This week saw a relatively strong week for FinTech funding, with up to $963m in investment recorded by deals reported by FinTech Global.
One of the biggest deals this week saw Ascend Money – a PayTech firm – become the first FinTech unicorn from Thailand after the firm raised $150m in a funding round.
The best-performing sector this week was the FinTech sector with 11 deals, with InsurTech trailing on seven and CyberTech on five. Elsewhere, the PayTech, RegTech and ESG sectors all recorded one deal each.
Geographically, the US and the UK led the way with eight and six deals respectively, while France trailed slightly behind with three deals. Picking up one deal each were Thailand, China, Germany, India, Australia, Denmark, Nigeria and Canada.
Here are this week’s deals.
Sonovate expands securitisation to £240m
Sonovate, a prominent figure in the provision of finance and payment solutions for the contingent workforce, recently disclosed a momentous escalation in its securitisation.
The figure now stands at £240m, a considerable rise from the £165m figure declared the previous year. This pivotal progression is marked by the inclusion of Lloyds Bank to Sonovate’s assembly of financial backers.
As a fresh entrant to Sonovate’s finance providers, Lloyds Bank pledges to offer a whopping £100m as an integral part of the senior tranche. Existing participant, BNP Paribas, remains steadfast with its commitment of £100m from the first round of securitisation. M&G, a long-standing funding ally of Sonovate, also elevates its total contribution to £40m.
This augmented securitisation and diversified financial backing broadens Sonovate’s horizon. By amplifying its lender pool, Sonovate is set to improve its capital efficiency. This move paves the way for an expanded customer base, especially in the enterprise domain. Moreover, it capacitates Sonovate to enhance its funding to firms stationed beyond the UK borders. The spotlight is on the Netherlands, marking the nation where Sonovate inaugurated its debut international office earlier this year.
Ascend Money becomes first Thai unicorn following $150m raise
Ascend Money, has reached a valuation of $1.5bn after securing $150m in its latest funding round, crowning it as Thailand’s first FinTech unicorn.
The fresh capital infusion will be directed towards expanding the user base of its e-wallet application, TrueMoney Wallet, and advancing digital financial services, encompassing digital lending, digital investments, and cross-border remittances across Southeast Asia. Ascend Money’s primary mission is to drive regional financial access and inclusion.
Bow Wave Capital Management, a US-based investment firm, has played a pivotal role in this funding round, joining existing investors such as Charoen Pokphand Group and Ant Group.
DiDi Autonomous Driving receives potential $149m
DiDi Autonomous Driving has secured a substantial investment of up to $149m from Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC Group).
This financial infusion comes courtesy of GAC Group’s wholly-owned subsidiary, GAC Capital Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Development District Investment Group Co., Ltd., and is expected to fuel DiDi Autonomous Driving’s commitment to intensive research and development.
The capital injection is also set to be used to establish a sustainable and open ecosystem, expedite the implementation of products, foster open industry collaborations, and accelerate the widespread commercialisation of autonomous driving technology.
Neobank Zolve secures $100m debt facility
Zolve, an “international neo-banking company”, has reportedly successfully secured a debt facility of up to $100m.
The financing came courtesy of Community Investment Management (CIM), according to a report from Business Standard.
Specialising in providing banking solutions, Zolve focuses primarily on Indians in foreign countries. The firm identifies a significant trend: over four million Indians venture abroad annually for better education or career prospects, leading to an expenditure exceeding $100bn. Among the preferred destinations for this move, which totals over 32 million, the US, UK, and Canada emerge as favourites.
The Bengaluru and US-based neo-bank plans to channel the new funding to extend credit products to Indians residing in the US. Raghunandan G, Zolve’s founder, expressed enthusiasm, highlighting that the fresh capital pushes the company closer to a world where vital financial resources aren’t bound by geographical or background limitations.
SYN Ventures pioneers with $75m dedicated to US cybersecurity start-ups
SYN Ventures, a venture capital firm, has enthusiastically unveiled a significant financial milestone this week.
According to Security Week, the company announced the preliminary closing of a lucrative $75m cybersecurity seed fund, priding itself on establishing “the largest cyber seed dedicated fund domiciled in the United States.” The total assets under SYN Ventures’ management have impressively ballooned to over $600m, with the final closing of the new seed fund anticipated later this quarter.
Diving into its workings, SYN Ventures navigates through the vast and complex realm of cybersecurity, selectively investing in companies that proffer “transformational and disruptive solutions”, steering clear from mere incremental features. The firm, through its ventures, supports cybersecurity entities such as Accurics, Carbon Black, and Mitiga, among others, by providing not just financial support, but an infrastructural backbone to bloom and innovate in the cybersecurity arena.
Purposefully, the newly raised $75m Seed Fund I will be channeled into investing in businesses aiming to engineer “transformational and disruptive solutions” in the cybersecurity sphere, moving towards a vision of robust digital realms rather than pacing through incremental technological advancements.
Gutsy unveils a pioneering $51m seed round
Cybersecurity innovators, Ben Bernstein, Dima Stopel, and John Morello, once at the helm of Twistlock – a cloud-native security vanguard acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019, today announced the initiation of their new venture, Gutsy.
Gutsy, a startup aiming to redefine the security governance market, has impressively garnered $51m in seed capital, with YL Ventures and Mayfield steering the funding ship.
In a recent survey conducted by Gutsy, disturbing figures were highlighted, suggesting that the security governance sector is riddled with inefficiencies and breakdowns. Over half of the surveyed enterprise CISOs conceded that their security tools aren’t optimally utilised, resulting in process failures causing nearly 38% of security incidents. Furthermore, a whopping 63% of audit findings emerge from these security process disconnections.
Diving deeper into Gutsy’s proposition, the firm integrates process mining into cybersecurity, marking a revolutionary step forward.
Upvest collaborates with BlackRock and secures €30m
Upvest, a Berlin-based FinTech firm, has aligned with BlackRock to render investing more accessible to millions of Europeans.
The company recently closed a €30m funding round in 2023, which saw participation from BlackRock alongside existing investors like Bessemer Venture Partners, HV Capital, Earlybird, Notion Capital, ABN Amro Ventures, and 10x Capital.
Upvest champions the sphere of accessible investing by leveraging its API-based investment infrastructure to facilitate tangible, physical fractional investing across various financial instruments, including ETFs, stocks, and mutual funds. The firm’s strategic moves have significantly lowered entry barriers, enabling investments starting from as little as €1 in any asset class.
With the new funds, Upvest intends to provide a robust investment infrastructure to companies, thereby facilitating smooth and cost-effective investment experiences. While the precise allocation strategy of the fresh capital was not detailed, it can be inferred that the funds will be channelled towards further enhancing Upvest’s technological capabilities and possibly expanding its geographical footprint.
HarfangLab secures $25m
HarfangLab has closed a robust €25m Series A funding round, underscoring a resilient response to the surging global cyberthreats.
Steering the pivotal financial injection was Crédit Mutuel Innovation, demonstrating a solid backing and faith in HarfangLab’s mission and technological offerings.
In this notable fund infusion, HarfangLab drew €25m from a consortium of investors, notably led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation, with pivotal participation from MassMutual Ventures and Elaia, the latter having a history of steering HarfangLab’s inaugural €5m funding round in 2021.
Specialising in providing endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, HarfangLab positions itself as a cybersecurity bulwark, facilitating enhanced identification and neutralisation of cyberattacks against corporates. The firm, boasting ANSSI (French National Cybersecurity Agency) certification, has emerged with stellar EDR results in the initial MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation, propelling its reputation in the cybersecurity space amidst an explosion of cyber threats.
Indian InsurTech Onsurity nets $24m in Series B
India-based Onsurity, an SME-focused, subscription-led employee healthcare benefits provider, has successfully raised $24m in a Series B funding round.
Diving into what Onsurity offers, it is revolutionising the InsurTech space by focusing on a technology-driven solution to enhance the insurance claims process for its members. Their mission aims at removing the customary delays and unpredictability frequently related to insurance claims. In effect, members are assured of an entirely digital, lucid, and efficient journey in their benefits utilisation, all of which is enhanced by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The freshly-acquired funds have been earmarked for several visionary endeavours by Onsurity. A significant part will be directed towards collaborating with their insurance partners to develop the aforementioned technology solution. The ambitious vision of the company doesn’t stop there.
They intend to form alliances with over 50,000 firms and aim to provide insurance coverage to more than 5 million individuals by 2026. Furthermore, these resources will also fortify Onsurity’s roadmap to achieve profitability.
Matic bags $20m in Series B extension round
Matic, a foremost embedded InsurTech platform, recently publicised a $20m fundraising as an extension to its Series B round.
The financing round witnessed participation from previous backers and was majorly steered by new investors. This includes a $17m Series B equity injection co-headed by IA Capital Group and Cultivation Capital. New investors championing this round were Intuit Ventures, TruStage Ventures, and Assurity Ventures, amongst others. Simultaneously, the company expanded its credit facility by $3m, thus enhancing its liquidity to the tune of $20m.
Delving deeper into what Matic offers, the firm is on a crusade to uncomplicate the insurance landscape. Serving as a digital insurance agency, it’s tailored for collaborative initiatives. Matic integrates seamlessly within the home ownership journey, facilitating consumers in their quest to save both time and money on insurance. Additionally, this integration aids partners in churning out a fresh revenue source for their enterprises.
AI-powered financial safety platform Carefull nets $16.5m
Carefull, an AI-driven FinTech platform, has taken a significant stride forward in its mission to safeguard the finances of older adults.
The company successfully closed its Series A funding round, amassing an impressive $16.5m. Leading the investment was Fin Capital, with prominent contributions from Bessemer Venture Partners, TTV Capital, Commerce Ventures, Montage Ventures, and Alloy Labs. With this recent funding, Carefull’s total financial backing stands at $19.7m.
Distinguishing itself as the first Protect-Retain-Transfer (PRT) provider in the financial ecosystem, Carefull offers a technological solution tailor-made for banks, financial advisors, and insurers. The platform’s primary goal is to shield older adults, a demographic that is both highly valued and particularly vulnerable, from external financial threats and self-inflicted monetary mistakes.
Untangled Finance secures £13.5m
Untangled Finance, the London-based FinTech, has recently finalised a strategic fundraise of £13.5m.
Established in 2020, Untangled Finance was founded by professionals possessing a robust background in finance, asset origination, and emerging markets. The platform’s unique protocol specialises in tokenising real-world private credit assets, such as invoices and SME loans, converting them into on-chain structured credit pools. These pools consequently enable the issuance of collateralised debt notes, catering to both DeFi and TradFi investors.
The recent funding will fuel Untangled’s vision to democratise capital accessibility and pricing. It aims to narrow the gap between large corporations and SMEs in terms of borrowing privileges and to streamline international capital flow, reducing regional credit investment challenges.
Untangled Finance leverages tokenisation, a process utilising blockchain technology, to introduce traditional assets (Real World Assets or RWAs) on-chain. This ensures fractional ownership, borderless access, lowered investment thresholds, enhanced transparency, and a secure, immutable transaction record.
kennek secures $12.5m to enhance alternative lending toolkit
kennek, a pioneering FinTech firm, is diving deeper into the complexities of the lending landscape and has raised recent funding.
According to Tech EU, in a strategic move aimed at expanding its technological capabilities and cementing its presence in the UK, kennek has successfully raised a noteworthy $12.5m in a seed funding round. This crucial investment was spearheaded by HV Capital and witnessed robust participation from Dutch Founders Fund, AlbionVC, FFVC, Plug & Play Ventures, and Syndicate One.
Delving into kennek’s offerings, the firm presents an innovative operating system tailored for lenders, specifically addressing the multifaceted lending issues encountered by non-banking entities.
The freshly secured funding is earmarked to facilitate kennek’s strategic ambition of growing its tech team and consolidating its position in the UK market. Furthermore, the FinTech firm sets its sights on exploring viable opportunities across the broader European landscape, eyeing potential markets and collaborations that align with its innovative lending solutions.
Conveyor nabs $12.5m
Conveyor, described as the premier AI-powered platform that simplifies, automates, and magnifies customer security reviews, has made headlines with its recent investment news.
The company successfully secured a $12.5m Series A funding round, which saw leading participation from Cervin Ventures.
In our modern business landscape, a consistent factor in every B2B sale is the security review. This comprises an exhaustive security questionnaire, often encompassing hundreds of questions that vendors need to address even before sales negotiations commence. Unfortunately, the manual nature of this review can result in prolonged delays in the sales cycle.
Conveyor aims to tackle this challenge by automating this exhaustive, manual review through its all-encompassing security review automation platform. Its unique trust portal facilitates the seamless exchange of security details, permitting vendors to share vital security documents, FAQs, and other essential security facets effortlessly.
Parisian InsurTech Orus lands €11m
French InsurTech Orus has successfully raised €11m in a Series A funding round, as it looks to provide modular insurance solutions tailored for SMBs across the European market.
The investment was led by Notion Capital and VR Ventures/Redstone and featured prominent backers from the FinTech and InsurTech sectors, along with experienced angel investors, according to tech.eu.
Founded in 2021, Orus initially focused on serving the hospitality sector with tailor-made insurance solutions for restaurant owners. Since its inception, the insurtech company has expanded its offerings to cater to the diverse needs of SMBs, retailers, and freelancers. One of Orus’s standout features is its rapid online onboarding process, which takes just three minutes.
With this fresh injection of capital, Orus is set to embark on an ambitious growth journey. The company plans to double its existing team of 25 professionals within the next year. This expansion will primarily involve hiring tech, insurance, and data experts. Furthermore, the Parisian company intends to launch new and innovative insurance products, continue its scaling efforts in the European market, and is gearing up for market entry in a new territory in 2024.
Prevounce Health wraps up $7m Series A
Prevounce Health, a pioneering entity in the realm of remote care management software, tools, and services, has made headlines with its recent announcement.
The company declared a close on an additional $2.5m for its Series A fundraising. The significant contribution was headed by Cloud Hill Partners and Michael Hammond, the earlier co-founder of both Hammond Hanlon Camp LLC and H2C Securities. Some returning backers also joined in. With this, the total capital garnered in the Series A round reaches an impressive $7m.
Offering a robust cloud-operated remote care management platform, Prevounce stands out with its exclusive cellularly connected devices for patients and unparalleled managed services. These provisions ensure top-tier remote patient monitoring (RPM), chronic care management (CCM), and wellness programmes.
Lopay garners £6m to supercharge instant payment solutions
FinTech start-up Lopay has secured £6m from a recent funding round as it looks to supercharge the instant payments market.
Securing £6m in a keenly contested seed funding round, Lopay garnered investments from notable venture capital entities including BackedVC and Portage, alongside the Venture Collective and an ensemble of angel investors.
According to AltFi, Lopay, with its revolutionary approach to payment solutions, endeavours to assist small to medium enterprises (SMEs) by facilitating instant card payments at significantly lower costs than conventional corporate payment providers. Through its app and card reader, Lopay enables businesses to effortlessly take card payments and swiftly receive cleared funds, mitigating the habitual wait or excessive fees imposed by the predominant players in the payment industry.
DomaCom fortifies position with a $6m issuance of convertible notes
DomaCom, an Australian-based financial technology firm listed on the ASX under the ticker ‘DCL’, has unveiled its plans to raise up to $6m by issuing convertible notes.
This endeavour has garnered the support of several of DomaCom’s key shareholders, kickstarting with a fully underwritten raising of $2m, known as ‘Tranche 1’. This segment involves the issuance of two million convertible notes, each with a face value of $1.00 for wholesale investors.
The company specialises in providing investors with unique access to previously out-of-reach assets. Through its innovative platform, DomaCom offers the security of a fully regulated trust structure, cutting-edge technology, and specific Australian Financial Services License authorisations.
SaaS innovator scnd secures €4m
Founded with an aim to enhance the e-commerce of services, scnd, a pioneering SaaS solution provider, has recently marked an important chapter in its evolution.
With a unique approach and innovative technology, the company stands out in delivering the first-ever software dedicated to the e-commerce of services, a niche that has seen a remarkable 36% growth in comparison to last year.
The company announces a notable funding milestone, securing €4m from prestigious investment entities such as 42Cap and Partech. This financial injection does not only affirm the investors’ belief in scnd’s forward-thinking approach and technology but also underscores the timeliness of the investment amidst the current market trajectory.
In the realm of service e-commerce, scnd has positioned itself as a solitary specialist, deploying a white-labelled solution that facilitates companies in enabling online booking of their services. This proficiency stems from a formidable decade of experience accrued by the founding team. Prominent international clients, spanning across France, Germany, the UK, and the US, including notable names such as Accor, Allianz, Intersport, Siemens Energy, and Suez, have placed their trust in scnd’s solution.
Ostium Labs secures $3.5m for real-world assets exchange
Ostium Labs, a pioneering FinTech company, has made headlines with its latest funding round.
The firm recently secured $3.5m in funding, with investment heavyweights General Catalyst and LocalGlobe leading the charge. Additionally, the round saw participation from notable names such as Susquehanna International Group (SIG), DeFi Alliance, Balaji Srinivasan, Shiliang Tang from LedgerPrime, and a host of other founders, investors, and advisors.
Ostium Labs is at the forefront of introducing a monumental shift in the financial market landscape. They are preparing to unveil their flagship protocol – a unique decentralised, non-custodial perpetuals exchange crafted for real-world assets. This comes at a pivotal time, especially considering the seismic disruptions in global financial markets triggered by various factors ranging from inflation peaks, surging interest rates, to tectonic shifts in geopolitical dynamics.
The newly acquired $3.5m will primarily be channelled towards the launch of this promising protocol.
Scription pivots from hourly repairs to insured subscriptions with $2.5m funding
Scription, an “Alberta-based InsurTech company”, has successfully wrapped up its recent funding round, pulling in a substantial $2.5m.
The newly secured funds come primarily from venture capital firm Markd, known for their keen interest in budding InsurTech start-ups. Scription’s investor base includes Greenlight Re, Connetic Ventures, Sidedoor Ventures, Ank Partners, Hustle Fund, and Startup TNT.
Delving into what Scription brings to the table, it addresses the predominant issue of equipment often being repaired at hourly rates. This current model frequently results in maintenance companies gaining financially from equipment downtimes. Scription’s innovative approach offers a shift to subscription-based maintenance, handling primary barriers such as pricing and insurance.
Their newly unveiled programme guarantees consistent servicing costs for equipment owners, simultaneously reducing the number of equipment breakdowns. This ensures service companies enjoy continued aftermarket revenue and exclusive rights to repairs.
Responsibly obtains $2.4m
Responsibly, making waves in the sustainable procurement sector, aims to drastically alter the landscape with its innovative, AI-driven platform.
According to ArcticStartup, Responsibly has successfully secured $2.4m in a seed funding round. The investment was led by Hambro Perks and Pi Labs, and also drew substantial support from Global Founders Capital, AENU, Michael Wax, and Benedikt Franke.
Responsibly leverages artificial intelligence to evaluate various sustainability factors, including carbon emissions, gender pay gap, human rights, and deforestation, assisting businesses in assessing the sustainability of their suppliers. With a strong inclination towards promoting ethical supply chains, its platform computes sustainability data scores for suppliers, which enables its clients, such as CERN and Chr. Hansen, to reduce data compliance costs and simplify their procurement process.
NYC-based AI model startup Fantix secures $1.6m
Fantix, a NYC-based privacy safe AI model development startup, has successfully raised $1.6m in its maiden funding round.
Taking a closer look at what Fantix offers, the firm stands out with its groundbreaking technology infrastructure. This unique system allows businesses to engage in collaborative training of AI models, and in doing so, gain insights via federated knowledge. Impressively, all this can be achieved without the direct sharing of data.
Instead, Fantix employs a collaborative learning method grounded in data abstraction. This ensures federated knowledge can be built by sharing models and insights but not the data itself. Consequently, this process only utilises anonymous aggregated abstractions of data, upholding consumer privacy and preserving business confidentiality.
The recently-acquired funds are earmarked for pushing forward the company’s developmental endeavours.
Haba InsurTech’s $75k boost
Haba InsurTech, co-founded in 2022 by Constance Oshafi, Stephen Onwe, and Paul Showemimo, is making strides in Nigeria’s InsurTech sector.
The startup recently celebrated raising $75k in a pre-seed funding round, with Upscale Management Services being one of the notable investors.
Born from a vision to revolutionise and simplify insurance in Nigeria, Haba InsurTech identified the challenges and complexities in the existing system. The founders aimed to develop a platform that made insurance more accessible, user-friendly, and cost-effective for the Nigerian populace.
The funding will be pivotal for Haba InsurTech’s expansion. It intends to use these funds to enhance service capabilities, fortify its technical team, and bolster its marketing strategies to cater to a wider individual customer base.
Spendology embarks on global expansion journey with Seedrs funding
Spendology has made headlines with its recent decision to open a crowdfunding campaign via Seedrs.com, setting its sights on a broader international horizon.
In its bid for expansion, Spendology has successfully achieved its initial funding goal of £300k on Seedrs. The platform’s active participation from the investment community includes seasoned and new investors alike.
As a frontrunner in the FinTech space, Spendology provides a Cloud platform through franchise partners. This platform is promoted to a vast array of clients, including travel agencies, financial institutions, and corporate entities. It offers a versatile service model, with customers having the choice to place orders online or directly in stores.
The service then extends to either home delivery or instore collection based on individual business operations. Most of their franchises are deeply rooted in the wholesale banknote distribution or they offer retail distribution services for these banknotes.
Assured Data Protection secures growth funding from Soho Square
Soho Square, a UK-based investment firm specialising in supporting and financing thriving UK and European SMEs, has announced its strategic minority growth investment in Assured Data Protection.
Assured Data Protection, a dedicated managed service provider in backup and disaster recovery, has successfully garnered this investment. Powering their services is the distinguished Rubrik software.
Assured has teamed up with Soho Square, leveraging its profound expertise and capital to fast-track its promising growth trajectory. The leadership team, including Simon Chappell (CEO), Stacy Hayes (EVP Americas), Robert Mackle (MD EMEA), Stewart Parkin (CTO EMEA), and Andrew Eva (CTO Americas), have been steering Assured since its inception in 2016. This team is poised to elevate Assured’s growth further, with unwavering support from Soho Square.
Assured’s acclaimed services revolve around the premier Rubrik software, providing Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Business Continuity Solutions. Catering predominantly to large SMEs and enterprises, their services equip organisations with Rubik’s revolutionary technology. This is delivered through adaptable Capex/Opex models, accompanied by a bespoke fully managed service that pledges round-the-clock support.
