ING has launched ING Ventures with a €300m vehicle aimed at FinTech companies.
The newly created division will be part of ING’s Chief Innovation Office and will be completely funded by ING. The vehicle is not only to serve financial purposes, but to help ING itself and its ‘Think Forward’ strategy.
This fund will invest in FinTech companies that have already gained traction in the market. ING will primarily back businesses in countries where it has a presence, or plans to expand into.
ING Ventures CEO Benoit Legrand said, “Establishing this fund is yet another way for ING to use the digital revolution as a growth opportunity and help transform the bank to become the go-to platform for financial needs and become part of other platforms.”
ING recently expanded its services to include instant lending to SMEs in France and Italy. The new service came from a collaboration with SME lending platform Kabbage. ING initially invested in to Kabbage in 2015. Earlier this month, the lending provider raised a $161m, and two months prior to that, secured a $250m investment from Softbank Group.
Earlier this month FinTech Global reported Blockchain Capital had raised up to $59m for its latest vehicle, which has a target of $75m. The fund comes only months after the firm’s previous raise, which was targeting $50m.
The global FinTech sector is set to hit a record year of fundraising, after the first three quarters of 2017 saw around $28.7bn deployed in 1,426 deals. This investment activity is compared to last’s years record-breaking level of $30bn; however, this was across more deals with 2,128 being completed.
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