Early stage European FinTech deals include Quantev, Incuto, Objective Platform etc. We feature Q&As with Steve Toland of TransFICC, Daniel Andemeskel of Universal-Investment and Christian Rokitta of QUIN. The 12th FinTech Forum is a wrap- watch this space for a summary of the event in tweets next week!
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
Scaling Enterprise FinTech: with Steve Toland of TransFICC
1. Give us the backstory – what were you up to before starting up, how did you get the founding idea?
The idea behind TransFICC came from my two prior job roles. I was leading sales at LMAX, an FX (Foreign Exchange) Trading venue and it was a real problem to get banks to code to our trading API – typically it took banks 3-6 months to complete coding work and due to this cost, many banks were unwilling to take on the work. This was a huge bottleneck and therefore business problem for both LMAX and the banks.
I found a technology provider who had a great business model, a ‘Hosted API translation’ service for FX (simpler and lower cost) to help with the above problem. I ended up joining that company and although the business model was good, the technology was not stable or flexible. At the same time one customer approached me and asked about building out the firm’s solution for Fixed Income trading markets. Due to the technology flexibility issues, the company was unwilling to look at Fixed Income markets.
After doing some due diligence to ensure that several banks had the same business/technology issues in Fixed Income, I approached two of my ex LMAX developer colleagues with the TransFICC idea.
http://www.fintechforum.de/scaling-enterprise-fintech-with-steve-toland-of-transficcc/
7 Questions with Daniel Andemeskel of Universal-Investment
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hello, I am Daniel Andemeskel, Director and Head of Innovation Management at Universal-Investment. I am currently responsible for the Group’s innovation agenda while at the same time developing the next generation investment platform for digital assets, leveraging on Blockchain and AI. Prior to joining Universal-Investment, I gained over 20 years’ experience in investment management in several functions. My motto is to envision new innovations instead of building faster horses (just like the famous quote of Henry Ford) which is why I enjoy speaking at international conferences and panels on innovation and digital transformation. Besides, I am a member of several Blockchain consortiums and forums and like to initiate collaborations on Blockchain.
Work aside, in my personal life I like to travel and discover new cultures and countries. Alongside my passion for cooking and wine. To compensate my full calendar, I am trying to do as much sports as possible, frequent morning runs are my favorite. This is rounded up with the fact that I am an early bird (waking up every morning between 4:30am and 5:00am). I use these morning hours for the innovation visioning and creative part of my job.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-daniel-andemeskel-of-universal-investment/
7 Questions with Christian Rokitta of QUIN
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
During my studies I realised quite early that ETFs would become a big trend in the financial sector. As my professional career has been mainly focused on personal finance and software development, my main focus at QUIN today is on product management. Besides work, my hobbies are sports (especially football and tennis). Furthermore I like to read and am passionate about good food.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-christian-rokitta-of-quin/
French startup Qantev claims $1.7 million to develop analytics platform for health insurers
Qantev, a French startup developing an enterprise platform for health insurers, has raised $1.7 million in seed funding. The round was led by Elaia Partners and joined by British deep tech investor Entrepreneur First, plus angels such as Gwénaël Moy, former CEO of AX.
The platform trains predictive models on millions of insurance claims to build a holistic view of patients and providers behaviors, helping health insurers’ select the best network providers, reduce costs and improve quality of care.
https://tech.eu/brief/qantev-seed-funding/
Yorkshire fintech secures £1.75m funding for credit union platform
A Yorkshire-based fintech behind a banking platform for credit unions and community banks has completed a £1.75m funding round.
incuto has secured investment from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, the government’s Future Fund, Ascension Ventures’ Fair By Design Fund and the North East Innovation Fund.
It will allow the Ilkley-based company to roll out its platform to more UK credit unions and prepare for overseas expansion.
It comes as the pandemic has increased demand for incuto’s technology by forcing many credit unions and community banks to rapidly digitise their services.
Amsterdam-born Objective Platform raises €2 million to expand in Europe and Asia
Dutch SaaS startup Objective Platform has raised €2 million in a round led by Amsterdam-based B2B investor Newion. The Hatch Firm and Robbert Visser also participated.
Founded in 2014, Objective Platform lets companies track their omnichannel marketing and advertising activities, both online and offline. The insights allow teams to make smarter budgeting decisions and optimize campaigns accordingly.
https://tech.eu/brief/objective-platform-funding/
Exclusive: New ESG fintech Spark Change raises £3.5m led by Barclays
The firm says it is seeing increased demand from institutional portfolio managers looking to hedge exposure to carbon-intensive investments or meet ESG benchmarks.
Spark Change, a new fintech aimed at simplifying institutional investment in green financial products, has closed a $4.5m (£3.5m) funding round led by Barclays.
FinLab EOS VC Fund (a partnership with Block.one and FinLab AG) and Solactive AG also participated in the round.
Stefan Schuetze, Managing Director of FinLab, and US serial entrepreneur Paul Stahura will join the board of directors, while Ryan Hayward, Head of Strategic Investments for Europe and Asia at Barclays, will join as board observer.
https://www.altfi.com/article/7251_exclusive-new-esg-fintech-spark-change-raises-35m-led-by-barclays
Bdeo Raises €5M in Series A Funding
Bdeo, a Madrid, Spain – based insurtech company, closed a €5m Series A round of funding.
The round was led by BlackFin, with participation from current investors K Fund and Big Sur Ventures, who invested €1m in Bdeo’s seed round in 2019.
The company intends to use the funds to consolidate its position in the markets where it currently operates (Spain andf LatAm).
Led by Julio Pernía, CEO, Bdeo leverages artificial intelligence to digitize the interaction between insurance companies and policyholders, offering a comprehensive solution that spans from automatic policy subscription to the digitalization of claims management through automatic damage detection.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/11/bdeo-raises-e5m-in-series-a-funding.html
Griffin Raises £6.5M in Funding
Griffin, a London, UK-based Banking-as-a-Service provider, raised £6.5m in funding.
The round was led by EQT Ventures with participation from Seedcamp, Tribe Capital, Paul Forster (co-founder Indeed.com), Matt Robinson (co-founder Go-Cardless/Nested), and Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas (COO GoCardless).
The company will use the funds to further product development, hire more people and continue the bank authorisation process with the PRA and FCA.
Founded in 2017 by David Jarvis (CEO) and Allen Rohner (CTO), Griffin is building an API-first bank to lower the barrier to entry when it comes to launching new financial products and services for new fintech players and established brands.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/11/griffin-raises-6-5m-in-funding.html
Berlin-based flexible credit provider Finiata raises €7 million for European expansion
Berlin-based startup Finiata, which gives flexible credit lines to small businesses, has raised €7 million in a follow-on funding round from most existing investors. The European Investment Fund is also participating through the Corona Matching Facility.
Finiata’s machine learning algorithm ‘Copernicus’ determines the creditworthiness of potential borrowers within a few minutes and – assuming a positive score – provides them with ‘FlexKapital’, a credit line of three to eight percent of their annual sales.
The startup’s focus is on small, cross-industry companies with up to €10 million in annual sales and up to 50 employees, including freelancers and self-employed people.
https://tech.eu/brief/finiata-funding/
Lightico Raises $12.6M in Funding
Lightico, a London, UK-based provider of a digital customer interaction platform, raised $12.6m in funding.
The round, which brought total amount raised to $27m, was led by Oxx, with participation from Capital One Ventures and Harmony Partners and existing investors lool Ventures, Crescendo Venture Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, and Spinach Angels.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate adoption of its digital customer interaction platform, growing its customer base of mid to large enterprises.
Led by Zviki Ben Ishay, co-founder and CEO, Lightico provides a SaaS platform for customer interactions that transforms millions of connections between businesses and their customers to enable sales and service agents to instantly collect customer documents, eSignatures, payments, and verify ID in real-time––straight from cell phones.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/11/lightico-raises-12-6m-in-funding.html
Fintech startup Railsbank scoops up $37M
Open banking startup Railsbank has secured a $37 million investment in a round led by MiddleGame Ventures and Ventura Capital.
The London-based business has developed a platform that uses open banking and APIs to connect fintech companies with banks so they can offer a range of services from card issuance and direct debit to money sending and conversion.
The company raised a $10 million Series A last year.
https://pitchbook.com/newsletter/fintech-startup-railsbank-scoops-up-37m
Italy based Banking Challenger Aidexa Secures €45 Million in Funding via Seed Round
Italy-based banking challenger Aidexa has secured €45 million in funding through a seed round.
Established by Roberto Nicastro, former GM at Unicredit, Aidexa plans to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and Open Banking to help Italian SMEs with streamlining their banking and overall business operations. Aidexa will focus on serving small businesses with a turnover of less than €10 million.
Aidexa’s management noted that they plan to hire around 100 staff members in the coming months.
Paddle Raises $68M in Series C Funding
Paddle, a London, UK-based Revenue Delivery Platform for B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, raised $68m (£52m) in Series C funding.
The round, which brought the total funding raised to date to $93m (£72m), was led by FTV Capital, with participation from Kindred Capital, Notion Capital and 83 North.
The company intends to use the funds for continued expansion in the US and globally, as well as further investments in its product, engineering, sales and marketing teams.
Founded in 2012 by British co-founders Christian Owens and Harrison Rose, Paddle provides a complete solution for software companies to sell their products.
https://www.finsmes.com/2020/11/paddle-raises-68m-in-series-c-funding.html
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