Early stage European FinTech deals include Quendoo, Perenna, Leocare etc. We feature Q&As with Terrie Smith of DIGISEQ and Christian Knott of Capnamic Ventures.
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Terrie Smith of DIGISEQ
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Hello! I am Terrie Smith. I’m going to start by talking about myself and how I got here When I was 17, I worked at an insurance firm and experienced gender inequality first-hand. Being a tenacious young lady (or maybe just glutton for punishment), I hardened to this, left the company, and moved into the even more male-dominated environment of information technology. And that’s pretty much how it all started.
Today, I’m a mobile payments expert with over 20 years’ experience and a proven track record in product development and management. I have always had a zealousness for innovative payments and NFC technology, and am included in fundamental patents related to provisioning and tokenisation. I managed the development of MasterCard’s MOTAPS solution, a pioneering Trusted Service Manager (TSM) solution and was instrumental in shaping the MasterCard Digital Enable System (MDES), used to support Apple Pay. In June 2014, I started my very own passion project with my friend, Colin Tanner, and together we co-founded the award-winning IoT platform, DIGISEQ.
You may ask… why did I decide to launch a start-up? (I sometimes ask myself that when I am working at midnight). The reality is that it was a move towards personal goals and me attaining control. It was a big risk, no doubt, but I was raised and supported to believe that I can do anything I put my mind to, and I upheld this mantra. Challenging, one might say, but beyond exciting and fulfilling.
Work aside, everyone you ask will tell you I’m pretty much a butterfly – I don’t sit still! If I’m not working, I’m grabbing a coffee, cooking, spending time with my family, or FaceTiming my daughter and the grandkids – there are endless things for me to do and simply not enough time in a day.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-terrie-smith-of-digiseq/
7 Questions with Christian Knott of Capnamic Ventures
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
Well, I am the typical business student, did my bachelor in Cologne, Master in Leipzig. Worked briefly for the European Commission but that was not my hometurf. Started working in Venture Capital in 2010 and am with Capnamic for 5.5 years now. Since 2018, I am partner.
In my private life I have a fiancée (wife at the end July), who I love to travel with. The more remote and beautiful the place the better.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-christian-knott-capnamic-ventures/
Quendoo Raises €750K in Funding
Quendoo, a Sofia, Bulgaria-based digital platform that allows property owners to take back control of their property bookings, payments, marketing and availability, raised €750k in funding.
The backers in the round, which valued the company at €5M, were not disclosed.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations.
Co-founded by Gorian Varbanov and Christophe Gater, Quendoo provides a platform that enables property owners and hoteliers to take back control of their bookings, payments, marketing and availability.
https://www.finsmes.com/2021/01/quendoo-raises-e750k-in-funding.html
UK Mortgage Fintech Perenna Secures $10 Million Through Seed Funding Round
Perenna, a UK-based mortgage fintech startup, announced on Monday it secured $10 million through its Seed funding round, which included investments from Kevin Flaherty, the former head of structured products at Deutsche Bank, Tony Mallin MBE, managing partner of Star Capital.
Founded in 2018, Perenna claims it is building an innovative digital mortgage bank that will revolutionize the UK mortgage market.
French insurtech startup Leocare raising €15 million to boost growth
Insurtech startup Leocare, which offers a ‘modern’ way to get homes, cars, motorbikes and smartphones insured, is raising €15 million from Felix Capital, Ventech and Daphni to fuel its growth.
Brought to life in 2017 by Christophe Dandois and Noureddine Bekrar to “breathe new life into the French insurance market” with a digital-friendly strategy, its self-described raison d’être is that there is a mismatch between what traditional insurers are offering the French, whose lifestyle is rapidly changing according to the founders.
Says Dandois: “It was time for a product range based on technology and continuous dialogue, in order to support and protect French people. To this day, we collect more than one million euros of insurance premium a month and our app has been downloaded more than 150,000 times already.”
https://tech.eu/brief/leocare-funding/
Immobilien-Crowdfinanzierer Exporo holt sich 16 Millionen Euro
Das Hamburger Startup Exporo meldet sich nach zuletzt kritischen Medienberichten mit einer neuen Millionenrunde zurück. Das Geld soll offenbar in ein neues Immobilien-Angebot fließen.
Die Hamburger Immobilien-Plattform Exporo hat eine neue Kapitalspritze erhalten. 16 Millionen Euro stellen Bestandsinvestoren bereit. Das Fintech-Magazin Finanz-Szene.de berichtete zuerst über den Deal, Exporo selbst hat die Summe inzwischen bestätigt.
Berlin fintech startup Moss raises 21 mln euros from investors
BERLIN, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Moss, a Berlin-based financial technology startup that serves small- and medium-sized companies, said on Thursday it had raised 21 million euros ($25.5 million) to accelerate the development of its payment and credit-card platform.
The Series A funding round was led by Valar Ventures, which is backed by early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, with participation from existing investors Cherry Ventures and Global Founders Capital.
Moss provides real and ‘virtual’ credit cards to its customers, setting dynamic credit limits and offering software to keep track of spending.
Swiss fintech startup Numbrs raises over €25 million to expand in Europe
Zurich-based fintech company Numbrs announced it closed a funding round back in December, topping €25 million to roll out a new subscription service and fuel growth in new and existing markets. Swiss firm Saidler & Co Finance led the investment.
The Numbrs app allows users to manage all accounts, crypto wallets, and loyalty cards in one place. The company raised €36 million back in August 2019, with the goal of expanding internationally.
https://tech.eu/brief/numbrs-funding/
Ireland’s Carne Group secures €100m investment from Vitruvian
Carne will use the investment to expand its technology for the asset management industry.
Dublin-headquartered Carne Group has secured a €100m investment from Vitruvian Partners.
The investment will be used to expand Carne’s client-led technology tools and will see Vitruvian take a minority stake in the business, subject to regulatory approval.
Carne, which was founded in 2004, has developed a technology platform for the asset management industry.
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/companies/carne-group-vitruvian-investment
Rapyd Raises $300M in Series D Funding
Rapyd, a London, UK- and Mountain View, CA-based Fintech as a Service company, raised $300m in Series D financing.
The round was led by Coatue with participation from new investors Spark Capital, Avid Ventures, FJ Labs, and Latitude, along with further investment from current investors General Catalyst, Oak FT, Tiger Global, Target Global, Durable Capital, Tal Capital, and Entrée Capital.
Led by Arik Shtilman, co-founder and CEO, Rapyd provides a platform that embeds fintech services into any application and simplifies the complexity of offering local payment methods through an API while managing diverse compliance and regulatory requirements.
https://www.finsmes.com/2021/01/rapyd-raises-300m-in-series-d-funding.html
Glilot Capital Opens New $170M Growth Fund
Israel-based Glilot Capital Partners, typically an early-seed investment firm, has launched its first early growth fund.
The new $170 million fund—called Glilot+—is the firm’s fifth fund. The new fund primarily will look for post-Series A enterprise software and cybersecurity opportunities, said Lior Litwak, who will lead the new fund, which is looking to invest, on average, between $5 million and $15 million in about 10 to 15 companies.
“We want to make sure people know we are open for business at these later-stage rounds,” Litwak said.
https://news.crunchbase.com/news/glilot-capital-opens-new-170m-growth-fund/
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