ICYMI funding round-up: Cobee, Sila, Vincent, WhenThen, Clara & more
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 round-up for you to get the latest funding news.
Spanish employee benefits platform Cobee has raised €14 million in Series A funding in a round led by Balderton Capital.
The Cobee team
Cobee was founded in 2019 by Borja Aranguren, Daniel Olea and Nacho Travesí. It aims at improving the well-being of employees through “a flexible, innovative and understandable” offering.
The firm will use its new cash to “improve the user experience for companies and workers” through the development of its platform.
“Starting with flexible compensation and employee benefits, we want to provide the best possible experience for employees,” says Aranguren, CEO at Cobee.
Sila, a US-based fintech helping banks and financial institutions build applications, has raised $13 million in Series A funding in a round led by Revolution Ventures.
Existing investors included Madrona Venture Group, Oregon Venture Fund and Mucker Capital, as well as Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus.
The funding brings 2018-founded Sila’s total raised to $20 million. The firm claims to have grown its revenue 10 times, and had a growth in users of 500%.
Wealthtech firm Vincent has raised $6 million in a funding round featuring Jason Calacanis of Launch Accelerator and Joe Lonsdale from 8VC.
The alternative investment app promises users an ability to view multiple assets across vertical-specific platforms.
Vincent is aiming to target accredited and unaccredited investors looking to get involved in venture capital, real estate, debt, crypto, art and collectibles.
Dublin-based no-code platform provider WhenThen has raised $6 million in Seed funding in a round co-led by Cavalry Ventures and Stride.VC.
WhenThen launched at the start of this year, led by a collection of former Mastercard employees.
The firm aims to offer an easy-to-use platform for developers to create payment flows “in minutes”.
In a blog post, CEO Kirk Donohoe says: “After the past six months of building the world’s first no-code payments ops platform, we’re more confident than ever that, through democratising payments engineering know-how, we can empower any type and any size of merchant.”
Clara has raised $35 million in total
Mexican corporate spend management firm Clara has secured an extension to its most recent Series A funding to the tune of $5 million.
Founded in 2020 by Gerry Giacomán and Diego García, Clara has raised more than $35 million through a collection of rounds led by General Catalyst and DST Global Partners.
The company is working on its regional expansion to Brazil and it has reported a 100x growth ever since its official launch earlier this year.
Clara currently works with fast-paced growth clients such as Kavak, Casai, and Sofía Salud.
“It’s exciting to be trusted by leaders who have built a reputation in the region, for which we reinforce our commitment with the Latam companies to deliver the best B2B financial solution,” says Gerry Giacomán, CEO and co-founder of Clara.
Sustainable investment app Clim8 has closed a crowdfunding round worth £2.85 million, bringing its total raised to £10 million.
Clim8 raised over £1.26 million in the first 24 hours, breaking its £750,000 target on the first day of the crowdfund.
The firm is using its new investment to execute what it calls “an ambitious growth strategy” focused around user figures and rolling out the app.
Sectors covered in its green investment portfolio include clean energy, clean technology, sustainable food, smart mobility and recycling.
“We’ve been amazed by the level of interest we’ve seen over the past few weeks,” says CEO and founder Duncan Grierson.
Secured Finance, a Swiss platform provider for the cryptocurrency loans and derivatives market, has raised $4 million in Seed funding.
GSR Markets, Protocol Labs, FinTech Collective and HOF Capital co-led the round.
Established in 2020, Secured Finance seeks to “revolutionise” decentralised finance by offering “investment-bank-grade financial products and services”.
“Since 2009, most developed economies have been operating with record low interest rates,” says Rich Rosenblum, president and co-founder of GSR Markets.
“In the digital asset space, rates are double or even triple digits, which opens up a lot of valuable investment opportunities.”
Digital lending and payments firm WLTH has closed $3 million in Seed funding as it prepares for a scaleup phase involving expansion overseas.
WLTH will use the raised capital to fast-track the growth of its proprietary fintech platforms, ahead of the upcoming launches of its business payments platform and loyalty program.
Off the back of the raise, WLTH has also unveiled it will open a Series A funding round in August 2021, with the goal of raising $15 million.
“After a very successful six months since our official market launch, we have been fortunate enough to exceed our future growth projections,” says CEO Brodie Haupt.
UK-based asset management fintech Darwinex has landed €3 million in growth funding.
Leading investors in the round were Stefan Jaecklin and Pinorena Capital, who were joined by Darwinex’s co-founders and a number of key employees in the company.
Darwinex has recently launched trading in over 60 futures and all US single stocks across the Trader Workstation (TWS) platform.
The firm says it offers a “one-of-a-kind product” that serves as a tool for successful traders to scale their income and gain access to external investor capital.
Deep Singh, founder of CreditLinq.AI
Singapore-based financial services firm CrediLinq.AI has raised $1 million in an angel funding round.
The firm wants to disrupt how credit is underwritten to small and medium-sized businesses in its home country.
It says it can do this through its “innovative technological solutions” based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Participants in the round included Brandon Tee of B7 Capital, Sandeep Uberoi of Jungle Ventures and software firm Aerion Technologies.
“Over the years I have been privy to what technology can do for this sector, and we hope to be able to add value by changing how credit is underwritten,” says Deep Singh, founder of CreditLinq.AI.
