ICYMI funding round-up: Chip, Multiverse Computing, Kevin, APLYiD & 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.
Chip says it now has more than 23,000 investors
Digital savings account provider Chip has raised £11.5 million from just under 13,000 investors in a crowdfunding round on Crowdcube.
The firm added 6,500 new investors, and says it has grown its shareholder community to more than 23,000 members.
Chip received Authorised Payment Institution status from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in March 2020. The company has turned to crowdfunding throughout its development.
Its product uses automation to put money aside for its users by using AI to work out what extras from expenses and incomes can be put away for later use.
Multiverse Computing, a quantum computing start-up dedicated to finance, has closed a Seed funding round of €10 million.
The firm offers its Singularity software for companies in the financial industry seeking “a strong competitive advantage by applying quantum computing solutions”.
The round was led by JME Ventures and also included Quantonation, EASO Ventures, Inveready, CLAVE Capital, and more.
The funding will be used to consolidate the company’s growth and globalisation strategy as well as continue to advance its technology and marketing, according to Enrique Lizaso, co-founder and CEO.
Lithuanian fintech start-up Kevin has raised $10 million in a Seed funding round led by OTB Ventures and Speedinvest.
Also joining the funding round were OpenOcean, Javier Perez’s Global PayTech Ventures, and individuals including AmRest founder Henry McGovern.
Kevin’s A2A (account-to-account) payment infrastructure solution claims to allow swift changing of costly card payments to payments linked directly from customers’ bank accounts.
The proceeds from this investment will be used to further develop Kevin’s product offering, particularly around POS payments.
Asante Financial Services Group has raised $7.5 million in Series A investment from a round led by Goodwell Investments.
Participation also came from Sorenson Impact Foundation and Forsage Holdings.
Asante claims to be a high-impact fintech focused on supporting the growth of African small and micro businesses.
It uses an ecosystem-based digital lending platform with alternative data and a proprietary AI loan decisioning management system to approve loans.
The firm is also piloting its Business Lending Platform to further extend its lending and other services to small business clients.
APLYiD’s round was led by Octopus Ventures
New Zealand’s APLYiD has received $5 million in funding to take its customer onboarding software “around the world”.
The funding round was led by Octopus Ventures, a London headquartered VC firm.
It coincides with the official opening of APLYiD’s UK office in October; the start-up’s first foray outside of Australia and New Zealand.
The start-up provides digital know your customer (KYC) and onboarding solutions which it says can help firms struggling after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Adaptability is essential for customer needs as diverse as law firms meeting their AML requirements, rental car companies stamping out fraud, or remittance services speeding up their onboarding,” says Russell Smith, CEO.
B9, a US-based fintech which aims to serve the unbanked and underbanked, has raised $5 million in Seed funding.
The firm, which claims it can make it easy to deposit checks and withdraw funds from online accounts, says it is reaching 200,000 customers.
B9 customers have deposited paychecks from more than 1,500 companies, including Amazon, Walmart, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, and the US Postal Service.
“We’re serving a huge market that has been virtually invisible to traditional banks, and I’m proud of the benefits we’re delivering to this hardworking community,” said B9 CEO, Sergei Terentev.
“Immigrants, part-time students, young workers, gig employees, and others who often fall through the cracks with big banks now have an alternative.”
Zambia-based Union54, which counts Y Combinator among its backers, has raised $3 million in Seed funding in a round led by Tiger Global.
According to TechCrunch, Runa Capital, Ace & Company, Todd & Rahul Angel Fund, and Vibe VC also participated.
The fintech provides an API which allows software firms to issue and manage debit cards without the need of a bank or a processor.
Union54 is a spin-off from challenger bank Zazu, and was launched by the same founding team. They claim the card issuing process was so taxing for their fledgling FI they decided to fix the issue themselves.
Ondato co-founders Liudas Kanapienis and Andrej Vištorskij
Lithuania’s Ondato, a provider of anti-money laundering and KYC solutions, has raised €3.6 million in a Seed extension led by OTB Ventures, LitCapital, and Startup Wise Guys.
The firm says it will use its new cash to expand its team and focus on “high-calibre hires” to support an expansion into new markets.
Ondato claims to have around 200 customers in 30 countries in fintech, banking, insurance, telecoms, and more.
“The data shows us that there is a need to both deepen and widen the use of KYC services,” says CEO, Liudas Kanapienis.
“The additional funds will help us sustain a pace of growth that has beaten our expectations.”
UAE-based Fintech Galaxy has raised $2 million in Seed funding to boost the deployment of its open finance platform.
The round was led by Jordan’s Ahli Fintech and joined by Raz Holding Group, OMQ Investments, Egypt’s EFG EV Fintech, and INSEAD Saudi Angel Investors.
Fintech Galaxy says it’s building a platform with “a vision to redesign financial services”. This includes an open API infrastructure to integrate fintechs with banks.
“Fintech Galaxy is driving the development of a much richer, broader financial technology ecosystem that goes well beyond banking,” says CEO and founder, Mirna Sleiman.
“Our main goal is to democratise financial services by building a stable and secure infrastructure.”
