Sector Updates

Equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs is reporting a record year for the company with more than £85m invested into 158 deals on the platform.

UK peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle is expanding its partnership with the government-run British Business Bank Investments and receiving £40m to lend to small businesses.

Australian cross-border payments service Airwallex has landed $13m in a round led by Chinese web giant Tencent. Sequoia Capital China, MasterCard and existing backer Gobi Ventures also participated.

Insurance software provider One, Inc has picked up $15.5m in a new funding round co-led by American Family Venture and Centana Growth Partners.

Oslo-based InsurTech startup Tribe has landed a new investment from BearingPoint as a part of the European consultancy’s venture efforts.

Payments processor Vantiv is acquiring B2B payments company Paymetric from private equity firm Francisco Partners. The financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.

Home equity financing platform Patch Home has secured $1m in Seed funding as it launches out of private beta mode in California.

Singapore Life has raised $50m in the largest Asian InsurTech funding round to date. The Series A investment comes from Impact Capital, a subsidiary of Credit China FinTech Holdings, as well as UK-based investor IPGL.

Stock trading app Robinhood is confirming its $1.3bn valuation and announcing a $110m Series C round. Alongside the capital and valuation, the company is revealing a new milestone in having passed two million users globally.

German InsurTech startup Getsurance has picked up ?2m in a Seed round of funding. The investment comes from Rocket Internet founder Alexander Samwer Picus Capital, Postfinance Bank and IBB.