News

Newsletter: 20 April 2018

Apply for the 10th FinTech Forum / 5th Anniversary Edition!

Apply to pitch at the 5th Anniversary Edition of the event that kicked-off the FinTech scene in Germany / D-A-CH: exactly 5 years since the inaugural FinTech Forum held on 22nd Nov. 2013.

http://www.fintechforum.de/apply-for-the-10th-fintech-forum/

Second largest German stock exchange brings its own app for crypto trading

Stuttgart Stock Exchange, Germany’s second-largest stock exchange is launching an app for trading in cryptocurrencies via its fintech subsidiary Sowa Labs. According to the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, the app called Bison is the “world’s first crypto app with a traditional stock exchange behind it”.

https://t3n.de/news/boerse-app-krypto-handel-1022125/

ING-DiBa cooperates with the FinTech Smartsteuer

Smartsteuer promises to complete the tax return online as quickly and easily as possible. The Hanover-based start-up has already been enabling browser-based recording of the relevant tax data for several years. ING-DiBa now offers its customers the possibility to complete tax returns quickly and easily online.

https://www.it-finanzmagazin.de/steuererklaerung-ing-diba-kooperiert-mit-dem-fintech-smartsteuer-69162/

Bank Startup N26 wants to hit the black in two years
The Berlin Internet bank N26 wants to reach the profit zone with its million dollar cashinjection . “We want in the next two years in the black,” announced company boss Valentin Stalf. Much of the recent 130 million euros collected by investors flow into the growth of existing markets and are mainly invested in the development of the workforce. “We could be profitable with our almost one million customers we have today,” said the 32-year-old. However, everything is designed for “extreme growth”, which is why the breakeven “only with two to three million customers” is achieved.

http://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/online-bank-bank-startup-n26-will-in-zwei-jahren-schwarze-zahlen-schreiben/21172728.html

Qapital Secures $30M in Financing
Qapital, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of a mobile banking app designed around people’s goals, secured $30M in financing. The financing was anchored by Swedbank Robur, with participation from Northzone.

The Qapital app includes Qapital Savings for short-term savings goals, and Qapital Spending to be used as a checking account with the Qapital Visa Debit Card, which is overlaid with budgeting tools like the Qapital Weekly Spending Target. Qapital Invest, a robo investment product, will be added to the experience soon.

http://www.finsmes.com/2018/04/qapital-secures-30m-in-financing.html

Alan Raises €23M in Series A Funding
Alan, a Paris, France-based digital insurance company, raised €23m in Series A funding. The round was led by Index Ventures with participation from Xavier Niel, Open CNP, Partech and Portag3 Ventures LP.

Alan is a licensed digital health insurance provider. It is a primary insurer and distributes its own health plans directly to companies and individuals. Alan has already covered more than 7,000 people at 850 companies.

http://www.finsmes.com/2018/04/alan-raises-e23m-in-series-a-funding.html

VCXO Briefing with Stefan Tirtey, CommerzVentures
1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Stefan and I am MD at CommerzVentures which I helped kicking off in 2014. I have been investing in early-stage technology ventures for over 15 years now, having previously worked for Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures and Earlybird. I have invested in a number of tech, b2b and b2c companies. I was the first VC to invest in SoundCloud and served 5 years on its board. Currently I work with our portfolio companies etoro, Marqeta, Mambu, and Omnyway.

https://www.techfluence.eu/vcxo-stefan-tirtey-commerzventures.html

Savedroid ICO’s exit scam was actually a very dumb PR stunt

Yesterday, numerous news outlets reported that popular cryptocurrency startup Savedroid – which purportedly raised $50 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) – had pulled an exit scam.

But in an interesting turn of events, it appears that the suspected exit scam was nothing more than a poorly thought-out PR stunt.

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/04/19/savedroid-ico-not-gone

VIVA Technology Paris 2018

At the VIVA Technology in Paris from 24. to 26. May 2018 thousands of start-ups, entrepreneurs and investors from all of Europe to build new networks, existing to deepen cooperations and to support their own entrepreneurs through an intensive exchange of experience with experts and to bring forward comrades-in-arms. VIVA Technology offers you an ideal opportunity to to establish direct contact with young entrepreneurs from other countries.

Contact: Dirk Wasserthal junger-mittelstand@bvmw.de for a 30% discount for FinTech Forum alumni.

Vodafone discontinues its digital wallet

It is obviously difficult to get the Germans used to paying by mobile – Vodafone is now ending their attempt. Vodafone is not the first mobile operator to try to revolutionize payment in Germany with a digital wallet. O2, Telefónica Germany and Deutsche Telekom had already tried this a few years ago and finally stopped their offers.

http://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/bezahlen-mit-dem-smartphone-vodafone-stellt-seine-digitale-geldboerse-ein/21184112.html

Finhaven becomes the new fintech hotspot in Hamburg

There are a lot of coworking spaces in Hamburg, but this one is different. finhaven is tailored to an industry that is of outstanding importance to the local startup scene: the financial world and its digital avant-garde, the fintechs. Finhaven is due to celebrate its opening in HafenCity this year.

http://www.hamburg-startups.net/finhaven-wird-der-neue-fintech-hotspot-in-hamburg/