Another strong week for FinTech, with a total of $1.3bn was raised this week across 36 FinTech deals.
This total funding volume is the same as the previous week, however, it was spread across more deals. Last week, $1.3bn was raised through 23 FinTech deals.
Compared to last week, the size of deals was a little more spread out. The biggest ten deals of the week raised $1bn, meaning the remaining 26 deals raised a total of $300m. Last week, the ten biggest deals raised $1.32bn and the remaining 13 deals only saw $60m.
The US took another leading line with FinTech deals this week. The country was responsible for 16 FinTech deals. Last week, the US also took the lion share of FinTech deals, responsible for 12 of the total 23 deals.
Other countries represented this week were the UK and France, which saw four and three deals, respectively. The remaining deals were with companies based in India, Australia, Colombia, Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, Brazil and Sweden.
As for the ten biggest deals of the week, five of these were into US companies. The biggest deal of the week was raised by Bound, a UK-based marketplace lending company. The second largest deal was secured by India-based supply chain financing firm Mintifi. Other countries represented by the biggest deals were Australia (Till Payments) and France (Aria and N2F).
Not only did marketplace lending companies take the top two spots of this week’s deals, but they also accounted for nearly a third of all deals. A total of ten marketplace lending deals were completed this week.
Cryptocurrency-focused businesses were responsible for six deals this week. There were four CyberTech deals this week, which is the same number of deals the sector closed last week. Four RegTech companies also secured backing this week.
Other sectors to see deals were PayTech (3), Infrastructure & Enterprise Software (3), InsurTech (2), Data & Analytics (1), ESG FinTech (1) and WealthTech (1).
While cryptocurrency companies have had a strong week for deals, research from FinTech Global this week found that crypto trading platforms account for the largest FinTech insolvencies in 2022. The most well-known of these insolvencies is FTX, which has sent ripples across the entire crypto market.
While some crypto companies are struggling, governments around the world are exploring CBDCs. Last week, The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced a collaboration with the Digital Financial Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) on a research project to explore potential use cases of CBDC in Australia.
While the Bank of Canada recently released a report stating an offline CBDC could help bolster financial inclusion and help those who lose internet connection.
With global FinTech funding dropping globally, it has caused worry for the market. Unicorns seemed like they were dropping away, but February saw the return of the FinTech unicorn. Egyptian digital lender MNT-Halan became the latest company to earn the horn, with its $400m private equity round bringing its valuation to $1bn.
The CyberTech sector has had a consistent two weeks, with four deals closed each time. However, FinTech Global’s research found that European CyberTech deal activity dropped by 25% in 2022. A total of 122 deals were completed during the year. Not only was the number of deals lower, but so was the total capital raised. The companies raised a total of $1.1bn, which was 35% lower than 2021’s total. France was the most active CyberTech European country in 2022 with a 19.6% share of all deals.
Earlier this week, FinTech Global spoke to several players in the CyberTech space on the topic of generative AI. This type of technology has increased in popularity over the past couple of months, but are there risks it could be leveraged by criminals to improve their illicit activity?
As for other notable developments this week, FinTech Global marked International Women’s Day by speaking to several senior women across the FinTech industry to get their thoughts on the gender gap, the role of financial education and the importance of building a world with more female representation.
Here are this week’s 36 FinTech funding rounds!
Lending firm Abound secures £500m ($600m) in debt and equity
Abound, a UK FinTech that uses open banking and AI to provide better loan deals to consumers, has scored £500m in a mixture of debt and equity finance.
The debt financing came from Citi and clients of Waterfall Asset Management. Equity investors included K3 Ventures, GSR Ventures, and Hambro Perks. Following this round, Abound has raised a total of close to £570m.
Founded in 2020, Abound provides borrowers with better interest rates by taking a look at their full financial picture, rather than just relying on a credit score.
Finextra noted that Abound is currently able to offer loans between £1,000 and £10,000 repayable for up to five years with a 24.8% APR. The company is the consumer arm of Fintern.
Abound claims it has been growing 30% month-on-month and served over 150,000 customers through its service.
Aiming to have £1 billion on its balance sheet by 2025, Abound said the debt and equity will be used to increase its headcount and to further develop its business-to-business offer, allowing other banks and lenders to take advantage of its technology.
Supply chain financing company Mintifi scores $110m Series D
Mintifi, an India-based supply chain financing platform, has reportedly received $110m in a Series D round.
The investment was led by the family office Premji Invest, according to a report from Deal Street Asia. Mintifi existing backers Norwest Venture Partners, Elevation Capital and International Finance Corporation, also participated in the Series D.
According to the Economic Times India, 90% of the Series D was raised through selling new shares. The remaining 10% was raised through secondary shares. The report also claims Mintifi is profitable and is forecasting between $8m and $10m profit after tax for fiscal year 2023.
With the funds, the FinTech company hopes to bolster its position in key sectors and release new services, including B2B payments and dealer management tools. Funds have also been earmarked to help Mintifi expand its loan book.
Mintifi claims to be revolutionising inventory financing for SMEs. It offers on-demand credit lines, which can be used to buy inventory. Its other offerings are business loans, which can be repaid over 6 to 24 months.
Digital identity RegTech Socure collected $95m in 3-year credit deal
Digital identity and fraud solution developer Socure has collected $95m in a three-year credit facility with J.P. Morgan, Silicon Valley Bank and KeyBanc Capital Markets.
This line of credit will further strengthen its financial position.
Socure is on a mission to become the first and only solution provider to verify 100% of good identities in real-time and eliminate identity fraud on the internet.
The digital identity company leverages predictive analytics on a suite of trusted online and offline data to verify identities in real-time. It boasts over 1,500 customers across the financial services, government, gaming, healthcare, telecom and e-commerce industries.
The company’s ID+ Platform offers a single solution for various identity needs. It supports risk, third-party identity fraud, KYC, synthetic ID fraud, document and selfie verification, watchlist screening and monitoring, age verification, device risk, email risk and phone risk.
Aussie FinTech Till Payments lands $70m
Australian FinTech Till Payments has scored $70m in a Series D funding round headed by Silva Fortune.
Till said it has seen an 300% increase in transaction volumes and a 200% increase in its merchant base over the past 12 months. Its solutions enable merchants to accept payments from all mainstream and emerging payment methods via a single partner, while providing fast, secure and all-in-one payment processing for all transactions.
Till said that it is ‘well-positioned’ to capitalise on the growing demand for innovative payment solutions and will continue to deliver value to its customers while driving sustainable growth.
The firm has recently welcomed Australian Payments Plus (EFTPOS), AliPay and WeChatPay to its already broad network of payment instruments, extending its value proposition to customers across the globe.
France-based invoice financing startup Aria nets €50m ($52m)
France-based Aria, which offers embedded invoice financing, has reportedly collected €50m in a debt fundraising round from M&G Investments.
The capital will bolster the company’s financial capacity and accelerate its business development through new products, according to a report from FinTech Finance News. It stated that the funds will help Aria finance invoices of freelancers and SMEs.
In addition to this, the France-based FinTech company hopes to hire 15 new people for its team.
Aria, which offers its services via APIs, helps vendors get paid instantly through payment loans for payable invoices. These short-term loans can have repayment terms of 30, 45 or 60 days.
It claims to have increased its business volume by 2-times over the past 12 months and has exceeded the £100m milestone in terms of financing supplied to clients.
Assured Allies secures $42.5m to reinvent retirement
Assured Allies, an InsurTech company for “evidence-based ageing”, has raised $42.5m in Series B funding to reinvent the retirement and insurance industry.
The round was co-led by FinTLV Ventures and existing investor Harel Insurance, and was joined by new and existing investors including Lumir Ventures, Funds managed by Hamilton Lane, New Era Capital Partners, MS&AD Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, Poalim Equity, EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, Akilia Partners, and Samsung Next.
The round sees Assured Allies bring its total capital raised to $65m.
Founded in 2018, Assured Allies is on a mission to make what it calls “successful ageing” – the ability to thrive as long as possible without long-term care – accessible to all.
The company’s two products AgeAssured and NeverStop, both aim to reduce the risk of premature age-related decline and keep people active and living at home longer.
According to Assured Allies, although Americans are now living longer, for most the increase in longevity is not coupled with a better quality of life.
As a result, more than 45 million Americans over the age of 55 are projected to need long-term care, creating a huge financial and social burden on families, and on insurance carriers. Assured Allies’ innovative platform combines machine learning and predictive analytics with the latest science-of-ageing and essential human support, to offer successful ageing programmes proven to reduce the risk of disability, and next-generation retirement products that make long-term care insurance accessible and financially sustainable.
Assured Allies said the global makeup of investors in this round underscores the universal need for innovation in the long-term care insurance market.
Private student loan provider Fynn lands $36m
Fynn, a New York-based FinTech lender that provides student loans to the US workforce, has raised $36m across a seed round and debt facility.
Lead investors in the round include Y Combinator, Susa Ventures, Village Global, Watchfire Ventures and Tenacity Venture Capital. Up to $11m was raised in the seed round while $36m was raised in the debt facility.
Founded in 2019, Fynn funds students through trade school with what it claims is an affordable, fair, federally compliant private funding option called an Income Share Loan.
The firm claims its Income Share Loan offers meaningful protections to students when they are unemployed, making less than expected, and has a built in forgiveness plan.
The company underwrites students based on their future potential and aligns its interests with schools and students to fully support success from enrolment to employment.
Since launching its flagship product in July 2022, Fynn claims it has provided over $4m worth of financial assistance to students in need.
Fynn will use the newly raised capital to expand its services across the US and to support students looking to further their education.
N2F scores €24m ($25m) in strategic growth investment
N2F, a leading provider of expense management software solutions, has landed €24m in a strategic growth investment from PSG Equity.
Founded in 2015, N2F has developed a fully-fledged expense management software with ‘efficiency and intuitiveness at its core’ to enable customers to process business expenses up to 4x faster.
In only eight years, N2F claims it has grown to become a trusted technology partner to more than 10,000 businesses across 86 countries, with a product available in 11 different languages.
N2F said its ambition is to grow internationally across Europe where it can help over 20 million businesses reduce the time and cost of processing expenses. 2022 was a transformational year for N2F, the firm said, as it prepared for international expansion by significantly increasing its workforce and launching Keeple, a SaaS solution to manage personnel leaves and absences.
By partnering with PSG Equity, N2F claims it plans to significantly accelerate its European expansion. PSG’s strategic and financial resources will help N2F to execute on its ambitious plan to recruit 200 employees over the next five years while continuing to innovate and invest in R&D.
Compliance intelligent decision-making tool Droit nabs $23m
Droit, a RegTech company providing companies with intelligent decision-making tools for compliance, has raised $23m in its Series B round.
Pivot Investment Partners and UBS served as the lead investors. Existing Droit backer Goldman Sachs also joined the round.
With the funds, Droit is looking to expand into wealth management through the development of new products, including cross-border and product suitability. It claims this ‘natural extension’ of its Adept platform will allow financial institutions to benefit from transparent decision-making infrastructure deployed for capital markets.
In addition to the expansion into WealthTech, the Series B capital will help Droit expand its product suite, including its position reporting, transaction reporting and pre-trade product suite. Funds will also be used to build-out new cloud-based services.
Founded in 2012, Droit’s flagship product Adept platform supplies clients with a consensus view as to how rules and regulations are applied. To verify decisions, Adept generates a logic model with traceable pathways linked to the original source text. This transparency gives enhanced clarity, increased operational efficiencies and a defendable process.
The platform is used for client readiness, which allows firms to understand their commercial possibilities and validate readiness to engage. Its technology is also used for point of trade, transaction reporting and position reporting.
It is used by the world’s largest financial institutions for pre- and post-trade decision-making and auditability, Droit claims.
Financial crimes risk management solution dev Quantifind raises $23m
Quantifind, an AI-powered financial crimes risk management solution developer, has secured $23m in a fresh funding round.
DNS Capital led the round, with contributions also coming from Citi Ventures, US Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners and S&P Global.
This capital will help Quantifind expand its footprint in international markets, bolster its global brand recognition, and enhance its solutions for financial crimes investigation, continuous customer monitoring, alerts triage, and supply chain risk screening.
Quantifind’s AI-powered automation uncovers relevant risk signals from disparate and unstructured data to help risk specialists investigate people and organisations faster and more accurately.
Its Graphyte solution improves risk intelligence workflows through entity resolution, dynamic risk typologies, knowledge graph technology and name science.
This $23m investment comes after a strong year of growth for Quantifind. Some of the notable milestones include signing four of the world’s largest banks, new contracts from the Department of Defense, including a $23.7m production contract, and deals with universities.
Quantifind also formed partnerships with the United for Wildlife taskforce and the Polaris Financial Intelligence Unit to fight human trafficking.
Colombian FinTech Avista secures $22.5m debt facility
Colombian FinTech Avista, which uses digital financial solutions to provide greater access to credit products, has reportedly raised $22.5m in a debt facility.
The funds were supplied by Accial Capital, an investor in asset-backed FinTech lending portfolios in emerging markets, according to a report from Forbes Colombia.
With the capital, the company hopes to grow its loan originations which are focused on the retiree population. Avista aims to disburse over $100m this year, which would bring its loan portfolio to $210m.
Founded in 2019, Avista offers credit and payroll advance services to pensioners, teachers and police officers. For pensioners up to the age of 84, they can take out a loan from $1m to $140m on terms of up to 180 months. Repayments will be deducted from the pension payroll automatically.
This is not the first debt facility from Accial Capital, with the firm having deployed over $32.5m into the Colombian FinTech. With the financial support, Avista claims to have tripled its loan portfolio from $55m to $160m in two years.
FinOps platform Vantage bags $21m in Series A
Vantage, a FinOps platform that helps teams manage and optimise their cloud costs, has scored $21m in a Series A funding round.
The round was led by Scale Venture Partners, with partner Ariel Tseitlin joining the board of directors.
Other participants in the round included Andreessen Horowitz, Harpoon Ventures, Matthew Prince and other select individuals.
Vantage is a self-serve developer tool that allows engineering teams to manage and optimise cloud costs in conjunction with finance and operations counterparts.
Most recently, Vantage launched Autopilot: A managed service that optimises AWS bills by automatic buying and selling of financial commitments to yield up to 72% in savings.
Vantage provides an all-in-one platform that supports organisations through every step of their cloud cost management journey. From Issues that can be assigned to engineers for cost accountability, to Savings Planner for financial modelling, to the new per-unit costs feature which maps cloud costs to customers, transactions and endpoints, Vantage enables enterprise-grade cost workflows for the cloud.
Vantage is helping organisations track over $1bn in annualised infrastructure costs, evaluating spend for a large variety of customers in different industries and with different workloads. This exposure means Vantage can apply cost optimization learnings from the best infrastructure teams in the world to help all of its customers save money.
The company said that the funds will be used for team growth and continued product advancements.
Student debt repayment FinTech Candidly scores funding after strong growth
Candidly, a student debt and savings optimisation platform, has secured $20.5m in its Series B funding round.
The investment was led by Altos Ventures, an investor focused on early-stage companies aimed at emerging consumer and enterprise opportunities. The Series B round also included a follow-on investment from Cercano Management.
This investment comes after a strong year of growth for Candidly, which has experienced a ten-times revenue growth and 3,600% increase of payments flowing through its platform.
The FinTech platform partners with employers, retirement recordkeepers and financial services companies to embed its technology within the partner’s own digital experience. It claims this is addressing a gap in current workplace financial wellness as it allows users to pay their debt faster and more efficiently.
Its technology will continuously evaluate a user’s financial health and pair that with guidance and content to build them a personalised plan of optimising their repayments and savings.
Some of its features include auto payments, student loan dashboard, college planning, gamified repayments and more.
The company recently added several distribution partners to its ranks, including Guild, Empower, Lincoln Financial Group and Vanguard. These join existing partners UBS and Fiserv.
The US Congress recently passed SECURE Act 2.0, which will allow employers to match employees’ student loan payments, as well as emergency savings contributions, with tax-advantaged retirement contributions.
In anticipation of this new regulation, Candidly has built a suite of solutions so firms can quickly go-to-market with relevant services.
CyberTech Revelstoke Security nets $20m in Series B
Revelstoke Security, the creator of a security orchestration, automation and response platform, has secured $20m in a Series B funding round.
The round was co-led by SYN Ventures and ClearSky Security. Also participating were Rally Ventures, and Crosslink Capital. Patrick Heim of SYN Ventures will join Revelstoke’s Board of Directors.
Revelstoke is the first cybersecurity automation company to build a SOAR solution using a common data language – the Unified Data Layer – which acts like a Rosetta Stone, enabling disparate data and systems to seamlessly integrate.
This allows for faster, smarter, more efficient security operations, so that organisations can more effectively defend against cyber threats.
The investment comes at a time of rapid growth for Revelstoke. In the company’s first year, it has added a host of key enterprise customers including leading global financial services organisations, manufacturers, educational institutions, technology companies and managed services providers.
Revelstoke said the investment will enable it to expand and enhance its SOAR platform, increase the number of out-of-the-box integrations, expand its team and deepen its presence to support global enterprises.
In addition, Revelstoke will expand its channel partner program, building strong relationships with other leading security product companies and managed services providers.
Cryptocurrency tax startup Toku nets $20m
Cryptocurrency tax and payroll platform Toku has secured $20m in a funding round led by Blockchain Capital.
Other backers to the round included Protocol Labs, GMJP, OrangeDAO, Orrick, Reverie, Quantstamp, Next Web Capital and prominent angel investors including Protocol Labs founder Juan Benet and Alchemy co-founders Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau.
With the funds, the FinTech company hopes to bolster its global expansion efforts and scale its platform to support the entire crypto ecosystem.
Toku co-founder Ken O’Friel added, “There are clear laws and regulations around how people get employed and compensated that have been around for hundreds of years. These laws aren’t going away, and organisations need to follow them for the industry to grow. Our vision is to make it simple for organisations, from traditional companies to DAOs, to compensate their employees and contractors with tokens globally.”
Toku, which was co-founded in 2021 by Ken O’Friel and Dominika Stobiecka, aims to transform tax compliance with digital assets. Its platform provides customers with 100% tax compliance on all token-based compensation in over 100 countries globally. Its tool suite includes token-based payroll, token-based grant administration, employment and tax compliance, and WorkDAO.
The WorkDAO is a set of employment and compensation services tailored for the needs of decentralised autonomous organisations.
Its clients include Aragon, Astar, Filecoin Foundation, Gitcoin, Gnosis, Hedera Hashgraph, PleasrDAO, Protocol Labs, Teller, Safe, Storyverse and others.
Cloud forensics pioneer Cado Security nets $20m
Cado Security, which claims to offer the first cloud forensics and incident response platform, has closed its latest funding round on $20m.
Global investment company Eurazeo served as the lead investor. Ten Eleven Ventures also committed capital to the round.
With the capital, the CyberTech company hopes to bolster its growth efforts by expanding internationally. It will also bolster its product development, accelerate its go-to-market strategies and boost its sales and marketing.
Cado Security provides forensic-level detail into cloud, container and serverless environments, offering automated data capture, rapid parallel processing and streamlined investigation and response.
According to its website, Cado claims that cyber attackers are moving to the cloud. However, when security teams need to respond to a threat, it’s complex and time consuming. To solve this, Cado leverages the scale, speed and automation of the cloud to expedite forensics and incident response.
Last year, Cado Security made its services available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and AWS Marketplace.
RangeForce collects $20m to level up cybersecurity skills
RangeForce, which helps teams improve their cybersecurity skills, has scored $20m in its Series B funding round to bolster the expansion of its platform.
Energy Impact Partners and Paladin Capital Group led the Series B, with commitments also coming from KPN Ventures, Lapa Capital Partners, Lanx Capital and Cisco Investments.
RangeForce’s defence training solutions are available in three tiers to meet an organisation’s needs. All of these include real-world interactive exercises that simulate live attacks to better protect teams against current and emerging cyber threats.
It claims the training provides users with relevant tools to defend against current threats while using their existing software. In addition to offering realistic emulated environments to test responses to real threats, the platform also boasts hundreds of interactive modules and challenges.
The CyberTech platform claims to have experienced rapid growth with Fortune Global 2000 companies across finance, technology and healthcare.
The Virginia-headquartered cybersecurity training platform previously raised $16m for its Series A funding round in 2020. The investment was led by Energy Impact, with commitments also coming from Trind and Cisco Investments.
Synctera teams with National Bank of Canada and raises $15m
Banking-as-a-service (BaaS) company Synctera has formed a partnership with the National Bank of Canada, alongside the close of a $15m strategic investment.
The investment was led by NAventures, which is the corporate venture arm of National Bank of Canada. Other contributions to the investment came from private equity firm The Banc Funds and sponsor bank partners Veritex Community Bank, Midland States Bank, and Emigrant Bank.
During 2023, Synctera hopes to add support for new credit, lending, and other banking use cases – and expand into new geographies and client segments.
Through its partnership with the National Bank of Canada, Synctera hopes to help companies launch financial products in Canada.
Since 2020, Synctera helps companies acquire customers, deepen customer relationships and access new revenue streams by launching innovative banking products in the US. Its BaaS platform helps companies of all sizes to build and launch FinTech apps and embedded banking products faster.
Its features include, bank accounts, cards, money movement, lending, risk and compliance, ledgers and more.
The FinTech company previously raised $33m for its Series A round in 2021. The capital was supplied by Fin VC, Mastercard, Gaingels, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Diagram Ventures, SciFi Ventures and Scribble Ventures.
Algorithmic execution solution dev BestEx Research nets $10m
BestEx Research Group, a provider of algorithmic execution solutions for equity, futures and foreign exchange trading, has netted $10m in a funding round.
With the close of the round, the company is valued at $110m.
The follow-on investment will help BestEx accelerate its growth and hire more staff. The company is looking to launch a differentiated suite of algorithms for FX and enhancements to existing tools for equities and futures.
Founded in 2017, BestEx claims to be the first independent algorithmic trading solution for equities, futures, and foreign exchange in all markets.
It also claims to be creating a new category of innovative, broker-neutral solutions that combines sophisticated execution algorithms with a user-friendly dashboard and transaction cost analysis for multiple asset classes.
Buy-side firms can access the platform through most execution management systems and order management systems.
Sell-side firms can leverage BestEx to create custom execution solutions without needing any code. Users can also support clients through a web-based dashboard, backtest custom strategies in an exchange simulator and measure performance with transaction cost analysis.
AI-driven InsurTech Click-Ins bags $7.5m
Click-Ins, an InsurTech using AI-driven automated technology, has raised $7.5m in funding on its mission to transform the automotive insurance sector.
According to a report from Business Innovation, the round saw participation from Shlomo Group, Mobilion Fund, Adar Ltd., the American Scharf Group, Summus VC and UMI Israel.
Founded in 2014 by Eugene Greenberg, Dimitry Geyzersky, Ronen Abergel and Zeev Hazan, Click-Ins has developed an automatic AI-based solution used to examine damage caused to vehicles based solely on images taken from any mobile device, in real-time.
The company’s technology aims to reduce the need for specialised assessment equipment typically employed by rental, insurance, and automotive companies by discovering, analysing, processing and evaluating external damages caused to vehicles with high precision.
Click-Ins also claims its AI eliminates a large amount of human bias which can be present in damage assessment performed by a human.
The company employs 25 people throughout Israel, the US and Europe, but claims to have seen strength growth despite its size.
Funds from the round will be used to continue its accelerated growth and to expand and develop its proprietary product.
Saas FinTech Growfin lands $7.5m
Growfin, a SaaS FinTech startup, has scored $7.5m in a Series A funding round headed by Singapore’s SWC Global.
Also participating in the round were 3one4 Capital and angels including CFOs and other industry leaders.
Founded in 2021, Growfin helps finance, sales and customer success teams connect in one place to handle customer relationships during the payment process and improve efficiency in collecting payments.
It seamlessly integrates with any ERP (which connects invoices with payments) and CRM systems (which connect leads to sales) to drive faster payment collections from customers, improving the cash flow and the financial health of businesses.
Growfin said it will make significant investments in its tech stack and product range this year, expanding its offering from a Finance CRM to an all-in-one integrated cash solution that will enable B2B enterprises to streamline and manage cash flow to enhance its product’s predictive AI capabilities.
Brazilian FinTech Blipay nets $6.7m for salary advance app
Brazilian FinTech company Blipay, which aims to improve financial services experiences, has reportedly raised $6.7m in a debt financing round.
SRM Ventures, a Brazilian venture capital firm, served as the lead investor, according to a report from LatamList.
With the capital injection, the Brazilian FinTech company hopes to expand the credit line for its early salary product.
Blipay also plans to expand its product offering and customer base. Its goal is to serve 300,000 customers.
The company’s mobile app allows users to get early access to their salary, with zero interest. Users can access BRL 1,000 ($194) a month and choose when to repay it over the next 30 days.
World first global insights infrastructure Monnai bags $6.5m
Monnai, which claims to be the world’s first global consumer insights infrastructure for financial institutions, has secured $6.5m in its Series A.
Tiger Global served as the lead backer, with commitments also coming from existing investors 500 Global and Emphasis Ventures. Better Tomorrow Ventures, which led Monnai’s seed round, also joined the round.
With the capital injection, Monnai hopes to bolster its go-to-business capabilities in its key markets. Funds will also bolster the development of its proprietary analytics and data ingestion capabilities.
US-based Monnai claims to empower clients to leverage data more efficiently and accurately to improve decision making across the lifecycle of their customers, from onboarding to credit underwriting to all aspects of account transactions.
Through a single API, Monnai helps firms navigate four main pillars, onboarding, trust and fraud risk, credit underwriting and collections.
During its first full year of operations, Monnai claims to have experienced rapid ARR growth and has customers in seven markets across Southeast Asia, India, LatAm and the U.S.
Crypto company Relai nets $4.5m to bolster European position
Relai, a place to buy and sell bitcoin, has reportedly raised $4.5m in a funding round that will help the crypto company bolster its position in Europe.
The investment round was led by Ego Death Capital, a venture firm focused on bitcoin companies, according to a report from Venture Lab. Timechain, Cabrit Capital and Lightning Ventures also participated in the round, as did existing investor Fulgur Ventures.
With the funds, Relai will expand its services with zero-fee trading and the launch of a white-label product that would allow other FinTechs to offer fiat-to-bitcoin trading.
The company recently expanded its platform with Relai Business which aims to attract SMEs looking to add bitcoin to their balance sheet.
Switzerland-based Relai includes a non-custodial bitcoin wallet and allows users to easily buy and sell the digital currency.
Singapore-based FinTech iLex secures $4.5m
Singapore-based marketplace lending company iLex has secured a $4.5m investment, which was led by QBN Capital.
The funds will help iLex accelerate its product roadmap and client acquisition across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and Africa, according to a report from Technode Global.
Capital will also be used to hire more staff.
iLex designs, builds and operates public and private market infrastructure for syndicated loan and private debt markets. Its digital solutions and strategic partnerships ensure its platforms are connected, collaborative, scalable and adaptive to multiple loan distribution channels, it claims.
It has three core product lines. These are iLex Market, which helps connect players with counterparties and deal opportunities through an augmented network, iLex Digital, which lets users manage their deals end-to-end, and iLex Analytics, which offers aggregated market intelligence.
‘All Weather Stablecoin’ Gyroscope closes seed round
Gyroscope, which stylises itself as the ‘All Weather Stablecoin’ has raised $4.5m in its seed funding round, which was co-led by Placeholder VC and Galaxy.
Other commitments came from Maven11, Archetype and Robot Ventures. Several angel investors also joined the round, including Cyrus Younessi, Fernando Martinelli, Hart Lambur and Will Villaneuva.
A live beta test of the GYD stablecoin mechanism, Gyro Proto, is now live on mainnet Polygon.
The company claims a fundamental problem with the crypto sector is that existing stablecoin designs are either “economically unsound, centralised, struggle with risk diversification, and/or overly rely on leverage mechanisms that are notorious for causing instability during harsh market conditions.”
To counter this, Gyroscope founders built the Gyroscope Protocol, a technology for a DeFi infrastructure with a novel all-weather design approach to solve the critical issues facing stablecoins including risk, adoption, and sustainability.
The Gyro Proto beta release showcases critical functionality of the stablecoin, including the diversified reserve, concentrated liquidity pools and new redundant oracle system. Gyro Proto will soon have a full release.
Early testers can join the community and offer feedback on the mechanism.
As for the Gyroscope Protocol, the company claims there are several key innovations. The first of these is its full reserve design. Its reserve aims to diversify existential risks in DeFi by requiring risks are ‘stratified’, or isolated from each other. It added that losses that accrue in one system should not spill into other connected sub-systems.
The protocol also has a new oracle system designed from first principles to greatly harden oracle security. Other features include centralised liquidity pools and decentralised governance.
Web3 firm Tweed nets $4m
Tweed, a company looking to support any web2 platform tapping into the web3 space, has come out of stealth with $4m in funding.
The round was led by Accel and saw participation from Communitas Capital Partners and Zero Knowledge Ventures. A number of angel investors also took part.
Founded in 2022, Tweed claims it supports brands through every step of the web3 payment flow, providing an end-to-end solution to platforms through its white-label, self-custodial wallet with multi-chain support.
Consumers are given a familiar entry point into web3 without the need to create their own wallets or remember complicated recovery phrases, while brands are able to onboard users faster and securely with a fully embedded and customizable wallet.
Tweed’s proprietary, self-custodial wallet offloads the regulatory burden of obtaining a license and enables users to retain ownership of their own assets. With Tweed, brands no longer have to choose between offering consumers a great user experience or true ownership of their digital assets.
Tweed’s SDKs are also developer-friendly and easy-to-implement as they integrate into existing sign-up/login processes (e.g. social logins), without requiring extra steps for the user. Brands stay in full control of the user interface and can create experiences and user journeys that best suit their customers.
The investment, Tweed claims, will be used to further accelerate hiring and improve the platform’s offerings.
LendTech startup Sora Finance nets $3.9m
Sora Finance, which offers credit management and liability optimisation services to financial advisors, planners and employers, has raised $3.9m.
The FinTech company works with advisors so they can find the best deals for new or existing home, auto and student loans. Its platform onboards clients’ existing liabilities and executes advanced credit optimisation strategies across all loans to maximise client’s net worth.
Sora claims its credit management services unlock an optimisation opportunity for over 73% of clients, while also helping clients secure the lowest rates.
The company recently released the buy now, refi later for free solution. This offers support for consumers looking to secure the lowest cost of debt now and in the future. It offers good rates on a new mortgage and will automatically refinance the loan with no fees for the next five years. It claims this will help make homeownership more accessible when interest rates are high.
ESG FinTech RenewWest raises $3.2m for seed round
RenewWest, an environmental asset developer, has secured $3.2m in its seed funding round, which was led by Aspiration and One Small Planet.
Other commitments to the round came from Clear Sky Advisors, a subsidiary of Concord.
This capital injection will enable RenewWest to expand its technical team, bolster its project pipeline and invest directly with land stewards around the world.
The company is helping to remove carbon at scale by offering nature-based projects. Each of these projects has two objectives, optimise carbon storage capacity by accelerating the restoration lifecycle and collaborate with local land stewards to equitably distribute economic benefits.
A report from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey, claims nature-based climate solutions can provide around 30% of the global emissions reduction needed to achieve the 1.5-degree target under the Paris Agreement.
Since 2018, RenewWest has spearheaded the Collins-Modoc Reforestation Project, which is the largest carbon reforestation project in US history. It is also working to restore and conserve ecosystems in the US, Peru, Mexico, Jamaica and Papua New Guinea.
SteadyPay lands $3m in seed raise
SteadyPay, a UK-based progressive lending platform, has scored $3m in a seed funding round backed by N1 FinTech fund.
European venture funds such as Ascension, The Future Fund and others have already invested in this fintech prior to this seed raise.
SteadyPay is a UK-based progressive lending platform for people who have unstable incomes.
The AI-based solution analyses open user data to predict their creditworthiness. According to these forecasts, Steadypay tops up the bank account of a trusted and reliable platform user if their earnings fall below the average monthly income.
The algorithm calculates how much money can be loaned to a particular client. The average monthly replenishment per person is about £250, and the maximum balance a user can have on SteadyPay at any given time does not exceed £1000. The platform operates on a subscription model. The funders describe it as “Netflix for credit”.
Users are charged a monthly fee of £7 per week for the service. They can recharge without interest and only have to repay SteadyPay when they exceed their average income in a given month.
The platform currently has 12,000 active users, most of whom are between the ages of 22 and 40.
Brazilian PayTech Barte said to raise $3m seed
Brazilian PayTech startup Barte has reportedly raised $3m in its seed funding round to help bolster its position in the country.
The investment was led by LatAm-focused investor NXTP and London-based Force Over Mass, with VentureFriends also joining the round, according to a report from FinTech Finance News. This investment marks Force Over Mass’ first investment into Brazil.
Barte experienced ten-times growth in 2022 and hopes the capital injection will enable it to repeat this in 2023.
Founded in 2021, Barte aims to transform B2B interactions in Latin America. The platform streamlines processes and provides access to working capital financing.
Try-before-you-buy French FinTech startup Elyn bags $2.7m
Elyn, a French FinTech that aims to let customers try items before they have to pay for them, has reportedly raised $2.7m in its pre-seed round.
The investment was led by Headline and Sequoia Arc, according to a report for TechCrunch. Other commitments came from Motier Ventures, Financière Saint James, Marc Menasé and Guillaume Princen.
The platform aims to provide customers with better flexibility with online shopping. Instead of buying products up front, it aims to delay the payment so the customer can physically see the products before they commit to the purchase.
Elyn co-founder and CEO El Mehdi Hachad said, “With try-before-you-buy, you only pay for what you decide to keep. We are also helping retailers with their returns so that return requests are turned into exchanges directly in the return interface that we provide.”
According to its website, Elyn boasts a 30% increase in conversion rates, and a 20% increase to the size of the average basket.
When the customer validates their basket, they do not get charged instantly. Instead, once they receive the items, they will have five days to return items they do not want. They would only be charged for the products they keep.
The platform also aims to transform returns into exchanges. When sending the items back, the customer can also select another item or get a voucher. Elyn claims it transforms 40% of returns into exchanges.
Redeem raises $2.5m to support easy NFTs trading
Redeem, which leverages web3 technology to allow users to send and redeem non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has reportedly raised $2.5m in its pre-seed.
Kenetic Capital, an investor aimed at blockchain, served as the lead investor, according to a report from Markets Insider. Other commitments came from Monochrome Capital, VC3 DAO, The Fund, Flyover Capital, CMT Digital, KCRise Fund and KESTREL 0x1.
Following the close of the round, Redeem plans to bolster the efforts for its second-quarter product launch. Capital has also been earmarked to enhance the core technology.
Redeem allows users to easily send and redeem NFTs by using their mobile number. The platform simply takes the phone number and links it to a new blockchain wallet, which allows users to access, store and use their digital assets.
The user can exchange NFTs through services including SMS, WhatsApp and iMessage.
The company claims its proprietary algorithms allow for ‘efficient trade discovery’ using digital assets and minimal currency, offering a new and more efficient form of commerce compared to traditional centralised methods that require greater liquidity.
Forbes 30 under 30 led RegTech startup Naq raises $1.5m seed
RegTech startup Naq, an automated data compliance and due diligence platform, has secured $1.5m in its seed funding round.
This investment capital will help Naq bolster its capabilities, with the aim of making it easier for suppliers to have the assurance and security required to protect their infrastructure.
Axivate Capital led the investment, with capital also coming from unnamed angel investors.
The company, which was co-founded by Nadia Kadhim and Chris Clinton in 2021, aims to turn compliance into a competitive advantage for European and British SMEs. Kadhim was named in Forbes 30 under 30.
Naq leverages automated compliance and local data security experts to make cybersecurity, compliance and due diligence easy and accessible for SMEs, whilst providing enterprises and governments real-time visibility over their supplier’s security and compliance posture.
Its platform supports hundreds comply with GDPR, ISO27001 and industry specific regulations. As for cybersecurity, Naq provides clients with guidance on how to protect the business, with risk management and breach monitoring tools.
The platform also helps train staff about cyber threats. It offers bite-sized training courses and phishing tests to improve an employee’s cyber awareness.
Crypto tax declarations startup Divly bags $400k
Divly, a FinTech helping simplify tax declarations for the crypto market, has raised $400,000 in a new fundraise.
The investment was joined by DHS Venture Partners, Greens Ventures and YEoS Ventures. Following the close of the round, the company plans to bolster its growth and expand its reach to more investors globally.
While the market is in the middle of the Crypto Winter, Divly claims it has still managed to grow. It attributes this partly because it expanded its services to all Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Japan and Germany.
It claims that less than 1% of cryptocurrency investors may have declared their cryptocurrency to tax authorities in 2022.
Founded in 2021, Divly aims to make crypto taxes easy. Its services offer localised tax support and includes the Professional Tax Suite, which allows users to easily track and manage accounts simultaneously.
PayPal Ventures backs threat prevention firm Deep Instinct
PayPal Ventures has invested in Deep Instinct, a company claiming to be the first to apply deep learning to cybersecurity.
PayPal Ventures joins existing investors including BlackRock, Chrysalis Investments, Unbound, The Tudor Group, Coatue Management and others.
According to Deep Instinct, this investment further validates confidence in Deep Instinct’s ‘unrivalled’ ability to see cyber threats well before other solutions can. The funding will help further accelerate Deep Instinct’s growth, driven by its disruptive threat prevention technology.
Deep Instinct currently protects customers across North America, Europe, and APAC, with enterprise customers tripling in 2022, including strategic wins with numerous Global 2000 companies.
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