European Investment Bank invests $80m in Lithuania’s SME Finance
The firm is charged with backing Baltic enterprises through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Investment & Funding
Grab leads $100m investment in Indonesian e-wallet LinkAja
Singaporean fintech begins investment project in Indonesia.
Nigerian challenger bank Kuda raises $10m in seed funding
Kuda completes the largest seed round in Africa.
New wealth managment app Fortu plans crowdfunding campaign
The wealthtech says it provides “secure, reliable and international financial reach”.
Three UK fintechs raise over $100m in funding this month
Starling, Curve and GoCardless are raising rounds in excess of $100m.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 06 November 2020
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Santander launches money manager with Tel Aviv fintech Personetics
Santander claims its UK app has 4 million monthly active users at present.
Fast is speeding to a $1bn valuation just one year after seed
The start-up’s speedy route to what could be unicorn status is unusual.
UBS launches fintech investment portfolio UBS Next with $200m to burn
UBS’s new venture is aiming to invest across the fintech ecosystem.
JP Morgan backs UK payments fintech Icon Solutions
“Banks are having to find ways of cutting costs,” says Icon.
Engage, empower and advance: Black voices in venture capital
Co-founder of BLCK VC and Storm Ventures associate, Frederik Groce, is on a mission.
Snoop closes £10m on Seedrs
The Snoop app launched in April.
Nordic challenger Lunar lands $47m Series C
The round arrives just seven months after its €20 million Series B extension in April.
PrimaryBid lands $50m from LSE, Draper Esprit & ABN AMRO
It adds to PrimaryBid’s $8.6 million Series A last year.
Owner of Hong Kong robo-advisor Aqumon lands Alibaba-backed $30m
Aqumon offers B2C and B2B solutions.
TransferWise waives fees on $20m in donations to COVID-19 research
All donations will be exchanged via Google and Reuter’s mid-market rate.
FAB transfers legacy banking licence to ADQ
A number of legacy banks in Dubai have launched digital-only services this year.
UK challenger Lanistar lands £15m from CEO’s family
“Lanistar is not only planning to stand out, but step over all the other start-ups”.
TreeCard raises $1m from Ecosia ahead of 2021 launch
TreeCard, set to launch next year, is made of sustainable cherry tree wood.
GPS secures Visa investment to fuel international expansion
Payments processing firm plans to branch out from Europe and South East Asia.
Canadian invoice firm FundThrough raises $50m to support SMEs
FundThrough aims to eliminate the “wait” for SME payments
Stripe acquires Nigerian start-up Paystack in $200m deal
Paystack has 60,000 business customers across Nigeria and Ghana.
Canadian robo-advisor Wealthsimple lands unicorn status with $87m raise
Wealthsimple serves some 1.5 million users.
Ex-Revolut execs form start-up investment firm Expansion Capital
Of its 15 investments, three were founded by Revolut alumni.
Chinese lender Lufax set for US IPO despite Trump’s delisting plans
The IPO could raise between $2 billion and $3 billion.
Fintech Razorpay becomes India’s fifth unicorn during COVID-19
By 2025, Razorpay wants to have 50 million business customers.
Marqeta bags undisclosed Mastercard investment
“We want to invest in products, in customers and invest in continuing to grow globally,” says Marqeta.
Indian crypto exchange Unocoin is raising $5m with Draper’s help
Unocoin allows users to trade in bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and tether (USDT).
Bank of America teams up with Black-owned Unity bank
BoA has acquired approximately 5% of the bank’s common equity.
Citi invests in markets software firm Genesis Global Technology
The undisclosed strategic injection sees Citi deploy some Genesis tech.
Banking Technology October 2020 issue out now
Educate, advocate, invest: It’s not enough for companies to pay lip service.
Seedrs reveals £4.6m losses day after Crowdcube merger
Crowdcube’s acquisition of Seedrs is set to create a £140 million equity crowdfunding player.
B-North raises £1m in ongoing Series A funding round
Manchester-based firm plans full launch for later this year.
Sibos 2020: JP Morgan CEO tells banks “don’t outsource your soul”
Jamie Dimon believes plenty of outsourcing firms “have no idea what they’re doing”.
Aussie start-up WeMoney raises $2m in seed funding
Financial health app plans to aid Australians in paying bills.
Airwallex adds $40m to Series D round, hits $200m raised for 2020
Aussie-founded fintech plans to use cash to expand into new markets.
Alkami Technology closes $140m funding round
The cloud-based digital banking firm has raised $378 million to date.
JP Morgan-backed Greenlight joins unicorn club with $215m Series C
The start-up says the new funding will be used to push its customer growth further.
Finom raises €10m in pre-Series A investment to expand in Europe
Netherlands-based challenger aims to launch in France and Germany in 2020.
MineralTree raises $50 million, acquires Inspyrus and Regal Software
Accounts payable firm plans to take firm grip of mid-market segment.
