Company News

Indonesia-based staff management platform Vara raised $4.8m in seed funding from Go Ventures, the investment arm of super app Gojek, as well as RTP Global, Alpha JWC Ventures, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, FEBE Ventures and Taurus Ventures.

India-based mobile wallet service firm MobiKwik filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filing for its IPO to raise $255m, becoming the latest Indian startup to explore the public markets.

UK-based Quantexa has raised $153m in a funding round led by Warburg Pincus along with a slew of undisclosed blue-chip investors as it seeks to accelerate regional expansion and develop new products in areas including banking and insurance.

International insurance broker Howden has introduced Parhelion Underwriting with the aim of raising $500m after it was seeded by Howden.

Ascend Wellness Holdings (AWH), a cannabis operator, has selected ARCA, a cash automation solution provider for financial institutions, retail businesses and self-service kiosks, to streamline its back-office cash management in its retail stores.

The Financial Conduct Authority fined the insurance division of Lloyds Bank £90.7m for sending misleading renewal quotes to nine million customers.

Two fifths of consumers in the UAE have experienced an online fraud attempt, of which, half would contact law enforcements if it is successful.

Danish challenger bank Lunar has secured €210m from a Series D funding round led by Heartland.

UK business banking platform Tide has raised over $100m in Series C funding at a valuation of $650m led by Apax Digital, the growth equity team of Apax Partners.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has fined DTCC Derivatives Repository for seven breaches of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).