ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Next Gate Tech, Hakba and 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.
Next Gate Tech bags funding
Next Gate Tech, a Luxembourg-based technology provider for the financial services industry, has secured €8 million in a new funding round led by DB1 Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of Deutsche Börse Group.
Existing investors NewAlpha Asset Management, Volta Ventures, Expon Capital and Seed X also took part.
Next Gate Tech provides data management, insights and analytics technologies to banks, asset managers, and other financial services providers to help “optimise their operations, comply with regulatory requirements and enhance their customer experience”.
With the funding, the firm plans on enhancing its product and service offerings and expand into new markets.
Saudi-based fintech savings platform Hakba has closed $2 million in a pre-Series A funding round from Global Ventures and Aditum Investment Management.
Hakbah graduated from the DIFC FinTech Hive Accelerator Program in 2019. It offers a social savings platform, allowing users to save and access funds via social savings in a bid to increase financial inclusion and financial literacy. It claims over 120,000 active users through its platform.
The funding will be used to accelerate Hakbah’s presence in Saudi Arabia, improve the user journey, and enhance its savings engine algorithm.
UK-based financial planning and advice platform Open Advice has raised a total £250,000 investment including £100,000 from its founders and £150,000 SEIS from Symvan Capital.
Launched in November last year, Open Advice aims to make financial planning “more accessible and digitally engaging” by automating onboarding, financial planning and investing.
It plans to use the funding to build a complete ecosystem that enables clients to complete tasks in one place: from accessing financial plans and managing investments to opening an ISA and generating valuations and compliance reports.
SC Ventures, the fintech, investment and ventures arm of Standard Chartered, has invested an undisclosed amount in BetterTradeOff (BTO), a fintech SaaS platform based in Singapore.
BTO receives fresh funding
BTO’s digital platform simplifies the task of building up a financial plan. Users can set up an initial plan “in minutes” by entering their current financial details. They can drag and drop different goals into their plan and see how they can attain their retirement goals. The tool also provides users with a complete financial picture — of investments, insurance policies, and property, as well as monthly living expenses.
Users can plan independently on BTO, or in collaboration with their financial advisors.
With the funding, BTO plans on improving its technology further as well as plot its geographical expansion into key markets in Asia and beyond.
BTO’s solution is currently deployed in seven markets — Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, UAE, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with plans to expand and localise offerings in the US.
