We’ve been on the road- perhaps for the last week of travel here in Europe as Coronavirus threatens events and (physical) meetings. FinTech funding and deal activity however, seems to be unaffected. Catching up on a couple of weeks of news took the better part of a train ride from Munich to Frankfurt, with Seed rounds like Tangany, Enginsight, BrikkApp, GeoDB and OutThink accompanied by mega-rounds like Thought Machine, iwoca, Fenergo (all between $80-100m) and Revolut ($500m). Reflecting the funding appetite, VCs new and old like CapitalT, SpeedInvest and Atomico announced over $1.3bn in fresh funds dedicated to European startups. FinTech Forum is in its seventh year, but we have never been as excited about European FinTech as we begin talking to the startups and investors who will present at the 12th FinTech Forum, 19th Nov. 2020 in Frankfurt: http://ftf12.eventbrite.com
7 Questions with Wladimir Huber of Klickown
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Wladimir Huber. I am a Tech-Entrepreneur with focus on FinTech, Real Estate, Blockchain and data driven companies with an extensive knowledge in founding and scaling companies. I have a M.A. in finance & information technology from Leuphana University. I’m currently living in Hamburg, Germany. I am a big fan of technology, investing, innovation, reading and personal development.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-wladimir-huber-of-klickown/
8 factors why crypto currencies are here to stay- from our Think-Tank
User numbers and investments in cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects are increasing. In the Swiss Crypto Valley, 800 companies with 4000 employees are working on the digitalization of assets. The regulators are also taking up the issue. In the digital age, cryptocurrencies are the next logical stage in the development of money.
http://www.fintechforum.de/8-factors-why-crypto-currencies-are-here-to-stay/
Tangany Raises Seed Financing
Tangany, a Munich, Germany-based blockchain custody startup, raised a seed financing round of undisclosed amount. Backers included High-Tech-Gründerfonds and business angels Alex Suarez (CEO of Valchain AG), Philipp Treuner (former manager at Commerzbank GmbH) and Stefan Schindler (former CTO of Genesis Mining)…Tangany offers a blockchain crypto storage solution for companies. This includes the secure management of wallets in a kind of digital safe (so-called hardware security module) and the use and communication with various blockchains such as Ethereum, Bitcoin or the customer’s own blockchain.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/tangany-raises-seed-financing.html
Millionen Investment für Cybersecurity-Start-Up Enginsight
Das Jenaer Startup erhält neue Finanzierung von Carsten Maschmeyers seed + speed, der HDI Gruppe, Smart Infrastructure Ventures sowie Bestandsinvestoren…Enginsight ist ein IT-Security-Unternehmen und wurde 2017 von Mario Jandeck und Eric Range gegründet. Mit der Cybersecurity-Lösung des Jenaer Startups kann innerhalb kürzester Zeit die gesamte IT von Unternehmen vollständig automatisiert, überwacht und analysiert werden.
International Investment Marketplace BrikkApp Secures €500,000 in Seed Funding
BrikkApp, an international investment marketplace, announced on Thursday it has successfully raised more than €500,000 from a consortium of private investors through its seed funding round. The investment was led by František Novotný and Aleš Hudeček. Founded in 2018, BrikkApp claims it brings users trustworthy data and experience from the real estate crowdfunding world.
Overfunding: Fintech Startup GeoDB Quickly Secures £1 Million Funding Target Through New Seedrs Campaign
GeoDB, a UK-based fintech startup that aims to provide a big data marketplace that includes an encrypted, safe, transparent, verified, accurate and decentralized datapool, has successfully secured its initial £1 funding target through its equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. The funding round comes less than a year after GeoDB raised £877,550 through its Crowdcube campaign.
London-based OutThink snaps up €1.4 million to expand its human risk intelligence platform
UK startup OutThink, the startup behind one of the world’s first Predictive Human Risk Intelligence SaaS Platforms, has announced the completion of its €1.4 million seed funding round, led by Forward Partners. OutThink was founded by CISOs for CISOs as an alternative to traditional security awareness computer-based training.
Madrid-based Cobee closes €2.1 million to revolutionise employee benefit management
Spanish startup Cobee, which is revolutionising employee benefit management, has closed a Pre-Series A round valued at €2.1 million. The round was led by international investment firms Speedinvest, and Target Global. Other backers include Chris Bouwer (co-founder of Adyen) and existing investors Encomenda Smart Capital, Sabadell VC (Banco Sabadell), Lanai Partners and Abac Nest.
Aventus Raises £2.6M in Funding
Aventus, a London, UK-based B2B insurtech business and insurance operating system originally created for the MGA Homelyfe, closed a £2.6m funding round. The round was led by Outward VC and Notion Capital with participation from TriplePoint and Downing Ventures…Led by Peter Goodman, Aventus provides a modular Insurance Operating System, which allows insurers to create policies and automatically quote and bind in under a minute, asking minimal questions
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/aventus-raises-2-6m-in-funding.html
Customs4trade Raises Additional €3M in Equity Funding
Customs4trade, a Mechelen, Belgium-based creator of a comprehensive customs and trade compliance platform, raised an additional €3m in equity funding. The round, which brought the the total investment to €5m within 12 months, was led by Hi Inov with participation from 42CAP and 10x Group. As part of the deal, Hi Inov Managing Partner Wolfgang Krause will join the C4T board of directors.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/customs4trade-raises-additional-e3m-in-equity-funding.html
French FinTech Closes $4M For New Neobank
FinTech startup EasyEuro — based in both Paris, France and Shenzhen, China — has closed a $4 million pre-funding deal to launch a Neobank (a 100 percent digital bank) that will target Europe and China simultaneously, the company announced in a recent blog post. The funds will be used for the Neobank product development, talent recruitment and market expansion.
https://www.pymnts.com/news/b2b-payments/2020/french-fintech-closes-4m-for-new-neobank/
Elliptic Receives $5M Investment from Wells Fargo Strategic Capital
Elliptic, a London, UK-based provider of cryptoasset risk management solutions, received a $5m investment from Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, which has joined its Series B funding round bringing the total amount raised to over $28m. WFSC joined SBI Group and Santander InnoVentures.
Mostly AI Raises $5M in Series A Funding
Mostly AI, a Vienna, Austria-based synthetic data startup, raised $5M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Earlybird, with participation from existing investors 42CAP and Push Ventures.
Founded in 2017 and led by CEO Michael Platzer, Mostly AI is a data privacy startup that has built a synthetic data platform which surfaces personal data for privacy-friendly AI and big data innovation.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/03/mostly-ai-raises-5m-in-series-a-funding.html
Vienna-based startup ready2order raises €5 million to bring all-in-one point-of-sale system to SMEs
Austrian startup ready2order has raised €5 million in seed funding, led by Reimann Investors and Speedinvest, to develop its integrated POS technology for European businesses. Designed for SMEs for in hospitality, small retail, and service industries, ready2order’s system actually covers operations beyond point-of-sale, from customer and inventory management to mobile payments and advanced analytics.
https://tech.eu/brief/ready2order-seed/
London-based fintech startup Youtility closes $5.81M funding
…Every year we spend over 50% of our income on home finances yet managing and tracking these accounts is a modern day nightmare. Enter Youtility, a free app that brings all your home finances into one place. Youtility helps you to track, compare, switch and save, all in-app. Today, the London, England-based Youtility closed a $5.81 million (£4.5 million) funding round with investments from City entrepreneur, Michael Spencer and Barclays.
Copper.co Raises USD$8M in Series A Funding
Copper.co, a London, UK-based custodian for digital assets, raised USD$8m in Series A funding.
Backers included Target Global and MMC Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to develop regional client-facing operations in key geographies around the world, such as North America and Asia, and accelerate the launch of new products…Its infrastructure enables institutions to acquire, store, and trade digital assets while its multi-signature safeguarding application allows institutions to have complete certainty that their capital is not at risk of theft, whether it be from hackers or bad players in the industry.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/copper-co-raises-usd8m-in-series-a-funding.html
Dutch fintech TerraPay raises €8.3M from Prime Ventures, IFC, and Partech
Amsterdam-based fintech company TerraPay has announced today that a consortium of investors, including Prime Ventures, Partech Africa and management acquired the company for an undisclosed sum. In addition, the same investors, joined by IFC, invested €8.3 million in TerraPay to fund the company’s expansion. TerraPay, a company incubated by Comviva, the India-headquartered mobile solutions provider, provides Payment Infrastructure Services that help more people around the world to transfer money quickly, safely, and affordably.
Berlin AI insurtech startup omni:us eyes US expansion with a $13 million Series A extension round
Berlin-based AI-powered insurtech start-up omni:us has received an additional $13 million as part of its Series A financing round to drive its expansion into the US market, a few months after receiving a €1.6 million grant from the EU Commission’s European Innovation Council. The round was led by CommerzVentures (read its partner Paul Morgenthaler’s LinkedIn post on the investment here) and joined by Viola FinTech and Uniqa Ventures.
Tinubu Square Secures €15M in Funding
Tinubu Square, a Paris, France-based provider of enterprise software solutions to credit and surety insurers, raised €15M in funding. Backers included Long Arc Capital and French investment bank Bpifrance….Founded in 2000 and led by Jérôme Pezé, CEO, and Olivier Placca, Deputy CEO, Tinubu Square provides SaaS solutions and services for Credit & Surety Insurers to reduce their exposure to risk as well as their financial, operational and technical costs with technology solutions and services.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/tinubu-square-secures-e15m-in-funding.html
London’s Concirrus raises $20 million to expand insurtech platform for auto and marine industries
Concirrus, a London-based insurtech startup, has closed a $20 million Series B funding round led by AlbionVC. The company will use the new funding to expand its predictive analytics platform, geared toward the automotive and marine insurance sectors. Quest is the company’s behavioural-based underwriting platform, which delivers portfolio management and predictive analytics to a variety of stakeholders: asset owners, brokers, insurers and capital providers.
Tractable Raises $25M in Series C Funding
Tractable, a London, UK-based technology company developing AI for accident and disaster recovery, raised $25m in Series C funding. The round was led by Georgian Partners with participation from existing investors Insight Partners and Ignition Partners. The round nearly doubles the total raised by Tractable, to $55m.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/tractable-raises-25m-in-series-c-funding.html
CybelAngel Raises $36M in Series B Funding
CybelAngel, a Paris, France and NYC-based provider of digital risk management solutions, closed a $36m Series B funding round. The round was led by Prime Ventures along with TempoCap, with participation from Bpifrance, Open CNP and new backers Olivier Pomel, Alexis Le-Quoc, Renaud Deraison, Lou Shipley, and Stephan Dietrich. Led by Erwan Keraudy, CEO, CybelAngel provides organizations with an AI powered digital risk management platform (that complies with global regulatory requirements) to protect their intellectual property, brand, and reputation.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/cybelangel-raises-36m-in-series-b-funding.html
Fenergo Closes $80M Funding At $800M Valuation
Fenergo, a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions, closed an 80m funding round. Backers in the round, which valued the company at approx. $800m, included ABN AMRO Ventures and DXC Technology.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/fenergo-closes-80m-funding-at-800m-valuation.html
Digital Banking: Thought Machine Raises $83 Million in Series B Led by Draper Esprit
Thought Machine has raised $83 million in a Series B funding round, according to the company. Thought Machine is a “cloud native core banking tech firm.” The additional capital will help fuel the company’s mission to “transform banking” as it continues to build out its platform while aiding in its ongoing expansion into the Asia Pacific region.
BNY Mellon Insight Investment Commits €100 Million to iwoca to Boost Lending in Germany
iwoca, an online lender serving SMEs, has received significant backing from BNY Mellon Insight Investment. According to multiple reports, iwoca has received €100 million to provide funding for small businesses in Germany. Last year, iwoca expressed its intent to boost its presence in Germany, a country where over 90% of all businesses are considered SMEs.
Digital Bank Revolut Raises $500 Million at $5.5 Billion Valuation
Leading UK based digital bank Revolut has closed on a $500 million series D funding according to a note from the company. The Fintech was valued at $5.5 billion making it one of the most valued private Fintechs in the world. Funding was led by US venture capital firm TCV with participation from other investors. A forthcoming funding round had been expected for some months now.
Klarna Announces Acquisition of Italian “Buy Now, Pay Later” Startup Moneymour
Payment processing platform Klarna announced on Wednesday it has acquired Moneymour, a buy now, pay later payments platform based in Italy. Founded in 2017, Moneymour allows customers to buy now, pay later by splitting their purchases into monthly installments based on an instant credit assessment.
Checkout.com acquires payment optimization startup ProcessOut
Checkout.com, the quiet London-based payment platform, has acquired its first startup, ProcessOut. Checkout.com surprised everyone last year when it announced a gigantic $230 million Series A round. It turns out the payment processing boom is not over yet.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/25/checkout-com-acquires-payment-optimization-startup-processout/
Broadridge Completes Acquisition of FundsLibrary
U.S.-based fintech Broadridge Financial Solutions announced on Monday it has completed the acquisition of FundsLibrary, a company focused on fund document and data dissemination in the European market. Broadridge notably acquired FundLibrary from its parent company Hargreaves Lansdown.
https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2020/03/158179-broadridge-completes-acquisition-of-fundslibrary/
Credit Suisse Asset Management’s Fintech Growth Equity Acquires NorthPoint Technology
Credit Suisse Asset Management’s Fintech growth equity division has acquired NorthPoint Technology, an asset management software and services company. The financial terms of the deal have not been shared publicly.
Female-led CapitalT launches fund of €40 million for early-stage European startups with strong teams
London-based CapitalT, a venture capital firm looking for Europe’s next unicorns, has today announced launching a €40 million fund to invest in early-stage European software tech startups.
Founded by duo Eva de Mol and Janneke Niessen, CapitalT is a seed fund that focuses on software technology startups that solve a real problem, have international potential, and – most importantly for Capital T – have a fantastic team. Driven by CapitalT’s expertise and research on startup teams and their relative success, the venture capital fund has created a unique model to estimate team performance.
OTB Ventures launches €92.4 million fund to invest in Central and Eastern European tech startups
Today OTB Ventures, a leading venture capital fund specialised in investments in technology companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), announces the launch of its early growth technology fund, with €92.4 million in commitments. This fund is the largest venture capital fund in CEE and was backed by international institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), and high-profile backers including Greg Jankilevitch.
Target Global closes new fund at €120 million to lead early-stage investments in Europe and Israel
Berlin-based Target Global has closed a new fund, Early Stage Fund II, at €120 million. As the name suggests, the fund will go toward early-stage technology companies, leading or co-leading seed and Series A rounds. Since the close of its last fund, Early Stage Fund I, Target Global’s focus has widened beyond Germany and Israel to include all of Europe. While the first fund’s aim was to establish a channel between Berlin and Tel Aviv, the firm will now find and connect other European tech hubs.
https://tech.eu/brief/target-global-second-fund/
Speedinvest Closes Third Venture Capital Fund, at €190M
Speedinvest, a pan-European early-stage venture capital firm, closed its third institutional fund, at €190m. The fund invests in European early-stage startups across Fintech, Deep Tech, Marketplaces, Industrial Tech, Digital Health and Consumer Tech writing initial checks from €50K up to €1.5M. Speedinvest has already invested in 10+ companies from the new fund, and will also increase its on the ground presence in France this Spring, where it has already invested in companies such as Luko, Lemon Way, Actiondesk and FairMoney.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/speedinvest-closes-third-venture-capital-fund-at-e190m.html
Atomico Closes Fifth Fund, at $820M
Atomico, a venture capital firm that invests in innovative technology companies around the world, closed its fifth fund, at $820m. Atomico V closed above the target of $750m to take Atomico’s total AUM to $2.7B. Investors included a mix of high calibre global institutional investors existing and new…as well as a number of founders and early team members from some of Europe’s most iconic startups of the past decade – including Adyen, Klarna, Transferwise, Spotify, Skype, Supercell and Zoopla among others.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/02/atomico-closes-fifth-fund-at-820m.html
Join the global movement fuelling the future of money at #M2020EU this June in Amsterdam. Book your Early Bird ticket before Friday 6th March to save €1000. Get your pass here https://bit.ly/32F8Adp @money2020
Meet us at:
InsurTech Insights Europe, London, 17-18 Mar. https://www.insurtechinsights.com/europe/
Money2020 Europe, Amsterdam, 16-18 Jun. https://europe.money2020.com/
Digital Insurance Agenda, Amsterdam, 23-25 Jun. https://next.digitalinsuranceagenda.com/dia-amsterdam-2020/want-to-attend/