The early stage players raising funding this week include Handcash, Barion, StrategyBox, Friendsurance etc. We also feature Q&As with Christian Knott of Capnamic Ventures, and Shane Riedel of Elucidate.
Meet the first set of startups and investors who will be on stage at the 12th FinTech Forum, on 19th Nov. 2020 in Frankfurt- click on their names to read our Q&A with them.
KlickOwn: blockchain-enabled platform offering a superior real estate investing experience for everyone
CommneX: a digital brokering platform for credit- and deposits from municipalities and municipal enterprises
Finteum: a platform for interbank intraday lending, enabling treasurers to borrow and lend for hours at a time
We are pleased to have leading investors on stage, sharing investment trends and opportunities in their space, including Astrid Freier, Partner, DACH, Vidici Ventures, Paula Blazquez Solano, Head of Investments at InnoCells/ Banco Sabadell, Manuel Silva Martinez, Partner, Head of Investments, Santander InnoVentures and Daniel Andemeskel, Head of Innovation at Universal Investment.
If you are a startup- or know one- that is building the next big thing in FinTech, apply to present at the 12th FinTech Forum, 19th Nov. 2020 in Frankfurt: email contact (at) fintechforum.de or reach out to us via LinkedIn: Frank Schwab or Samarth Shekhar. Investors & corporates: register here directly http://ftf12.eventbrite.com
7 Minute Pitch Template Essentials
In the past 7 years we at FinTech Forum have evaluated over 3,500 pitches and given a lot of feedback. More than 350 FinTech startups have presented their business models in 7 minutes each.
From this we developed a template. We recommend that all founders cover at least the following eight themes in their presentation.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-minute-pitch-template-essentials/
7 Questions with Shane Riedel of Elucidate
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure.
I spent most of my career in diplomacy with the United Nations and in finance (spread between London, Zurich and Singapore) and, as such, the shift to a FinTech start up has been both challenging and liberating. The cultural and operational contrast between a bank and Elucidate could not be more extreme, but for me it has been deeply satisfying to build a dynamic team and a product that transcends the capabilities of any one person or function.
I live in Berlin, which is a fantastic FinTech hub and offers a great quality of life. In my spare time I enjoy cycling and spending time outside of the city…perhaps harkening back to my upbringing in rural Ohio in the US.
http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-shane-riedel-of-elucidate/
7 Questions with Christian Knott, 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/
HandCash Raises Additional Funding
Handcash, a Madrid, Spain-based Bitcoin wallet provider, raised additional funding of undisclosed amount.
Backers included technology entrepreneur Calvin Ayre, and venture capital funds Two Hop Ventures and Unbounded Capital. The company intends to use the funds to further grow its product offerings and employ more team members.
Led by co-founder and CEO Alex Agut, HandCash provides a digital wallet offering users the ability to shop at 250+ retailers with egifter.com as well as a tie up with payment service Anypay, providing both online and retail merchants with efficient checkouts.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/06/handcash-raises-additional-funding.html
Budapest-based Barion just landed €2 million to expand its payment solutions further across Europe
European private equity firm Financial Services Capital has successfully led the €2 million Series B funding round of Barion Payment plc, a leading Hungarian fintech startup. The new funding wiill enable Barion to continue its expansion into additional European markets and bring to market innovative payment products and services.
Barion is one of Financial Services Capital’s first investments as part of its Enabling Technologies portfolio. Barion, established 2015 in Budapest, Hungary, provides electronic payment solutions: an online payment gateway and an electronic wallet.
StrategyBox Raises $2M in Seed Funding
StrategyBox, a Vancouver, B.C.- and London, England, UK-based marketing analytics platform, raised $2m in seed funding. The round was led by Fuel Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations as well as adding radio attribution – the ability to show how radio ads influence online sales – to its platform.
Led by Aaron Vidas, CEO, StrategyBox provides a marketing analytics platform that makes it easy to understand what marketing activities drive sales. The company has a growing customer base in retail, SaaS and financial services.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/06/strategybox-raises-2m-in-seed-funding.html
TROTZ CORONA: INSURTECH FRIENDSURANCE SICHERT SICH CREDITSHELF-WACHSTUMSFINANZIERUNG ÜBER 1,5 MILLIONEN EURO
Berlin, den 22. Juni 2020. Das Berliner Insurtech-Unternehmen Friendsurance erhält im Rahmen eines Unternehmenskredits 1,5 Millionen Euro Wachstumskapital über die Frankfurter Finanzierungsplattform creditshelf. Das im März 2010 gegründete Scale-Up wird bereits durch verschiedene namhafte institutionelle und private Investoren der Internetszene finanziert.
Friendsurance beweist Solidität
„Startups bekommen oft Finanzierungen durch Business Angels und VCs, aber nur selten Darlehen – schon gar nicht in Zeiten von Corona. Im ersten Quartal 2020 haben sich die Investitionen in Insurtechs weltweit halbiert.
Code Intelligence Raises €2M in Funding
Code Intelligence, a Bonn, Germany-based software security company, closed a €2 financing round.
The round, which follows the seed round raised in September 2018 and led by High-Tech Gründerfonds alongside Digital Hub Bonn, was led by LBBW Venture Capital with participation from Occident and investiere.
The company intends to use the funds to provide new features for the testing platform, including a cloud-based offering, and to expand the sales and customer success efforts.
Launched in 2018 by Dr. Khaled Yakdan, Dr. Henning Perl, Sergej Dechand and Prof. Matthew Smith, Code Intelligence has developed a platform allowing continuous and automated dynamic application security testing during the entire software development lifecycle.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/06/code-intelligence-raises-e2m-in-funding.html
Berlin-based Elucidate raises €2.5 million to further develop its Financial Crime Index
Today Elucidate, the Berlin-based financial crime risk quantification agency, has announced closing a €2.5 million investment led by Silicon Valley-based 11.2 Capital. Other participants in the round include Seed X Liechtenstein, Apex Ventures, Big Start Ventures and SixThirty Ventures. The funding will enable Elucidate (2018) to further develop the company’s flagship product, the Elucidate FinCrime Index (EFI), and its ability to measure financial crime risk.
Belgian startup Intigriti raises €4 million to grow ethical hacking community and protect sustainable tech companies
Intigriti, an “ethical hacking” security company based in Antwerp, has raised €4.1 million in a round led by ETF Partners and joined by various business angels.
The fresh funding will go to international growth and developing a special suite of services to protect companies that are working in sustainability.
With its community of hackers, the Belgian startup offers its customers (currently 75 of them) continuous vulnerability testing. The hackers test selected areas of a client’s infrastructure and receive a pay-out – what’s called a ‘bug bounty’ – only if they root out a genuine weak point. As a service, Intigriti helps clients design and manage their bug bounty programmes, incoming vulnerability reports and payments.
https://tech.eu/brief/intigriti-funding/
Polish-UK startup Symmetrical raises €5.6 million to bring ‘ethical finance’ to European employees
Symmetrical, a fintech startup based in Warsaw and London, has raised €5.6 million of seed funding to help employees gain more control over their finances. The round is a combination of equity and debt. The equity side is led by Global Founders Capital and Partech, with participation from existing investors Finch Capital, Market One Capital and Plug and Play.
With the partnership of employers, the fintech platform (and mobile app) offers employees three main tools: salary-on-demand (free access to earned salaries between paydays), zero interest employee loans and an automated financial advisor. “Our mission is to let people regain control over their finances. We want our users to make the right financial decisions and have access to fair financial products,” says Daniel Wartolowski, one of the startup’s co-founders
https://tech.eu/brief/symmetrical-seed-round/
Haven Cyber Technologies Group Receives €5.7M Investment from C5 Capital
Haven Cyber Technologies Group, a Luxembourg, and London, UK-based cybersecurity provider, received a further investment of €5.7m from C5 Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to enhance its solutions, products and consulting competencies.
Led by Andre Pienaar, Haven Group is a cybersecurity provider whose operating companies, ITC Secure and Onevinn, provide enterprises with cybersecurity services and products.
In addition to the investment, the company announced that Andrew Miller had been appointed as Group Chief Financial Officer, and James Armstrong had been appointed Finance Director of ITC Secure, one of Haven Group’s operating companies, to lead the next phase of growth.
Stockholm-based insurtech Insurello raises €7.1 million for international expansion
Insurello, the Swedish startup that helps consumers get fair compensation from insurance companies after personal accidents, has announced raising another €7.1 million.
The round was led by the Nordic venture capital firm Inventure, co-lead by Schibsted, and with participation from Luminar Ventures. The startup will use the funds to pave its way into international expansion.
Insurello, founded in 2016, helps consumers claim fair compensation from insurance companies after personal accidents.
stockholm-based-insurtech-insurello-raises-e7-1-million-for-international-expansion
Teylor AG Closes Financing Round of CHF 8 Million
Teylor AG (“Teylor”), the Swiss SME lending technology startup, successfully closed a financing round of CHF 8 million. The significant increase in demand for digital banking solutions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated Teylor’s growth and allowed the company to successfully close the financing round with existing and new investors in early May 2020. The company will use the funds to expand its lending and software business throughout Europe and to solidify its position as one of the leading technology providers in the SME banking segment.
Founded in 2018 in Zurich, Switzerland, by CEO Patrick Stäuble, Teylor develops fully digital credit solutions for small and medium-sized businesses and provides a licensed version of its technology to banks.
https://www.blog.teylor.io/teylor-ag-closes-financing-round-of-chf-8-million/
Jumbo Privacy Raises $8M in Series A Funding
Jumbo Privacy, a Paris, France-based consumer privacy protection company, raised $8m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Balderton Capital with participation from Adrien Miniatti, Alban Denoyel, Alex Negrea, Antoine Martin, Charles Dietrich, Charles Gorintin, Edward Lando, Fareed Mosavat, Javier Soltero, Jean Patry, Jean-Charles Samuelian, Kevin Carter, Kevin Mahaffey, Kima Ventures, Mathilde Collin, Matt Robinson, NextView Ventures, Nicolas Pinto, Roger B McNamee, Steeve Morin, Stefan Cohen, SV Angel, Thomas Owadenko, Thrive Capital, and Yahya Mokhtarzada.
The company intends to use the funds to continue to build tools.
Launched in April 2019 by CEO and founder Pierre Valade, Jumbo Privacy is a B2C privacy and security app that protects more than 100,000 users on iOS and Android.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/06/jumbo-privacy-raises-8m-in-series-a-funding.html
Here’s what TransferGo, London-based international money transfer will do with €9M funding
TransferGo, a digital international money transfer platform for migrants and businesses has raised $10 million (approx €9 million) in funding co-led by Seventure, and Vostok Emerging Finance, along with other participants including Hard Yaka, Revo Capital, and Bootstrap Europe.
Additionally, the global money transfer company has announced that it will be launching in 11 new markets, including Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Ghana.
Founded by Arnas Lukosevicius, Daumantas Dvilinskas, Edvinas Sersniovas, and Justinas Lasevicius in 2012, TransferGo is one of the fastest international money transfer services on the market that currently serves 22 currencies across 47 countries and counting, with offices across Europe, including London, Vilnius, Berlin, Istanbul, and Warsaw.
Codat Raises $10M in Funding
Codat, a London, UK-based technology company that connects the internal systems of small businesses to banks, fintechs and other financial institutions, allowing business data to flow back and forth in real time – raised $10m in funding.
Backers included Index Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Index partner Jan Hammer and venture partner Stephane Kurgan joined the board.
The company intends to use the new funds to expand to the US and grow to 100 people by the end of the year.
Founded in 2017 by Peter Lord (CEO), Alex Cardona (COO) and David Hoare (CTO), Codat is a technology company that lets banks and fintechs plug into their small businesses and the software they use giving them access to real time customer data.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/06/codat-raises-10m-in-funding.html
Ava Labs’ Avalanche Token Sale Raises $12 Million, Reg D 506c Public Sale is Next
Emin Gün Sirer‘s Ava Labs Avalanche token sale has raised $12 million led by Initialized Capital and other well-known investors including Galaxy Digital, Bitmain, NGC Ventures, and Dragonfly Capital.
Avalanche (previously AVA) has recently gone through a brand consolidation following the successful launch of its Denali Testnet.
Avalanche is a highly-scalable, open-source platform for launching decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. AVA Labs seeks to simplify the launch financial applications using blockchain technology along with a highly scalable network.
Memo Bank unveils its business bank, credit license and $22.5 million in new funding
Memo Bank wasn’t always called Memo Bank. It started as Margo Bank and has been flying under the radar for a few years. The French startup is now about to launch publicly and shared more details about what it is building.
As the name suggests, Memo Bank is a bank. It plans to serve business customers exclusively and it targets small and medium companies that generate more than €2 million in annual turnover and have more than 10 employees.
Jean-Daniel Guyot, the co-founder and CEO of Memo Bank, previously founded Capitaine Train, which later became Captain Train, which later was acquired by Trainline.
Banking platform solarisBank raises $67.5 million at $360 million valuation
Despite the Wirecard fallout, German fintech startup solarisBank has raised a Series C funding round of $67.5 million (€60 million). Following today’s funding round, solarisBank is now valued at $360 million (€320 million). However, solarisBank doesn’t have any consumer product directly. Instead, it offers financial services to other fintech companies through a set of APIs.
With solarisBank, you can build a fintech startup and leverage solarisBank’s line of products to do the heavy lifting. It’s an infrastructure company in the banking space.
French fintech scale-up Swile secures €70 million to extend beyond its digital meal voucher alternative
Swile, a French fintech startup that offers digital solutions for employee rewards and benefits through a custom card and app, has raised a whopping €70 million in a funding round led by Index Ventures, with new investor Large Venture – a Bpifrance VC fund – and prior backer Idinvest participating.
Founded in 2018 by Loïc Soubeyrand (who previously co-founded Teads and sold it to Altice the year before that) under the name Lunchr, Swile has now raised €115 million in total. Its latest valuation was not disclosed.
The Paris-based startup has declared war on the outdated French paper meal voucher market by providing a range of digital solutions, but it plans to use the capital injection to both extend beyond its ‘e-meal vouchers’ and lunch break experiences, and to expand internationally (starting with Brazil).
https://tech.eu/brief/swile-funding/
Checkout.com Raises $150M in Series B; Valued at $5.5BN
Checkout.com, a London, UK-headquartered global payment solution provider, raised $150m in Series B funding.
The round, which valued the company at $5.5bn, was led by Coatue, with participation from existing investors, including Insight Partners, DST Global, Blossom Capital, and Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, GIC.
The company will use the funds to further strengthen its balance sheet, bringing available cash to over $300m, invest in the development of new innovative products, including its upcoming advanced Payouts solution and the capability to accelerate settlement times.
Led by CEO and Founder Guillaume Pousaz, Checkout.com provides a technology payments platform, granular data, and instant insights for global enterprises to launch new products in new markets and create outstanding customer experiences.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/06/checkout-com-raises-150m-in-series-b-valued-at-5-5bn.html
We are proud to partner with Money20/20 Europe, taking place on 22nd – 24th Sep. 2020 in Amsterdam.
Tell FOMO where to GO 👉 With over 2,500 of FinTech’s power players already attending #M2020EU, can you afford to not be one of them? Join us using discount code MP20FOR https://bit.ly/2Ag9QKv
Meet us at:
Swiss FinTech Fair, Zürich, 8 Sep. 2020 https://www.swissfintechfair.com
EY Startup Academy, Frankfurt, 15 Sep. 2020
https://start-up-initiative.ey.com/en/academy/program
Money2020 Europe, Amsterdam, 22-24 Sep. 2020 https://europe.money2020.com
South Summit, Madrid, 6-8 Oct. 2020
https://www.southsummit.co/en/home
FinTech Junction, Tel Aviv, 21-22 Oct. 2020
https://www.fintechjunction.com/annual/
Digital Insurance Agenda, Amsterdam, 28-29 Oct. 2020 https://next.digitalinsuranceagenda.com/dia-amsterdam-2020/want-to-attend/
MoneyConf / WebSummit, Lisbon, 2-5 Nov. 2020 https://websummit.com/moneyconf
12th FinTech Forum, Frankfurt, 19th Nov. 2020 http://www.fintechforum.de/events/
Meet Our Partners:
Heussen https://www.heussen-law.de | Money2020 Europe https://europe.money2020.com | InsurTech Insights https://insurtechinsights.com | Finovate Europe https://informaconnect.com/finovateeurope/ | FN FinTech 40 https://www.fnlondon.com