ICYMI funding round-up: Airtm, Cushon, Stake, Clim8, Nordigen & ikigai
At FinTech Futures, we know that it can be easy to let funding announcements slip you by in this fast-paced industry. That’s why we put together our weekly ‘In Case You Missed It’ (ICYMI) funding roundup for you to scan over and get the latest news.
Stellar backs Airtm
Mexican digital payments firm Airtm has raised $15 million from the non-profit Stellar Development Foundation (SDF).
Through the investment, Airtm will use Stellar’s payments network to aid “efficient and cost-effective cross-border transactions”.
Airtm CEO, Ruben Galindo Steckel, says his firm exists because “financial systems throughout the developing world are not aligned with their people’s needs.
“With this investment, and our integration with the Stellar network, we will continue to advance on our mission of helping consumers and businesses.”
UK-based Cushon and French firm Epsor, both workplace savings firms, have received £5 million and €2.5 million respectively from UK investment firm Augmentum Fintech.
Augmentum has led Cushon’s Series A fundraising round with an investment of £5 million, as part of an overall £26 million funding round.
The firm provides workplace pensions and payroll-linked ISAs to more than 200,000 members across 8,000 UK employers.
Augmentum’s €2.5 million investment into Paris-based Epsor is part of a €20 million Series B funding round led by French VC Gaia Capital Partners.
Epsor is a provider of employee and retirement savings plans delivered through an open ecosystem. It serves more than 40,000 savers and over 400 companies in France.
Digital property investment platform Stake has raised $4 million in seed funding.
The Dubai-based fintech allows users to browse pre-vetted selections of properties and invest from $545.
It claims it wants to create the go-to digital, borderless marketplace for discovering and investing in real estate.
It will use the funds to scale and enhance its platform, invest in sales and marketing and grow its team.
“When we launched Stake, we made clear our goal to democratise real estate investment and remedy the ills of Dubai’s property market,” says co-founder Manar Mahmassani.
“With this fund raise, we can accelerate our journey to radically improve the real estate investment market and bring this tangible asset into the new digital age.”
The Clim8 Invest team
Climate-focused investment platform Clim8 Invest has secured a £2 million investment from Channel 4 Ventures.
The announcement follows the successful raise of £5 million by Clim8 in 2020 and the launch of the Clim8 mobile app.
“Sustainable investment represents one of the most powerful ways in which we can all make a positive impact on climate change,” says Clim8 CEO, Duncan Grierson.
The public will have an opportunity to invest in Clim8 when it commences a crowdfunding round on Crowdcube in the following months.
Latvia-based Nordigen has raised €2 million in its bid to develop its model for free open banking APIs.
The fintech is coming after large open banking firms like Tink and Truelayer. Since announcing its new freemium model in December 2020, it claims 1,000 API connections to European banks.
“We integrated more banks in the last six months than Tink managed in a whole year,” says Rolands Mesters, CEO of Nordigen.
It’s funding round saw investment from Black Pearls VC, Inventure, Highgoal Capital, ID4 Ventures, Superangel and Calchas Holding.
Personal finance firm ikigai has raised £1.9 million through a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube.
The firm says it will use its new funds to invest in its team and accelerate its product roadmap. This includes the integration of “exceptional banking design, best-in-class financial technologies”.
The total amount raised equates to 14.82% equity at a pre-money valuation of £10.95 million.
The company previously raised £2.2 million from private and angel investors in a pre-seed round completed in 2020.
“This round of funding is encouraging as it validates the need for a fintech like us to provide a holistic view of money combined with purpose,” says co-founder Edgar de Picciotto.
Related: ICYMI funding round-up: Accelex, Pento, Fraudio, Curve & more
