A total of $1.8bn was raised across the 43 FinTech deals, which marks a small rise from the previous week where $1.1bn was raised.
One of the biggest deals this week was raised by CredAvenue, which helps businesses and entrepreneurs secure debt from lenders. The Indian Fintech company, which raised $137m, became the fastest Indian FinTech startup to join the unicorn club.
India is no stranger to FinTech unicorns. In 2021, it produced 7% of the worlds new FinTech unicorns, only following the US and the UK. The country saw 11 companies reach the coveted status, including CRED, a credit card bill reward platform that hit a $4bn valuation.
The country’s FinTechs is expected to grow rapidly, with the Boston Consulting Group expecting it to be worth $150bn by 2025.
Another one of the biggest funding rounds last week was raised by CyberTech unicorn Axonius, which raised $200m in funding. The company, which provides organisations with a suite of security solutions, more than doubled its valuation to $2.6bn.
The CyberTech space has seen a strong start to 2022. The sector accounted for 31% of new FinTech unicorns in February. Among these was Salt, a US-based company, which is valued at $1.4bn.
Here are the 43 funding rounds from last week.
Automated investor Acorns hits $1.9bn valuation
Online investing platform Acorns has raised $300m in Series F funding, propelling it to a $1.9bn valuation.
According to a report by CNBC, TPG led the Series F round with additional investors including BlackRock, Bain Capital Ventures, Galaxy Digital, and a firm created by Brooklyn Nets player Kevin Durant.
The funding follows the company’s announcement last year that it would go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). It later cancelled the deal at the beginning of the year, citing “marketing conditions.”
Founded in 2012, Acorns is an automated investing service that lets customers invest spare change from card transactions into a managed portfolio of ETFs for a monthly fee of $3 to $5. The firm says it has 4.6 million customers.
The company said it will use its funding to further build out its family-specific offerings, products and content that increase portfolio personalisation and new crypto offerings.
CyberTech unicorn more than doubles valuation
Cybersecurity unicorn Axonius has more than doubled its valuation to $2.6bn, following the close of a $200m funding round.
The investment was led by seasoned FinTech investor Accel, with commitments also coming from Silver Lake Waterman and Bessemer Venture Partners, according to a report from Reuters.
The CyberTech company is a cybersecurity asset management platform that provides organisations with a suite of asset inventory, uncovers security solutions coverage gaps and automatically validates and enforces security policies.
Its platform is used within the finance, healthcare, retail, government, energy, manufacturing industries, and more.
The CyberTech company reached a $1bn valuation in 2021, after it closed its Series D round on $100m. US-based growth equity investor Stripes served as the lead investor, with commitments also coming from Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), OpenView, Lightspeed and Vertex.
CredAvenue becomes fastest Indian FinTech startup to become a unicorn
CredAvenue, which helps businesses and entrepreneurs secure debt from lenders, has secured $137m in Series B funding, making it the fastest Indian FinTech startup to join the unicorn club.
According to a report by TechCrunch, the round was led by Insight Partners, B Capital Group and Dragoneer and brings the company’s valuation to $1.3bn, up from approximately $410m in September last year.
CredAvenue has built what it says is India’s most comprehensive technology stack to meet business’ complete debt cycle from disbursal to collections.
It operates platforms for giving loans and working capital solutions to enterprises, for banks and non-banking financial institutions to partner for co-lending, and to help institutional and retail participants for bond issuance. Additionally, it also offers trade financing and end-to-end securitisation and portfolio buyouts.
CredAvenue said it plans to deploy the funding to expand its business in India and is also looking to acquire companies to fuel its growth. The company recently acquired a collection startup called Spocto.
Lending app for immigrants Stilt bags $114m
Stilt, a financial services platform for immigrants, has bagged $114m for its Series A round, alongside the general launch of its new product.
Link Ventures acted as the lead investor, with participation also coming from Petrushka Investments, Hillsven Capital, Gokul Rajaram, Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson, Checkout.com CTO Ott Kaukver, Superhuman CEO Rahul Vohra, Josh Buckely and others.
Alongside the funding, the FinTech company secured a $100m debt facility.
The FinTech company aims to democratise access to transparent credit products for those typically missed by other services providers, such immigrants, international students, visa holders and more.
Stilt has also announced the general launch of its credit-as-a-service offering Onbo. The platform claims to be the first of its kind to allow any business to build and offer a credit product without needing a bank sponsor in the background.
Onbo manages the complexity of origination, payments and credit reporting for customers and helps businesses get started with debt capital of up to $1m.
The platform has been piloted with several startup customers. Onbo funds user accounts, deducts payments and updates every reimbursement in real time. It also includes a loan management system with built-in accounting tools.
AutoFi closes funding at $700m valuation
AutoFi, a commerce platform for digital automotive sales and financing, has raised $85m in funding, bringing its valuation to nearly $700m.
The financing included participation from investors Santander Holdings USA, SVB Financial Group, the parent of Silicon Valley Bank, and Crosslink Capital.
The company said it plans to accelerate its investment in its engineering and customer-facing teams. With four consecutive years of 100% revenue growth, AutoFi said it has more than doubled the size of its staff in 2021 to 220 employees. The company’s platform processed more than one million automotive financing requests that resulted in more than $3bn in vehicle sales in 2021.
AutoFi said the capital will further innovation in transformative retailing experiences like its new “RealPayments” offering. This cloud-based pricing platform allows auto finance companies to extend their decisioning and pricing capabilities into point-of-search shopping experiences. In seconds, consumers are pre-qualified for financing and see their actual price and monthly payment across thousands of vehicles.
Capchase secures $80m in Series B
Capchase, a provider of non-dilutive capital for recurring revenue businesses, has raised $80m in Series B funding.
The round was led by 01 Advisors, with participation from QED, Caffeinated Capital, Bling Capital, ScifiVC, Thomvest Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Invesco and Gaingels also participated in the round.
Founded in May 2020, Capchase helps high-growth, recurring-revenue businesses achieve their top priorities: financing, growing, reaching profitability and expanding margins. The company provides a platform for high-growth companies to access and automate financing via cost effective lending and financing tools.
Since launch, Capchase said it has worked with nearly 3,000 companies across the US and Europe, making over $2bn in funding available to founders.
The company added that it estimates that almost 15% of financing has been extended to female and minority-led businesses – an increase compared to the limited funding these founders typically receive.
Nordic neobank adds $77m to Series D
Nordic neobank Lunar has closed a Series D-2 extension round on $77m, alongside the launch of a new cryptocurrency service.
This funding round was raised at a $2bn valuation, according to a report from TechCrunch.
The deal is an extension to its Series D, which initially closed on €210m back in July 2021. Investors to the initial capital injection include Heartland, Kinnevik, Tencent and IDC Ventures.
While the investors were not revealed, Lunar recently announced that American actor Will Ferrell joined the company as an investor.
With the capital burst, the company hopes to continue its growth in the Nordics. As part of this effort, the bank revealed it will release a crypto trading platform and a B2B payments service for its small and medium business clients.
On the launch of the Lunar Crypto users will be able to buy and sell bitcoin, Ethereum, cardano, polkadot and doge.
It is also believed that Lunar is in the process of raising a Series E round, which would be at a higher valuation, according to TechCrunch.
The digital bank was founded in 2015 and claims to have over 400,000 users across Denmark, Sweden and Norway. It offers both business and personal banking accounts.
India’s Money View closes $75m deal at $625m valuation
India-based FinTech platform Money View has closed its Series D funding round on $75m, which values the business at $625m.
The round was backed by Tiger Global, Winter Capital, Evolvence India, Accel, South Park Commons, Trusted Insight and Dream Incubator.
With the capital, the company plans to scale its core credit business, hire more staff and expand its product portfolio to include digital bank accounts, insurance and wealth management solutions.
The investment round comes after a strong year of growth for Money View, which recorded a four-times year-over-year growth. It also claims to disburse loans at an annualised run rate of $700m and is on a trajectory to reach $1bn AUM over the next 12 months.
Money View was co-founded by Puneet Agarwal and Sanjay Aggarwal and services as an online credit platform with a full suite of personalised credit products. Its features include personal loans, cards, BNPL and personal financial management solutions.
The company has partnered with over 15 financial institutions to offer credit and financial products on its platform.
Branch raises $75m
Branch, a workforce payments platform, has closed a Series C funding round totalling $75m, led by Addition.
The round also saw participation from equity investor General Atlantic along with return investors Drive Capital, Crosscut Ventures, and Indeed, among others.
Branch’s offerings include instant, digital payouts of tips, wages, off-cycle, and contractor payments; free earned wage access; zero-fee banking; and an accessible paycard alternative. The company said it powers faster payments and provides inclusive financial services to W-2 and 1099 workforces for companies such as Uber Freight, Kelly, Walmart Spark, Flashtract, and Tippy.
Branch is also rolling out expense management cards with large enterprise customers including trucking and logistics companies. Fleet operators can now provide cards to their drivers along with granular level expense controls to track spending. The company has also launched the ability to instantly issue a business debit card and a new cash back rewards program. Companies can add custom rewards for their employees and contractors to the program as well.
InsurTech company Xempus closes $70m Series D
InsurTech Xempus has bagged $70m in funding from a Series D financing round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Also participating in the round were HPE Growth and Cinco Capital. Following this round the company has raised a total of $125m since its inception.
According to FinTech Finance, Xempus sells more than 100,000 new policies through its per year and connects 18,000 insurance agents, 60,000 corporates and leading life insurers.
Since March 2020, the firm has signed more than 15 leading life insurers as new platform customers, helping generate approximately €7bn in secured future revenue for insurers, added more than 7,000 new insurance agents and helped agents earn more than €200m in commissions.
Xempus claims it intends to use the proceeds to broaden its policy sale and management offering in Germany, add new product verticals to the platform and roll out the Xempus platform in additional European countries.
Xempus CEO Tobias Wann said, “The management team and shareholders are excited that Goldman Sachs is joining us on our journey. “This funding allows us to further accelerate our pace as we innovate and tech-enable the insurance market in Europe, delivering better value to insurers, agents, corporates and employees.”
Data platform Argyle nets $55m
Argyle, an employment data platform that provides companies access to employment records, has raised $55m in Series B funding.
The round was led by SignalFire with participation from current investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Bedrock, and Checkr.
Argyle said it is transforming credit decisioning. The company believes consumers should not be evaluated on a single opaquely derived number, namely, the credit score. Instead, the company enables business customers to make decisions based on income verification and employment data that is real-time, user-permissioned, and equitable for all working individuals, not just full-time employees
Following Argyle’s $22.6m in prior funding, the company said the additional capital will be used to accelerate the growth of its in-house engineering team, fuel international expansion, and scale the company’s go-to-market operations.
FinTech for low-income families Propel nets $50m
Propel, a FinTech company designed to help low-income families in America to improve their financial health, has reportedly raised $50m.
The Series B round was led by Nyca Partners, with commitments also coming from JPMorgan Chase, Salesforce Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, according to a report from Forbes.
With the funds, the company plans to further the develop its platform and expand its debt card service.
Propel offers a free mobile app that helps users manage benefits, save money and earn income. It claims its platform is used by more than five million people across 50 states and three territories.
Other features include instant balance checking, coupons to make savings, access job postings and get instant updates about benefits.
With the capital injection, the company has raised a total of $80m in funding for its Series A.
Last year, Nyca Partners led the $200m Series B funding round of Thought Machine, a cloud-native core banking solution.
UAE-based BNPL platform tabby scores $50m
Dubai-based buy now, pay later platform tabby has secured $50m in its debt financing round from Partners for Growth.
The capital injection will bolster tabby’s capitalisation to expand lending capacity and grow its partner’s base.
Founded in 2019, tabby helps retailers enhance their sales offering through flexible payment options that let people pay over time, interest-free.
Through its services, which are used by more than 2,000 global brands and small businesses, allows people to pay for items via four instalments.
The FinTech company previously raised $50m in its Series B funding round back in 2021. Global Founders Capital and STV served as the lead investors, with commitments also coming from CCVA, Delivery Hero, Arbor Ventures, Raed Ventures, MSA Capital and many others.
DataRails collects $50m in Series B
Financial planning and analysis platform DataRails has scored $50m in its Series B funding round.
Qumra Capital served as the lead investor to the round. Other contributions came from investors La Maison Partners, ClalTech, Zeev Ventures, Vertex Ventures Israel, Innovation Endeavors, Joey Low, Vintage Investment Partners, Oryzn Capital and Icon Venture.
With the capital injection, DataRails plans to invest in its R&D and bolster its sales and marketing efforts. Funds will also be used to support the global expansion of its customer base.
This investment marks DataRail’s third investment over the past 12 months. DataRails has experienced a five-times growth in revenue over the past year.
The company closed its Series A funding round back in June 2021. It secured $25m in a Series A extension, which doubled its valuation to an undisclosed amount.
DataRails provides teams with a cloud-based centralised database that supports real-time consolidation of disparate financial and operational data from across a company. With this, a company can rduce the manual workloads of gathering and consolidating data for staple reports, including budgets, P&Ls, balance sheets and month-end reporting.
Life benefits service Forma closes Series B
Life benefits platform Forma has raised $40m in Series B funding in a mission to transform employee benefits for the modern workforce.
The round was led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Emergence Capital, Stripe, Designer Fund, Upside Partnership, and AngelPad.
Forma, formerly known as Twic, said it enabled modern companies to design and scale flexible global benefits programmes with options that fit employees’ lives, from health and wellbeing to lifestyle.
The company said the funding will be used to accelerate product development, invest in sales and marketing, and make key hires.
Cider Security gulps down seed and Series A
Cider Security, an application security startup, has emerged from stealth with $6m in seed funding and $32m from a Series A raise.
The Series A was led by Tiger Global Management and secured participation from Giliot Capital Partners and Giliot+, Giliot’s early growth fund.
Launched in 2020, Cider claims it seeks to eliminate the friction between engineering and security teams and to help firms build application security programs fast.
It describes its platform as an ‘AppSec Operating System’ that offers a full view of the engineering ecosystem in order to secure the entire application development process.
The firm stated that the controls and solutions it provides can help companies implement end-to-end continuous integration and continuous deliver security and deploy application security programs within minutes.
According to Cider, it plans to use the new capital to expand its research and development operations in Israel and to open new offices around the world, as well as to support increasing demand.
Door-to-door shipping solution scores $35m
Convelio, which provides door-to-door shipping solutions for fine art, including insurance, has raised $35m in Series B funding.
The round saw participation from the European Investment Fund and from two backers, both of which are from the technology sector: Forestay, a UK and Switzerland-based VC fund and venture capital fund, and Mundi Ventures, a Spain-based venture capital firm.
Founded in 2017, Convelio describes itself as a fine art shipping company with a digital approach. Its algorithm considers various parameters such as fragility, dimensions and price to assemble the most appropriate value-chain for each shipment.
The company also provides an insurance offering embedded into the transaction, covering air, sea and road freight transport.
Convelio said it will use the funding to scale its team in the US, invest in its technology and enhance its core product offering.
CyberTech platform Cybersixgill pulls in $35m
Cybersixgill, a threat intelligence firm, has closed a Series B funding round on $35m.
The round was led by More Provident and Pension Funds and REV Venture Partners. It saw additional participation from CrowdStrike, OurCrowd, SonaelM and Elron Ventures. Following the round, Cybersixgill has raised a total of $56m since inception.
Founded in 2014, Cybersixgill has developed fully-automated threat intelligence solutions that help organisations fight cybercrime, detect phishing, data leaks, fraud and vulnerabilities as well as amplify incident response, all in real-time.
The Tel Aviv-based firm’s investigative portal helps security teams with contextual and actionable alerts along with the ability to conduct covert investigations.
Cybersixgill’s investigative portal empowers security teams with contextual and actionable alerts along with the ability to conduct real-time, covert investigations.
According to Security Week, Cybersixgill has doubled its global footprint over the last three years and is now serving hundreds of entities in APAC, EMEA and North America.
Cybersixgill said it plans to use the funding to build on customer momentum, expand its global footprint and grow its marketing and sales teams.
PayTech app Dash speeds to seed funding close
Payments app provider Dash has secured $32.8m in a seed funding round headed by Insight Venture Partners.
The round also saw participation from Global Founders Capital, ASK Capital, 4DX Ventures and Zinal Growth Partners. Individual investors included Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau, Jitendra Gupta of Jupiter Money and the founders of Moss, executives from ProcessOut and the founders of PennyLane.
Founded in 2019, New York-headquartered Dash claims it is building an accessible, modern and unified alternative payment network for African consumers. The firm is currently operating in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria.
Users of Dash can send and spend as well as receive money – regardless of currency – and pay for goods and services, save and invest all through the app.
In January 2022 alone, Dash secured a total processed volume of over $300m, which was up 3x on a monthly basis from the fourth quarter of 2021.
According to Dash, it intends to use the money to launch new features and expand its footprint across key markets in Africa.
Flume Health gets hands on $30m Series A
Flume Health, a health-plan-as-a-service platform, has scored $30m in its Series A funding round, which was led by Optum Ventures.
Cigna Ventures also joined the round as a first-time backer, with existing Flume Health investors Crosslink Capital, Route 66 Ventures, Accomplice, Founder Collective, Primary Venture Partners and ERA’s Remarkable Ventures Fund also joining the round.
Flume is aimed at delivering digital-first health plans tailored to patients’ unique health needs and preferences. Through the digital platform for health plan administration, Flume can empower any established or emerging health insurer or care provider to launch health plans that are tailored to the unique needs of any patient population.
It claims to be a fully managed central nervous system for any health plan, which improves plan building, point solution integration and real-time member visibility.
With the close of the round, the company has raised a total of $40m in funding.
Truv closes Series A on $25m
Truv, which simplifies income and employment verification processes, has closed its Series A funding round on $25m.
The investment was led by Kleiner Perkins, with contributions also coming from NYCA, Abstract Ventures, Fathom Capital, Elefund, Soma VC and Function. As part of the deal, Kleiner Perkins partner Ilya Fushman has joined the Truv board of directors.
Truv, which was formerly Citadel API, aims to create a one-stop solution so financial institutions can make quick, high-quality decisions and accelerate turnarounds.
It launched in 2020 with a consumer-permissioned instant verification infrastructure connecting financial institutions to over 120 million US employees.
The company claims income and employment verification might seem insignificant, but they are crucial to an individual’s access to essenetial services like mortgages, loans and employment.
Kleiner Perkins partner Ilya Fushman said, “Truv is leading the industry in bringing an all-in-one verification solution into the hands of enterprise institutions. Truv’s continued investment in the product, sales and marketing, and partnerships with key financial institutions, such as Experian, are the right moves to accelerate Truv’s growth.”
B2B FinTech OpenGamma scores $21m
Allianz X has led a funding round of London-based B2B FinTech OpenGamma with a total of $21m.
OpenGamma said through its proprietary software offering, it helps asset managers and other professional financial market participants to increase the capital efficiency of their portfolios, particularly when it comes to posting collateral in derivative transactions.
The use of OpenGamma’s technology provides clients with significant capital savings, the company added.
Following this latest funding round, OpenGamma said it will continue to expand its offering, including the launch of automated workflow solutions for the treasury management of asset managers and other financial participants.
Sweden’s Insurely raises $20m
Sweden-based InsurTech Insurely has raised €19m in Series A funding led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital Insight Partners.
The round also saw participation from the Swedish investors Alfvén & Didrikson. The company had, until today, raised €3m. Previous investors, Luminar Ventures, Philian, and Neptunia Invest, continued to invest in the A funding round, with Insight Partners and Alfvén & Didrikson entering as new investors.
Insurely said its open insurance platform makes it possible for insurers and financial players to access real-time data from the insurance market. The data helps players to personalise and streamline the customer journey online, optimising their pricing and developing products that customers demand.
Several Swedish players like Avanza, ICA Försäkring, Lassie and Hedvig are using Insurely, and the company said with this latest funding, its solutions will soon be made available in other European markets as well.
Singapore-based InsurTech Igloo nets $19m
InsurTech company Igloo has closed its Series B funding round on $19m, as it looks to bolster its presence in Southeast Asia.
Global venture capital firm Cathay Innovation served as the lead investor, with commitments also coming from ACA and Openspace.
Funds from the round will be used to bolster its product innovation efforts and its full-stack capabilities, as well as acquire intermediary assets. As part of its growth efforts, it will further target the underinsured in Southeast Asia.
Singapore-based Igloo builds insurance infrastructure which is powered by artificial intelligence and big data to help customers find policies which best meet their lifestyle and needs.
It offers insurance solutions for auto, cybersecurity, electronic and personal goods, e-wallet, personal accident, single disease, transit and travel. The company will soon launch solutions for pet insurance.
Igloo recently launched a new app, Ignite by Igloo, to streamline the insurance sales journey for agents and direct intermediaries. It aims to enhance the sellers’ productivity by creating a smoother and efficient sales process.
With the close of the round, the company has raised a total of $36m. It previously raised $8.2m in funding back in 2020.
Alongside the funding round, Igloo has promoted Raunak Mehta, previously chief commercial officer, as its new co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO).
Automated ID verification service Thirdfort nabs $19m
Thirdfort, which offers automated ID verification services, has raised £15m in its latest funding round.
The round was backed by Breega and Element Ventures.
Thirdfort aims to help businesses with automated ID verification, AML compliance and source funds checks.
A client will start their ID checks instantly, with Thirdfort able to chase them and ensure the business gets the necessary information. To ensure strict identity verification, the platform leverages passport chip reading, facial recognition and liveness checks.
The Fintech company has grown a lot in the past two years. In January 2020 it had a team of ten, with 30 business clients and one industry partner. Now it has 100 staff members, 700 business clients and 15 partners.
Thirdfort previously raised £1.5m in a funding round in 2021 to support the development of its product. Investors to the round include Cazoo and Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman and Mishcon de Reya.
Automated CyberTech platform SafeBase scores $18m
SafeBase, a cybersecurity platform that automates access to sensitive documents, has closed its Series A funding round on $18m.
Global venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates served as the lead investor, with commitments also coming from Y Combinator and Comcast Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Comcast Corporation.
This capital burst will help SafeBase foster its growth and hire more staff.
SafeBase, which claims to be a smart trust centre for a company’s security posture, provides clients with a self-serve access portal so infosec teams can see the entire security program. Its platform is designed to automate access and provide security and compliance information for industry standards such as GDPR, HIPAA compliance and SOC2.
Milo nabs $17m in its Series A
Milo, a FinTech aimed at transforming how consumers access financial solutions, has scored $17m in its Series A funding round.
Californian venture capital firm M13 served as the lead investor, with commitments also coming from QED Investors and MetaProp.
With the capital infusion, the company hopes to further its product development efforts and accelerate its hiring efforts to meet the demand for crypto mortgages.
The platform helps US consumers get a mortgage. Earlier this year, the company released the first-ever 30-year crypto mortgage and has already started processing applications from its waitlist of 7,400 consumers.
Milo’s first product was a mortgage solution for foreign nationals, which has grown by over 250% in the past 12 months and processes $500m in applications from over 90 countries.
The FinTech company previously raised $6m in a seed funding round back in 2021. The round was backed by QED Investors, MetaProp and 10xCapital.
Dutch BNPL solution in3 scores $11.1m
Dutch buy bow, pay later platform in3 has scored $11.1m in fresh funding from Finch Capital.
Alongside the funding round, the FinTech company has launched a free BNPL service for consumers through a partnership with digital payments firm Worldline. This will first go live in the Netherlands.
This capital injection will help in3 deepen its technology capabilities, bolster customer satisfaction and hire more staff.
The FinTech company was created in 2018 as a solution to the traditional BNPL market providers.
The FinTech company allows consumers to pay for products in three instalments over 60 days and at zero costs, with no interest or transaction costs.
Langenhuizen continued to state that this now gives people the ability to pay for products over three monthly salaries, rather than one.
Its current customers include Kwik Fit, EP, La Souris, Matt sleeps, Dekbed-Discounter and others.
in3 claims the BNPL sector in the Netherlands is expected to grow by 74.8% in 2022 to reach $7.6bn. Furthermore, BNPL adoption is expected to grow at a CAGR of 32.8% over the next six years.
InsurTech MGA Loadsure raises $11m
InsurTech MGA Loadsure has raised $11m in Series A funding led by MMC Ventures for its freight insurance technology.
Also participating in the round was global maritime, energy and logistics company Crowley and existing investor InsurTech Gateway.
Loadsure leverages AI and automation to provide a transactional cargo insurance platform and automated claims process.
The company said it will rapidly scale its organisation to accelerate the development of its proprietary smart technology, increase its reach, and better serve the global cargo and freight insurance market through a more efficient, effective distribution chain.
The InsurTech highlighted that 60 to 90% of cargo in transit is under or uninsured, the company said this is in part because traditional insurance can’t keep pace with the just-in-time supply chain. As a result, many freight brokers, shippers, and carriers are operating with broad risk exposure, especially small-to-medium-sized businesses, which have historically been underserved by the insurance industry, Loadsure added.
Third-party cyber risk manager VISO Trust snares $11m
VISO Trust, a provider of third-party cyber risk management solutions, has snared $11m in Series A funding.
The funding round was led by Bain Capital Ventures and saw participation from Lytical Ventures, Work-Bench and Sierra Ventures, as well as investment from the CEOs of Splunk, CrowdStrike and Mandiant. Following this round, VISO has bagged $14m to date.
Launched in 2020, VISO claims its AI-based platform uses machine learning, document heuristics and natural language processing to automate the identification, classification and assessment of relevant control language artifacts at third parties.
The firm also stated its third-party cyber due diligence platform can offer organisations the insights they require to make informed risk decisions and to make sure that their relationships with vendors and partners are fully secured.
Accounts payable firm Glean AI closes seed round
Intelligent accounts payable firm Glean AI has raised $10.8m in seed financing to grow its platform and technology.
Leading the round was Contour Venture Partners, Amex Ventures, Infinity Ventures, Portage Ventures, B Capital Group, Parameter Ventures and several other venture funds and angel investors.
Glean AI claims it is the first intelligence accounts payable solution that combines smart automation with spend intelligence. The company’s platform analyses line-item data and uses powerful algorithms to understand cost, value, purchasing trends and opportunities for savings, while helping firms pay invoices faster and cut out significant manual work.
According to the firm, an estimated 14% of invoices contain billing errors and 11% of vendor spend could be reduced with greater scrutiny of invoices and billing relationships. This translates into $130bn wasted annually, just for SMEs.
Glean AI said it will use the money to accelerate its growth and industry-leading spend intelligence technology.
InsurTech company Talage nets $9m
Talage, a provider of digital distribution software solutions for commercial insurance, has raised $9m in its latest funding round.
The round was led by Merus Capital, with participation by Calibrate Ventures, Hallador Financial, Advantage Capital, and Reno Seed Fund.
Founded in 2015, Talage is a digital distribution platform for the property & casualty (P&C) insurance industry that automates manual processes such as applications or submissions. The company said the solution allows agencies, wholesale brokers, and other carrier partners with the digital tools the support automation and growth
Talage said the financing will broaden its reach, increase brand awareness and help it become the go-to partner for carriers, agents, and wholesalers that adopt its tools in the commercial insurance industry.
As the small business insurance ecosystem has rushed to adopt innovations that enable carriers, agents, and wholesalers to generate more business with greater efficiency, Talage said it has seen a spike in demand for its technology.
Hopsotch skips to $6.1m seed extension
Hopscotch, a community-oriented B2B payments platform that facilitates instant, fee-free payments for small businesses and startups, has launched its private beta alongside a $6.1m seed extension.
The funding extension brings the company’s total funding to $9.95m. The round was led by Shine Capital and Stellation Capital with participation from additional investors, including NOEMIS Ventures, 3KVC, Valar Ventures, and Red & Blue Ventures.
Hopscotch said it helps businesses process their accounts payable and receivable without being charged fees. The platform enables users to transact with their clients and vendors, even if their clients and vendors don’t have a Hopscotch account. For Hopscotch users, when their client issues a payment, the funds are instantly transferred and accessible, a distinction from traditional payment methods with standard processing periods of two to eight days. The entire process is also completely fee-free.
With the launch of its private beta, Hopscotch has opened its virtual doors to waitlist customers. Beginning in Q2, businesses that have been invoiced or paid by existing Hopscotch users can join by registering with the email their vendor or client used.
Hopscotch said it has grown quickly since the assembly of its founding team in August 2021. The seed extension will enable it to double the team across all departments, expedite the launch of revenue-generating features, and continue to scale the growing community of “Hopscotchers.”
Cardlay bags $6m to help grow its payment tech
FinTech firm Cardlay has bagged $6m in a funding round as it looks to move onto the next step of its growth journey.
Cardlay has developed software that is aimed at helping firms automate business processes by leveraging integration between payment cards – both virtual and plastic – card management, expense management and automated VAT reclaim.
The capital influx has been invested through Cardlay’s current investors and will be used to finalise an integrated solution for commercial payment, integrate another large international bank into the portfolio as well as deliver a large order to an undisclosed German customer.
Chidlren pocket money app Junio nets $6m
Digital payments firm Junio, which focuses on managing children’s pocket money, has raised $6m in a pre-Series A funding round.
According to a report from IBS Intelligence, the round was led by UAE-based firm NB Ventures with participation from The Rajiv Dadlani Group.
Offering a ‘smart card’ that allows children to make offline and online purchases, Junio aims to digitise pocket money for children.
The New Delhi-based start-up’s goal is to nurture discipline and awareness in children about how to manage money, in a fun and practical way. Parents have visibility to the spending patterns of their children, and can guide towards early lessons in money management.
London’s Kolleno scores seed round
London-based Kolleno has closed its seed funding round on $5.4m (£4m), with Eurazeo and Stride.VC leading the round.
Commitments to the round also came from Euler Hermes, HubSpot and several angel investors including Michael Pennington, Mark Ransford, and Will Neale.
With the fresh access to funds, the FinTech company is planning to extend its capabilities and offerings. To support this, it plans to expand its product, marketing, sales and partnership teams and offerings.
The FinTech company was founded in 2020 by former Goldman Sachs analyst Dimitri Raziev and ex-Expedia Group senior big data developer Ron Danenberg. Their goal was to simplify B2B credit control and collections for SMEs by automating the management of receivables on a single platform.
Kolleno was born from their founders’ experience observing the impact manual processes and poor cash flow management has on SMEs. Its platform handles cash reconciliations, prioritising workflows and tailoring collection strategies through the most effective communication channels.
It also boasts a payment portal which can be accessed by a customer directly through an email or text.
In under 18 months of operation, Kolleno has acquired customers across Europe, the UK, the US, Canada and South Africa.
PayTech for gig workers scores Series A
SteadyPay, a financial partner for workers in the gig economy, has reportedly raised $5m for its Series A round.
Digital Horizon, an investor based on B2B businesses, served as the lead investor, according to a report from TechCrunch. Other participants included Ascension Ventures, the UK government’s Future Fund and unnamed angel investors.
This fresh capital will help SteadyPay release additional products by leveraging its data to make AI-based insights available to users. It also plans to expand its customer base by targeting small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs.
Funds will also be used to move into new international markets.
Its app enables gig workers to have regulator income, despite working irregular hours, which can be impacted by reduced shifts, fewer bookings and sickness. When a user is paid less than normal, SteadyPay will advance the user money, which can bring their salary back to normal.
The company previously raised £2.9m in a funding round in 2019.
E-commerce app for businesses bags seed funding
Zaapi, a mobile app that enables small businesses to launch an e-commerce presence, has raised $4m in seed funding.
According to a report by Crowdfund Insider, GFC, Flourish Ventures, and Partech, led the investment. Other institutional investors in the round included 1982 Ventures, Kaya Founders, Iterative, XA Network, and Sketchnote Partners/Invertidos.
Zaapi, which was launched in 2021, provides small to medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with an interface that lets business owners quickly create an online store from their mobile devices.
The company said the e-commerce use case will remain its core focus but in future it plans to move to digitise other core functions of MSMEs.
Mmob pulls in seed funding (3.8m)
Mmob, a UK-based embedded finance network, has secured £5m from a seed funding round.
The financing for the seed funding round came from a group of angel investors which have not been disclosed as of current.
Launched in 2020, mmob has developed a partnerships infrastructure that allows the seamless integration of third-party brands to help boost retention, add new revenue streams and drive customer-facing innovation.
Partners of the company include iwoca, Cuckoo, Uinsure, Anorak and PensionBee.
Mmob will use the new funding to finance a move into new markets with an initial focus on launching in Malaysia. The company will also look to develop its technology platform with the new capital.
BearTax gets paws on $3.2m
BearTax, a cryptocurrency tax platform, has netted $3.2m in its seed funding round, which was led by Seattle-based investor Ascend.
Other investors to the round include BAM Ventures, defy.vc, Draper Startup House, Tacoma Venture Fund, Hustle Fund, Liquid 2 Ventures, Sketchnote Partners and others.
This investment marks BearTax’s first fundraise.
With the funds, the crypto tax platform is planning to bolster its global presence and further the development of its existing technology suite.
BearTax is a tax software that can fetch trades from anywhere, identify transfers across exchanges and automatically generate tax documents. Its software can calculate tax cryptocurrency gain/loss and can crunch millions of transactions each minute, it said.
Australian CyberTech secures $3m
Australia-based CyberTech platform Cydarm has reportedly collected a $3m investment.
The round was led by InterValley Ventures, an Australian investment firm, with contributions also coming from Right Click Capital and Fire V Capital, according to a report from ITWire.
With the funds, the CyberTech company plans to bolster its platform with further integration and automation features. To support this, the company plans to hire more staff.
Cydarm offers case management solutions for cybersecurity operations. Its platform, which can be integrated with APIs, enables collaboration for incident response teams and improve cybersecurity investment decisions.
The company previously raised $500,000 in a funding round back in 2018. The capital infusion was supplied by Right Click Capital and others.
Contactless payment app Paerpay snaps up seed funding
Contactless payment solution for restaurants Paerpay has scored $3m in its seed funding round, which was led by MassMututal.
Other commitments came from Elevate Capital, MassVentures, Techstars, The Fund, Gaingels and Chingona Ventures.
The capital injection will help Paerpay hire more engineers, sales and marketing staff. Funds will also help it scale operations over the course of the year.
The FinTech company, which was founded by Derek Canton, was originally designed to be an in-person dining payment app to help diners pay for meals quickly. It now offers restaurants a contactless payment option that does not require them to change their hardware or credit card processor. They don’t even need to download an app.
Paerpay is currently hosting a pilot project with a large 500+ location fast food chain, with the aims to reduce drive-through wait times. Guests order at the speaker, scan a QR code to see their order details and then pay through their phone.
With the close of the round, the company has raised a total of $4.2m in funding.
AI-powered InsurTech Nuon scores $1.3m
Nuon, an InsurTech leveraging AI in the insurance pricing process, has raised £1m in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round.
The company said due to earlier than expected customer traction in both the UK and the US, it extended its initial £300,000 round led by Haatch Ventures.
The pre-seed round saw participation from Portfolio Ventures, Christ Adelsbach principal at Outrun Ventures, Andy Homer, ex-CEO of Towergate Insurance and Evelyn Bourke, ex-group CEO of Bupa.
Nuon said it has a vision to revolutionise the insurance product lifecycle from pricing, claims, MTAs, and renewals. Its technology uses a branch of AI known as reinforcement learning, to make and learn from thousands of micro pricing and product factor adjustments, according to Nuon.
The company said this latest funding will enable it to bring its suite of AI products to insurers, brokers, independent software vendors and MGAs worldwide faster.
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