

Berlin Fintech Penta gets 2.2 million euros

The Berlin-based start-up Penta has completed a seed round of 2.2 million euros. It was led by the British VC Inception Capital, which specializes in fintechs. In addition, several business angels from the banking industry were involved. Penta offers business accounts for fast-growing businesses and has partnered with SolarisBank . The target group are startups up to 30 employees and up to two million euros annual turnover, said co-founder Luka Ivicevic to founder scene.

https://www.gruenderszene.de/allgemein/penta-fintech-seed-finanzierung

Speedinvest Launches €50M Micro Venture Capital Fund

European venture capital firm Speedinvest has launched a new Micro VC fund and completed the first closing at over €20m. Speedinvest x focuses on early-stage (pre-seed, seed and early Series A) investments ranging from €100k to €1m in European and — occasionally — North American entrepreneurs who are a) building the platforms and marketplace businesses of tomorrow, and b) the technologies that enable them.

http://www.finsmes.com/2018/02/speedinvest%E2%80%8Alaunches-e50m-micro-venture-capital-fund.html

Otto has invested 85 million in establishing its own start-ups

The Otto Group strengthens its internal company forge: As the trading company announces, a budget of 85 million euros will be made available for start-up companies in the future. Every year, two or three new business models with a focus on logistics, e-commerce and fintech are to be created in the internal company forge, it is said.

http://www.horizont.net/tech/nachrichten/Inkubator-Otto-steckt-85-Millionen-in-den-Aufbau-eigener-Start-ups-164622

Consors is the first bank to cooperate with Crowdinvestor Exporo

The Nuremberg-based Consors Bank now offers customers the option of investing in real estate projects in the swarm. For this Consors enters into a partnership with the crowdinvesting platform Exporo. It is the first cooperation of this kind nationwide. Via the website of Consors, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, customers of the direct bank have access to the Exporos offer.

https://www.immobilien-zeitung.de/1000050365/consors-kooperiert-als-erste-bank-mit-crowdinvestor-exporo

Deposit Solutions further expands presence in Europe; names Roman Exenberger as Regional Director for Austria

Deposit Solutions, the operator of the Open Banking platform for deposits, expands its presence in Europe in six additional regions, including Austria, France & Benelux, Central & Eastern Europe, Spain & Portugal, Italy & Malta and the Nordic & Baltic countries. Deposit Solutions has already successfully established local management teams in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and is now following this approach in other countries as well. The Austrian market is headed by Roman Exenberger, who has more than 15 years of experience in the financial industry.

https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20180205_OTS0019/deposit-solutions-baut-praesenz-in-europa-weiter-aus-und-ernennt-roman-exenberger-zum-regional-director-fuer-oesterreich

Ohpen Raises 25M in Series C Funding

Ohpen, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based provider of SaaS cloud-based core banking solutions, closed a €25m Series C financing round. Private equity firm Amerborgh made the investment, which brings the total amount raised by the company to $40m.

http://www.finsmes.com/2018/02/ohpen-raises-25m-in-series-c-funding.html

DataDome Raises €2.5M in Second Funding

DataDome, a Paris, France-based provider of a SaaS cybersecurity solution protecting websites from bot traffic, raises €2.5m in second funding.

http://www.finsmes.com/2018/02/datadome-raises-e2-5m-in-second-funding.html

POS system provider strengthens top management with Ludwig Lutter and Ulrich Abend

With two prominent new entrants, Gastrofix causes a sensation in the industry: since January 1, Ludwig Lutter (51) as CFO and Ulrich Abend (39) as CTO the top management of the successful POS system pioneer. Lutter brings with him many years of experience from listed companies to start-ups; Evening comes from Oracle, where he most recently was senior director of software development.

https://www.gastrofix.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/gastrofix-erweitert-top-management.pdf