This week was another modest week for funding in the FinTech sector with $530m raised. With notable performances from InsurTech companies and US-based ventures.
The top ten deals this week raised a total of $467.5m collectively. The lion’s share of that was raised by French FinTech firm Defacto and full-track InsurTech firm Slide Insurance, which raises $187m and $100m, respectively. Across 22 deals, $529.8m was raised.
The US once again dominated deal activity, accounting for six of the top ten deals. Other regions featuring this week were France, Israel, and Germany, with two German companies – Solaris and Hespster – raising funds.
Half of the top ten deals were Series B rounds, a positive sign for more established companies with substantial user bases looking to expand their reach.
The frontrunner this week, Defacto, defied the trend in France of a decline in deal activity in the country. As of late, France has followed global trends seeing a decline in both deal activity and investment in the FinTech sector during Q2 2023 compared to the previous year.
FinTech Global Research recently revealed that in the second quarter of 2023, the number of French FinTech deals reached 40, reflecting a significant YoY decline of 42%. In Q2 2023, French FinTech companies collectively secured $222m in funding, representing a substantial 53% decrease compared to the same period in 2022.
InsurTech also performed well this week, with three deals in the sector making the top 10. Slide Insurance, a full-stack InsurTech firm with a keen focus on delivering cost-effective and efficient homeowners insurance, secured a second $100m catastrophe bond.
Certificial, an InsurTech pioneer in the field of business insurance monitoring, confirmed the acquisition of $15m of funding led by Nyca Partners, and Hepster, an embedded insurance startup based in northern Germany, secured $11.2m.
Here are the 22 deals that took place this week.
Citi and Viola Credit back Defacto’s SME lending with €167m
French FinTech firm, Defacto, a leading provider of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) via an API, has recently closed a significant securitisation fund.
The fund, which reaches up to €167m, was facilitated by banking giant Citi and venture capital firm Viola Credit. Citi is set to take on the role of senior lender for the fund, while Viola Credit has demonstrated their continued faith in Defacto, by offering sustained support as a mezzanine lender.
Founded in mid-2021 by Jordane Giuly, Morgan Ohana, and Marc Henri Gires, Defacto serves as an accessible financing solution for SMEs across Europe. The firm utilises an innovative, API-first product that permits third-party entities such as B2B marketplaces, other FinTechs, and digital platforms to seamlessly integrate Defacto’s financing solution directly into their own offerings. Consequently, SMEs can benefit from a smooth, immediate lending experience, and platforms can enhance their differentiation and customer satisfaction.
The new funding will be utilised to continue Defacto’s exponential growth, providing the company with a yearly funding capacity of up to €1bn. The firm has made considerable strides since its inception, integrating with partners such as Malt, Qonto, and Pennylane, and fulfilling the financing needs of 7,000 European businesses across five different countries, amounting to €200m.
Additional noteworthy developments include the launch of a low-tech version of its product, Liquid, in May 2023. This initiative was designed to facilitate easy and quick integration of Defacto’s services for partners with constrained tech resources.
Slide Insurance boosts reinsurance protection with second $100m catastrophe bond
Slide Insurance, a full-stack InsurTech firm with a keen focus on delivering cost-effective and efficient homeowners insurance, has revealed the successful pricing of its latest catastrophe (cat) bond.
This recent development relates to the completion of the Purple Re Ltd. (Series 2023-2) catastrophe bond, amounting to a significant $100m.
Slide Insurance is a revolutionising force in the homeowner’s InsurTech scene, simplifying the insurance process for the modern consumer through the use of big data and artificial intelligence. By providing hyper-personalised and optimised insurance solutions, Slide leverages cutting-edge technology to achieve superior underwriting outcomes. Since launching operations in February 2022, the Tampa-based firm has swiftly grown into the largest full-stack homeowner’s InsurTech in the country, overseeing over $570m in premiums.
Collective rakes in $50m to revolutionise freelance finance with AI
Collective, the pioneering online back-office platform designed exclusively for individual entrepreneurs, known as ‘solopreneurs’, has successfully raised $50m in its latest funding round.
The substantial investment was pooled by a variety of investors including Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI fund, Innovius Capital, The General Partnership, General Catalyst, QED, Expa, and Better Tomorrow Ventures, amongst others. Collective plans to utilise this newfound capital to expedite the implementation of AI across its operations and rapidly onboard the nearly 100,000 businesses currently on its waitlist.
The services offered by Collective span business formation, S-election, payroll, tax, and bookkeeping, tailored for Businesses-of-One. It also provides a personal dashboard for freelancers to manage their finances, helping them save an average of $10,000 per annum. With the freelance industry now encompassing 39% of the US workforce, a figure projected to cross the halfway mark by 2027, the demand for Collective’s services is skyrocketing.
To accommodate this growing demand, Collective has ingeniously incorporated technologies such as Large Language Models (LLMs) to build AI co-pilots, streamlining its operations across the team of tax experts, accountants, bookkeepers, and relationship managers. With the new funding, the company can create more AI tools, enabling a seamless scale of operations and outpacing its original growth projections.
European embedded finance platform Solaris secures €38m funding
Solaris, often described as the crown jewel of Europe’s embedded finance platform landscape, today announced the completion of a Series F funding round.
Raising a sum of €38m, Solaris saw considerable support from its existing investors, who led the round. The investment accentuates the unwavering faith these investors hold in Solaris growth strategy and its future prospects.
Primarily a FinTech enterprise, Solaris operates as an embedded finance platform. Their proprietary B2B tech stack, in combination with a scalable licensing system, provides their partners “ranging from large global non-financial companies to pioneering FinTechs“ the means to deliver unique, customer-centric financial services. In essence, Solaris stands as a crucial enabler of seamless customer experiences across a plethora of industries.
The freshly acquired funding is earmarked for fortifying the company’s governance and compliance mechanism.
Intel Capital steers $22m Series B funding for indexing tech giant MerQube
MerQube, described as a trailblazer in technology for the future of index-linked investing, has officially confirmed a significant fundraising achievement.
The firm announced that it successfully raised $22m in its latest Series B funding round. The investment effort was spearheaded by Intel Capital and saw participation from new investor Allianz Life Ventures, as well as existing investors such as Citi, J.P. Morgan, Laurion Capital Management and UBS. Furthermore, as part of the funding agreement, David R. Mueller, Intel Capital Investment Director, will join MerQube’s board of directors.
Addressing the burgeoning global demand for rule-based investment solutions, MerQube has created a niche with its innovative indexing technology. The firm offers cloud-native SaaS platform and API-first solutions that are specially designed to meet this demand. MerQube’s platform employs a data ingestion framework and a building block approach, delivering the computational agility needed to handle massive amounts of data from various sources and roll out cost-effective, rapidly implemented solutions.
Lightspeed propels Zluri’s SaaS management growth with $20m investment
With the meteoric rise of SaaS (Software as a Service) applications utilisation by large enterprises, Santa Clara and Bangalore-based Zluri, a robust SaaSOps (SaaS Operations) platform, is stepping up to the plate. They aim to assist companies in managing their expansive SaaS estates and mitigating potential risks.
Zluri announced today that it has secured a hefty $20m in a Series B funding round. The round was headed by investment firm Lightspeed, with significant participation from MassMutual Ventures, Endiya Partners, and Kalaari Capital. This latest funding brings Zluri’s total venture funding to $32m since its inception in 2020.
Zluri offers a comprehensive SaaSOps platform catering to IT teams, helping companies discover, manage, optimise, secure, and automate their SaaS applications from a single dashboard. In response to the ever-growing complexity of SaaS operations brought about by swift cloud adoption, increased remote workforce distribution, and generative AI, Zluri has developed tools to streamline access management and aid faster workflows.
Certificial reels in $15m in latest funding round led by Nyca Partners
Certificial, creator of the Smart COI Network, pioneers in the field of business insurance monitoring, have confirmed the acquisition of $15m of funding led by Nyca Partners.
This round of financing further validates Certificial’s innovation in the risk management landscape and has bolstered their stature among insurance brokers.
The funding round was led by Nyca Partners, with participation from other investors including IA Capital, Fin Capital, Cofounders Capital, Cameron Ventures, and Nationwide Ventures. The significant capital injection will undoubtedly accelerate Certificial’s already impressive traction within the risk management community.
Certificial leverages its patented software to monitor insurance data in real-time, ensuring that businesses maintain continuous, compliant insurance coverage within their supply chain. The platform uniquely merges certificate issuance and compliance management into a singular entity, abating risk, guaranteeing compliance, and curtailing costs for all stakeholders in the certificate of insurance (COI) process.
European InsurTech player Hepster secures €10m in funding round
In the rapidly advancing InsurTech landscape, Hepster, an embedded insurance startup based in northern Germany, has proven to be an influential player.
Hepster, founded in 2016 by Christian Range, Hanna Bachmann, and Alexander Hornung, is a dedicated exponent of embedded insurance a thriving segment of the market set to be valued at a staggering $30bn by the decade’s end.
The InsurTech firm recently announced a €10m capital injection received from a group of investors, according to a report from InsurTech Digital. The round saw participation from notable entities including Element Ventures, Seventure Partners, and Claret Capital Partners. These funds are set to propel Hepster’s ambitions for growth in its existing markets.
Hepster’s core business model revolves around embedded insurance, which utilises technology to amalgamate insurance products directly into existing e-commerce platforms checkout flows. The strategy predominantly targets non-insurance brands such as car rental companies, tour operators, and high-end retailers. By providing consumers insurance at their fingertips, the market eradicates the need for individuals to seek standalone insurance policies, alleviating the traditional insurance model’s stress and hassle.
With the fresh €10m investment, Hepster aims to speed up its growth in the markets where it currently operates: Germany, Austria, and France.
Hepster indicates it has made significant strides in the firm’s growth trajectory. Over just seven years of operation, the firm has amassed more than 225,000 insurance customers and has partnered with over 2,500 B2B(2C) companies. Over the past three years, the InsurTech startup has achieved a stunning growth rate of 1,500%.
Innovation Endeavors leads seed round, bolstering Trunk Tools with $9.9m
Trunk Tools, a financial technology (FinTech) start-up specialising in the construction industry, has launched its operations with a bang. The New York-based firm aims to address the persistent skilled labour shortage in the sector by enabling faster payment processing for construction workers.
In a recent announcement, the company unveiled a successful seed funding round, garnering $9.9m. The round, characterised by oversubscription, was led by Innovation Endeavors, with contributions from Fifth Wall, Foundation Capital, and others. Furthermore, Trunk Tools has clinched a spot in the latest Stanford dy/dx programme, which enjoys support from distinguished venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital, Accel, Lightspeed, and Index.
Trunk Tools focuses on improving financial flexibility in the construction industry. It provides an all-in-one platform that allows employees to access a fraction of their wages on a daily basis, without incurring any additional costs. This ground-breaking solution serves as a significant boon for an industry plagued with wage payment delays and offers a competitive edge to employers seeking to attract and retain skilled labour.
The newly raised capital is earmarked for fostering the company’s growth. The funds will be directed towards expanding the firm’s proficient team, expediting the development of its unique output-focused incentives solution, and driving market adoption.
Among its unique features, Trunk Tools employs artificial intelligence (AI) to assist managers in setting productivity goals and safety rewards, directly communicated to workers via SMS. This circumvents the need for downloading additional apps. It enables workers to conveniently access and manage their tasks, balances, and other critical functions directly from their phones. Additionally, Trunk Tools has integrated a system that allows companies to pay their workers instantly via dedicated debit cards. The software also integrates seamlessly into existing payroll systems, guaranteeing smooth and efficient workflows.
Vendict breaks stealth with $9.5m funding to revolutionise security compliance
Emerging from stealth, Vendict, an Israeli technology startup, has broken into the scene, intent on harnessing generative artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster security compliance teams.
Vendict has successfully secured funding of $9.5m in a round led by NFX, Disruptive AI, and Cardumen Capital. The co-founders, industry veterans Udi Cohen, serving as CEO, and Michael Keslassy, the CTO, will direct the use of these funds to further their business goals.
The startup aims to streamline the process for technology vendors striving to meet their security requirements, thus aiding in the easier adoption of new technology. Presently, security questionnaires are manually completed by prospective vendors, a laborious process that Vendict seeks to automate using generative AI. This approach is set to save countless work hours, expedite the sales process, and offer a competitive edge to clients.
The funding will serve to fuel Vendict’s unique combination of security expertise and AI innovation. Their primary goal is to build the world’s first AI model that understands and applies security language, enabling security and GRC teams to reduce risks, save time, and accelerate sales cycles.
NLP and Generative AI have been identified as key technologies that will revolutionise security questionnaires, automating all forms of compliance tasks. Prior to the latest advancements in AI, Vendict’s team already had the foresight to recognise the significance of this NLP/AI combo in revamping security compliance.
African mobility startup Moove secures $8m from Absa for Ghana expansion
African mobility startup, Moove, renowned for providing revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs and democratising vehicle ownership across Africa, has procured a funding of $8m from Absa Corporate and Investment Banking.
This move is a stride towards expanding its vehicle fleet in Ghana, according to a report from Tekedia.
The latest investment propels Moove’s total funding from Absa to $28m, marking a significant increase from the previous $20m raised in July 2022.
Moove’s business model revolves around supporting mobility entrepreneurs by offering accessible vehicle ownership. This is achieved through revenue-based financing which breaks down the economic barriers to employment and encourages a rising class of mobility entrepreneurs. The startup also prides itself in offering fuel-efficient Suzuki vehicles which are assembled in Ghana.
The new funding will be channeled towards increasing the existing fleet of Suzuki vehicles, thus fostering job opportunities for Ghana’s emerging entrepreneurs. This aligns with Moove’s mission to eliminate barriers to employment opportunities and empower Ghana’s evolving class of mobility entrepreneurs.
Further details reveal Moove’s significant alliance with CFAO Motors, Africa’s largest automotive distribution network, formed in 2022. This partnership positions Moove to expand its fleet rapidly by supplying a range of Suzuki models across Ghana and Nigeria. The firm has also pledged to ensure that at least 60% of the vehicles it finances are EVs or hybrid models.
Moove’s country manager for Ghana, Jephthah Datsomor, expressed his delight in strengthening the partnership with Absa, which has played a crucial role in accelerating Moove’s growth since becoming their first bank partner in 2022. He further commented on their shared commitment to drive local economies forward.
Ellen Ohene-Afoakwa, Managing Principal for Corporate and Investment Banking Ghana, also spoke on Absa’s investment in Moove, highlighting the responsibility they bear as one of Africa’s largest financial services groups to leverage innovative technologies for empowering more people across the continent.
CapStack bags $6m pre-seed round
CapStack, the pioneering integrated operating system for banks, has officially stepped out of stealth mode, amassing $6m in pre-seed funding.
The funding round was considerably oversubscribed and saw Fin Capital taking the lead. Alloy Labs, Rex Salisbury’s Cambrian Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Future Perfect Ventures, Gaingels, Selah Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners also took part in the round, demonstrating a strong faith in CapStack’s potential.
The brainchild of Michal Cieplinski, CapStack aims to plug the crucial gaps that have emerged in the areas of loan and deposit exposure, portfolio diversity, and bank profitability. The platform’s innovative approach to inter-bank connectivity is set to have far-reaching implications for risk management. This is especially crucial in a time when maintaining stability and confidence in the banking sector has never been more important.
“CapStack is the first integrated operating system for banks, facilitating cooperation among banks and other financial services institutions to enhance profitability and diversify assets,†said Jillian Williams at Cowboy Ventures.
Artela fetches $6m in a bid to supercharge blockchain scalability
Artela, a FinTech start-up focused on enhancing blockchain’s scalability, announced that it has successfully raised a $6m seed funding round.
The funding endeavour, led by Shima Capital, witnessed enthusiastic participation from a cluster of investors, including A&T Capital, Big Brain Holdings, SevenX Ventures, Dispersion Capital, and Amino Capital, amongst others.
Delving deeper into what Artela brings to the table, it is developing a cutting-edge base layer blockchain network. This network, by employing aspect programming, facilitates the design and operation of infinitely scalable decentralised applications (dApps). The dynamic creation of native extension modules for blockchain at runtime, which the aspect programming supports, enhances on-chain programmability and allows developers to construct feature-rich dApps.
The freshly acquired funds will be channelled towards accelerating Artela’s technology development, expanding the team, and spearheading market penetration strategies. The company’s aim is to augment the flexibility and robustness of its blockchain network and amplify its capacity to support complex dApps.
Additional information points towards the impending release of Artela’s whitepaper for its user-defined extension, Aspect. This extension is poised to improve programmability whilst retaining compatibility with smart contracts. Also, Artela’s blockchain network is well-equipped to support lightweight dApps such as NFTs and DeFi, while enabling the inclusion of specific functionalities to dApps like on-chain automation and transaction privacy.
Layer-1 blockchain firm Shardeum nets $5.4m in strategic funding
Shardeum, a ‘highly-scalable EVM-based layer-1 blockchain deploying dynamic state sharding, has successfully closed a $5.4m strategic investment round.
This funding round comes as a testament to the potential of Shardeum, even amidst a bearish market scenario.
This significant investment of $5.4m is pooled from various strategic investors including Amber Group, Galxe, J17 Capital, JSquare, and TRGC, among others. Shardeum has the intention to harness this newly acquired funding to bolster the growth of their ecosystem leading up to the anticipated mainnet launch later in 2023.
Founded in 2022, Shardeum is focused on deploying dynamic state sharding on a highly-scalable EVM-based layer-1 blockchain. This approach facilitates low gas fees and high transactions per second as user participation expands. As of July 7, 2023, the Shardeum testnet has already facilitated over 7.4 million transactions, supporting more than 820K accounts and the deployment of over 230K contracts.
InsurTech firm Sigo Seguros secures $5.1m in a pre-Series A funding round
Sigo Seguros, a rapidly expanding InsurTech company renowned for its Spanish-first approach, delivers auto insurance services predominantly for immigrant and working-class communities.
Recently, the company proudly announced the acquisition of an additional $5.1m in its pre-Series A funding round. This financial boost was co-led by Zeal Capital Partners and Listen Ventures, while existing investors such as Chingona Ventures, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, Fiat Ventures, and Remarkable Ventures also joined the fundraise.
In the vast and competitive InsurTech market, Sigo Seguros is making a name for itself by providing equitable and easily accessible coverage for immigrant and working-class drivers, with a special focus on Latino and Spanish-speaking communities. The company’s bilingual, mobile-first platform disrupts traditional industry practices by removing biased rating factors like credit score and employment status. In a sector often overlooked by larger companies, Sigo Seguros stands out by offering exceptional customer service, transparent pricing, and a fully bilingual customer journey.
The new funding will facilitate Sigo Seguros’ rapid growth trajectory, allowing it to expand its customer-oriented technology and continue the digital transformation of its underwriting process. Nestor Hugo Solari, Co-Founder and CEO of Sigo Seguros, shared his excitement for the partnership with Zeal, acknowledging their shared understanding of the positive impact that access to proper financial products can have on the economic mobility of Sigo Seguros customers.
The quote from Zeal Capital Partners’ Principal, Andy Will, reinforced the company’s decision to invest in Sigo Seguros, praising their direct-to-consumer digital-first approach as a strategy perfectly aligned with Zeal’s Inclusive Investing principles.
Crypto startup LunarCrush secures $5m Series A funding
LunarCrush, an industry front-runner in social media analytics for cryptocurrency and financial sectors, announced a significant leap forward in its journey. It raised $5m in a Series A funding round, marking a new phase in the firm’s growth strategy.
The round was co-led by Draper Round Table / INCE Capital and saw participation from a notable group of investors. This includes Draper Associates, WWVentures, TRGC, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Draper Goren Holm, Blockchain Founders Fund, Side Door Ventures, MoonPay, EMURGO, LBANK Labs, FUNFAIR Ventures, and Techstars. Legendary angel investors David Bleznak and Francisco Oliva-Velez Cancel also contributed to the fund.
As a pioneer in crypto and finance-focused social media analytics, LunarCrush has taken a significant step by extending its offering beyond capital markets. The firm now enables users to search, track, and actively engage with real-time events and discussions about trending topics they care about across all social media platforms. This innovative tool allows users to escape traditional algorithms and create their own, offering a more personalised social media experience.
Amsterdam’s NFT ticketing disruptor GET Protocol lands $4.5m investment
GET Protocol, an Amsterdam-based NFT ticketing company, has successfully raised $4.5m in a seed funding round. The firm presents a novel approach to the ticketing industry by leveraging blockchain technology and introducing a platform that rewards concert-goers with NFT collectibles.
The seed round amassed $4.5m, spearheaded by Flow Ventures, according to a report from Tech.eu. Participating investors included Animoca Brands, Redbeard Ventures, Funfair Ventures, and Sebastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox, alongside other funds.
GET Protocol’s mission is to redefine the ticketing sector through the integration of blockchain technology, issuing more than four million tickets to date. The company uses NFTs as a form of digital reward for event attendees, targeting mainstream consumers and fans of various high-profile artists such as Ne-Yo, Gucci Mane, Lewis Capaldi, and Louis C.K. They state that no tickets have been scraped or resold outside of sale terms through their integrated global ticketing companies.
The funding raised will be deployed to expand the business across the board, with plans to raise its profile within the Web3 space. The platform operates a full on-chain ticketing economics system, where partners pay for protocol usage through the GET token while attendees experience a seamless purchasing process in their local FIAT currency.
KTX.Finance lands $4m in seed round to transform perpetuals trading
Decentralised perpetuals exchange KTX.Finance, has made a statement with a recent $4m round of seed funding.
KTX.Finance operates on the BNB Chain and its mission is to bring about a sea change in the arena of perpetuals trading.
This significant seed round saw participation from noteworthy investors led by Hashed. AlphaLab Capital, CRIT Ventures, 100&100 Ventures, Trinito Corporation/Morpheus, GSG Asset, KuCoin Ventures, and Sky9 Capital also played major roles in the financing round.
At the core of KTX.Finance’s operations is the intention to make perpetuals trading accessible to a broader audience. This initiative has been propelled by the increasing popularity of decentralised trading following the collapse of centralised exchanges. KTX.Finance distinguishes itself in this market by focusing on an excellent user interface, speed, and low fees, while offering multi-asset shared pool liquidity, thus deepening trading liquidity for on-chain leveraged positions and ensuring capital efficiency for liquidity providers.
The new influx of $4m funding will serve to amplify KTX.Finance’s operations and reinforce its competitive edge. With its unique model, it allows traders to compete against the KLP pool, a multi-asset liquidity pool consisting of an equal split of stablecoins and blue-chip crypto assets. This model enables traders to retain full custody of their assets while enjoying benefits like leverage, an exceptional user experience, and low fees.
Moreover, liquidity providers on KTX.Finance have the opportunity to deposit any blue-chip asset into the KLP pool and receive up to 70% of the trading fees generated by the protocol.
KTX.Finance is operated by Alphamesh and incubated by ByteTrade Lab, a Web 3.0 infrastructure and venture builder based in Singapore. ByteTrade Lab, sharing a common vision with KTX.Finance, had previously raised a considerable $50m in Series A funding back in June 2022 from investors like Susquehanna International Group (SIG) Asia Venture Capital Fund, INCE Capital, BAI Capital, Sky9 Capital, BlueRun, and PCG.
House Numbers garners $3.75m to revolutionise home wealth management
House Numbers, an AI-empowered home wealth management platform, has announced its successful pre-seed funding round.
The FinTech firm has successfully raised $3.75m in pre-seed funding. Leading the funding round was Resolute Ventures, with additional participation from Maven Ventures and Uncommon Capital.
House Numbers is setting its sights on carving out a new niche within home wealth management. The platform aims to enhance homeowners’ financial prospects by capitalising on their most substantial asset their home. The company’s strategic approach to wealth management addresses the 90 million owner-occupied homes across the U.S, a sector boasting a staggering cumulative home equity of over $28.6tn.
This newly raised funding will be funnelled into aiding homeowners in navigating the complex financial opportunities that have recently emerged in the housing market. With House Numbers at their side, homeowners will be better equipped to handle matters like mortgage refinancing, short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), home insurance, solar electrification, and strategies to minimise tax burdens.
Co-founders Jeff Levinsohn, Arthur Granado, and Benjamin Hoffman intend to leverage the latest large language models (LLMs) in a bid to guide homeowners to the most suitable home equity product for their financial goals.
FinTech innovator Equabli secures $3.35m in funding
Equabli, a leading light in the FinTech sector, is celebrating the successful completion of its most recent financing round.
The company has raised an impressive $3.35m. This fresh round of funding was led by Social Leverage, with noteworthy commitments from BankTech Ventures and Cross River Digital Ventures.
Equabli is revolutionising the way we approach debt recovery. Using its Recovery as a Service platform, Equabli offers a streamlined, comprehensive solution for lenders and their borrowers, effectively modernising and optimising the traditionally complex process of debt recovery. The platform delivers an expertly curated value chain of technology, analytics, and integrated recovery providers, all under the expert supervision of the Equabli team.
The new injection of capital will be used to drive the company towards its strategic goals. Key areas of focus include the recruitment of new talent, expansion into new markets, and the enhancement of their innovative debt recovery products and services. Through these initiatives, Equabli aims to continue delivering exceptional value to its clients and stakeholders.
Carey Ransom, Managing Director at BankTech Ventures, praised Equabli’s approach, saying, |We’re thrilled to partner with Equabli as they innovate in important areas of the credit lifecycle. The team’s knowledge about collections and recovery is world-class, and they’re applying it to a new technology and services stack that our banks can utilise and significantly upgrade their capabilities. This is exactly the kind of strategic company we look for at BankTech Ventures.”
Data protection innovator PrivacyHawk raises $2.7m
PrivacyHawk, the groundbreaking company that empowers individuals to regain control of their personal data, announced it has raised $2.7m in its most recent funding round.
The round saw contributions from a host of investors, including ff Venture Capital (ffVC), Nufund, Alumni Ventures, AngelList, Gaingels, Duro Ventures, Sandhill Angels, and Seraphim Ventures. Of these, ffVC, Tech Coast Angels, Duro Ventures, and Gaingels have previously invested in PrivacyHawk.
With its innovative approach, PrivacyHawk is carving a new niche in the personal data protection industry. The company’s product offers individuals a much-needed shield against fraud, identity theft, hacks, scams, and spam by safeguarding their digital footprint. As personal data has emerged as a critical part of our identities, the need for solutions like PrivacyHawk’s is becoming more acute.
With the influx of funds, PrivacyHawk intends to boost its sales, marketing, and product development efforts. The ultimate aim is to broaden its mission of protecting personal data and reduce the risk of individuals being targeted by fraud and cybercrimes. The company plans to enhance its product by adding more automated features and integrating artificial intelligence. These improvements are intended to help identify vulnerabilities in a user’s digital footprint and optimise the ability to remove such exposures.
Founded in 2021, the Los Angeles-based PrivacyHawk is making strides in the industry with a comprehensive solution for managing one’s digital footprint. Through advanced robotic process automation and innovative technology, the company is forging a path towards a future where personal data is transparent, controlled, and, most importantly, secure.
SpecterOps extends Series A with $8.5m investment
SpecterOps, a provider of cybersecurity solutions, has closed an extension to its Series A, raising an additional $8.5m from Ballistic Ventures.
This brings SpecterOps total Series A funding to an impressive $33.5m. The company is known for its unique insights into advanced threat actor tradecraft, which have shaped its innovative cybersecurity solutions. SpecterOps flagship product, BloodHound Enterprise (BHE), is the industry’s first platform designed to comprehensively eliminate identity attack paths in Microsoft’s Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD.
The latest funding infusion will fuel the continued adoption of BloodHound Enterprise, allowing organizations to enhance their overall security posture by effectively mitigating identity-based threats. Moreover, the investment will support SpecterOps’ research and development initiatives, including the development and enhancement of BloodHound free and open source software (FOSS).
In April 2023, SpecterOps released the most recent version of BloodHound FOSS, which has gained widespread popularity among penetration testers and red teamers for identifying attack paths within on-premises Active Directory and Azure AD cloud environments.
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