European FinTech deals this week include SPG
We feature Q&As with Matti Rönkkö of Cooler Future and Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
If you are an early stage startup in Europe building the next big thing in FinTech, reach out to us: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar.
7 Questions with Matti Rönkkö of Cooler Future
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I’m a born and raised Finn but have done most of my career outside of Finland. I am not good at anything, so I have big hopes that soon generalists will be in demand. I am a nature lover; the thicker the forest and the more snow there is, the more I enjoy it.
My career I have built mainly on building and scaling companies. I love the excitement of building something from scratch. In the last few years I have thought a lot about my personal values and the topic of climate change and I decided back in the end of 2017 to make a switch to focus on ways to create a positive impact. That led us into founding Cooler Future back in 2019, to use the skills we have hopefully developed over the years for creating positive climate impact.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-matti-ronkko-of-cooler-future/
7 Questions with Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein
1.Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
My name is Cynthia, I am a Partner at Seed X Liechtenstein. I am an operator turned investor and I have previously worked with different accelerators including Techstars, King’s College and Founders Factory in London. Prior to being an investor I have worked for 11+ years at the fintech unicorn Markit (Now IHS markit, being bought by S&P). I learned there everything I know about great product development, corporate innovation and the hurdles of fast growth (IPO on the NASDAQ in 2014 at $5bn valuation, merger with IHS in 2016, now worth more than $40bn).
Work-wise I like connecting the dots and people, understanding the big problems needing solving and who we can learn from. Having the right network also helps to support founders in their growth.
Some of my spare time is also spent on tech boards that I sit on, and supporting female entrepreneurs across Europe.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-cynthia-nadal-of-seedx/
Fintech group SPG raises £25m to grow payments businesses
UK fintech group SPG, which owns Shieldpay and Paycast, has raised $34m (£25m) in a Series A funding round. The investment was led by Marqeta and Mastercard along with participation from CreditEase, Elliott Management, and Techstars.
With the fresh capital, SPG aims to scale up Shieldpay and capitalise on growing demand in the professional services market. Funds will also be used to fuel Paycast in its early stage of growth and bring the payments platform to a consumer audience.
London-headquartered SPG was founded in 2016 and aims to help unknown people transact securely.
The company says it processed more than payments totalling $3bn for its clients and has witnessed a surge in business during the pandemic. Its revenue grew by more than 360% in 2020, according to its own figures.
SPG’s first business, Shieldpay, is a digital platform used in the professional and financial services sectors. It aims to simplify payments and uses automation to replace paper-based transactions.
https://www.uktech.news/fintech/fintech-group-spg-funding-20211207
Founded in 2009, Marqeta Instantly issues & processes card payments with their world class open API platform.
Mastercard is a leading global payments & technology company that connects consumers, businesses, merchants, issuers & governments around the world.
British-based FNZ is acquiring Appway, a Swiss fintech which has worked with a major Swiss bank.
Appway, which provides digital solutions for banks to onboard and advise clients, is selling to FNZ, a British-based firm, the two companies said in a statement on Tuesday. They didn’t disclose financial details of the deal.
Part of the deal is for Appway founder-CEO Hanspeter Wolf (pictured below) to become technology chief of FNZ as well as part of top management.
For FNZ, founded in Wellington, NZ and now based in London, the deal will speed up personalized propositions at scale with its financial services clients. The company said Appway, which developed Credit Suisse’s digital onboarding process, will enable up to 90 percent faster client onboarding.
https://www.finews.com/news/english-news/49108-appway-fintech-fnz
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Finovate Europe 2022, London: 22-23 March 2022 https://informaconnect.com/finovateeurope/
South Summit 2022, Madrid: 8-10 June 2022 https://www.southsummit.co/
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