News

Newsletter, 26 September – 02 Oktober 2015

Kreditech Nabs $92M To Build Financial Services For The ‘Underbanked’

Another startup out of Europe focused on finance has raised a hefty round of funding. Kreditech, a German company building a suite of credit and banking products for consumers who have little or no credit history, has raised €82.5 million ($92 million) to continue adding more products and geographies to its platform…The round was led by U.S.-based private equity firm J.C. Flowers.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/28/kreditech-series-c/

Fintech-Startup Valendo raises €1 million

Berlin-based online pawnshop Valendo found another investor: Entrepreneur Friedhelm Herb. In addition to the round from March 2015, where company builder FinLeap invested, it now has over €1 million in funding. The investment will be used to grow the team.

http://venturevillage.eu/20150930-rocketinternet

British Warren Buffet invests in Nanopayment-Startup (SatoshiPay)

Mit seiner Investmentgesellschaft Kuala hat Star-Investor Jim Mellon zehn Prozent an dem Startup SatoshiPay übernommen, das von den drei Deutschen Meinhard Benn, Henning Peters und Kilian Thalhammer gegründet wurde.

http://www.gruenderszene.de/allgemein/satoshi-pay-jim-mellon-seed

FTF on Tour – InvestTech: Insurgents, Incumbents, Investors & FCA innovation hub

Fintech Forum organized a high quality happening in London focused only on InvestTech, this past Friday. The event had representative stakeholders from the entire financial ecosystem. The regulator, the incumbents, the insurgents, and investors, were all represented.

http://dailyfintech.com/2015/09/28/ftf-on-tour-investtech-insurgents-incumbents-investors-fca-innovation-hub/

Erstes Fintech Forum in London: Der schnelle Erfolg kommt über Kooperationen mit Finanzdienstleistern

In London gastierte das erste „Fintech Forum On Tour – Invest-Tech“ in Canary Wharf. Der Veranstalter Techfluence hatte 20 Start-ups eingeladen, sich vor Vertretern namhafter Banken, Venture-Capital-Investoren und Fondsgesellschaften vorzustellen. Das private banking magazin berichtet von der Veranstaltung.

https://www.private-banking-magazin.de/erstes-fintech-forum-in-london-der-schnelle-erfolg-kommt-ueber-kooperationen-mit-finanzdienstleistern-1443629333/

(More about the event: check out the post-event blog by AdviseOnly (Are FinTech and FinTech Startups just buzwwords?) as well as articles in the Private Banking Magazin (), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (London lockt FinTech Firmengründer), Börsen-Zeitung (London wirbt um FinTech Gründer – paywall) 

The 12 European tech startups that are most likely to be worth $1 billion next 

Food delivery startup HelloFresh made it onto GP Bullhound’s original list, and has already reached billion-dollar status. German credit scoring firm Kreditech, which has just raised another $92 million in Series C funding, could be next.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/12-tech-startups-that-could-be-europes-next-1-billion-unicorns-2015-6

Contactless payment ring launches on Kickstarter

Former Ukash CEO David Hunter has joined wearable payments startup Kerv as chairman as the firm kicks off a crowdfunding campaign for the launch of its first product, a contactless payments ring.

http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=27894&utm_medium=DailyNewsletter&utm_source=2015-9-26

Bitbond Launches Global Bitcoin Affiliate Program

Bitcoin lending platform Bitbond today announced the launch of its new global affiliate program. The affiliate program is designed to open up the services Bitbond provides, and allow the vibrant Bitbond community to share in the revenue of the company.

http://www.coindesk.com/press-releases/bitbond-launches-bitcoin-affiliate-program/

Britain’s first new retail bank in five years launches: Fidor Bank from Germany.

Fidor Bank, an online-only branchless bank that offers “60-second services”, has launched in the UK. Founded in Germany, Fidor’s model is based around its online community where customers are financially rewarded for giving and receiving financial advice, along with reviewing financial products and services that they’ve used.

http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/17981/online-news/britains-first-new-retail-bank-in-five-years-launches

comdirect starts Accelerator for FinTechs – Interview with Hol­ger Hohrein

comdirect startet keinen VC, keinen Inkuba­tor – sondern will als “erste Bank in Deutsch­land ei­ne Start-up Gara­ge” auf den Weg brin­gen (Pressemitteilung). Das neue Format soll Grün­der und ihre FinTechs noch vor der ersten Zeile Code lo­cken. Ein Accelerator – nur früher. Wir ha­ben bei Fi­nanzvor­stand Hol­ger Hohr­ein, der im comdirect-Vor­stand für Innovati­on und Start-ups zuständig ist, nach­gehakt.

http://www.it-finanzmagazin.de/cfo-holger-hohrein-kein-inkubator-comdirect-bringt-eine-start-up-garage-fuer-fintechs-20034/

Switzerland gets new fintech accelerator

A Zurich-based accelerator co-founded by a former UBS IT manager is looking to establish Switzerland as a hotbed for fintech innovation.

http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=27908&utm_medium=DailyNewsletter&utm_source=2015-10-1

Temenos sponsors the Open Bank Project

Temenos, the market leading provider of mission-critical solutions to the financial services industry, today announces that it has entered a sponsorship agreement with the Open Bank Project.

http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/2015/Sep/23/temenos-sponsors-the-open-bank-project.html

“Trotz des Hypes ist die Zahl der Fintechs noch zu gering“

Dass ein Bankchef sich mehr Fintechs wünscht, kommt nicht alle Tage vor. Der Comdirect-CEO Arno Walter hat es im Gründerszene-Interview getan. Durch Kooperationen mit den Startups will er vermeiden, dass die Commerzbank-Tochter in Zukunft Trends verschläft.

http://www.gruenderszene.de/allgemein/comdirect-fintechs-startup-garage?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily&utm_term=comdirect-fintechs-startup-garage&utm_date=2015-09-28

Warum sich Banken und Investoren auf Fintechs stürzen

Große Geldhäuser locken Startups massenhaft in ihre Versuchslabore. In die sogenannten Fintechs investieren Banken Milliarden – und erhoffen sich Billionen. Die Finanzaufsicht betrachtet die Entwicklung mit Wohlwollen.

http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/banken-versicherungen/commerzbank-deutsche-bank-und-co-warum-sich-banken-und-investoren-auf-fintechs-stuerzen/12370682.html