Flanks, an innovative API for automated wealth services, has successfully secured £8m a Series A funding round led by Earlybird Venture Capital.
This funding also featured additional investments from existing backers, JME Ventures and 4Founders Capital. Notably, this round also gained support from prominent individuals, including Raffaele Terrone, co-founder of the Italian FinTech unicorn Scalapay, and Martin Kassing, Co-Founder and CEO of Upvest, who participated as angel investors.
Flanks is making significant strides in the world of wealth services by digitising and aggregating global wealth data across custodians into a single, powerful API. This innovative approach reshapes how financial information is exchanged within the global wealth management market. This ultimately gives investors a comprehensive, real-time view of their portfolio.
The Barcelona-based firm intends to further enhance the wealth management value chain by automating manual processes, including profiling, reporting, and investment memorandums. Additionally, they plan to incorporate algorithms for intelligent alerts and investment decisions, as it aims to empower various stakeholders in the financial industry, including banks, family offices, asset managers, and financial advisors, by delivering better user experiences to their investors.
This vision aligns with an ongoing regulatory shift in Europe. In response to trends like Open Banking (PSD2 and the proposed PSD3 regulation), the EU is introducing a framework for Open Finance, known as the FIDA regulation.
This regulation establishes rights and obligations for managing financial data access beyond payment accounts. It places control in the hands of customers over who accesses their data and for what purpose, in compliance with GDPR. Moreover, the anticipated MiFID III regulation is expected to intensify the demand for detailed knowledge of clients’ global investment positions by financial advisors.
Joaquim de la Cruz, CEO of Flanks, shared his excitement. He said, “This funding round will allow Flanks to accelerate the disruption process already underway in the wealth management sector. We have an exceptional team, and are excited about the opportunities that the future holds.”
Álvaro Morales, Chief Strategy Officer of Flanks and former Global Head of Private Banking of Banco Santander, added, “Up until now, many financial advisors did their job without knowing the global asset allocation of their customers. The upcoming MiFID III regulation will likely require more detailed attention to the investor’s pre-existing wealth prior to giving financial advice. The technology offered by Flanks, powered by this funding round, is going to transform the interaction between financial advisors and customers.”
Tim Rehder, Partner at Earlybird, said, “The opportunity for Open Wealth is building the foundation for automation and intelligence in the wealth management sector. Flanks is perfectly positioned to become the de facto standard for various B2B partners who transact with the implied customer data. We were impressed by the current impact that Flanks has on its customers, as well as by the founders’ deep industry knowledge, technical depth, and vision. We can’t wait to work with the entire Flanks team!”
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