Fintech funding round-up: 5 October 2017
Four of the latest stories in one for a fast fintech funding round-up. Features SalaryFinance, Featurespace, Worldpay, Invoke Capital, ESF Capital and ThinCats.
SalaryFinance, a financial wellbeing firm, has completed a £40 million funding round. The round was led by financial services firm, Legal & General along with founding investor Blenheim Chalcot.
Subject to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval, the funding will allow SalaryFinance to launched its financial wellbeing hub, which enables customers to take action on their financial circumstances. With educational content, budgeting tools and credit score checks customers can “improve their finances” through salary deductible savings and low interest loans. The investment will also support the company’s international expansion. Currently headquartered in London, the company first plans to move into the US with other territories to follow. More details on the expansion to come in 2018.
Worldpay will licence Featurespace’s real-time ARIC platform
Meanwhile, Featurespace, a machine learning company for fraud prevention, has raised £16.5 million from a funding round led by venture capital firm, Highland Europe. The funding will be used to support Featurespace’s international expansion and continued development of software capabilities.
It doesn’t end there though, as Worldpay and Invoke Capital also got in on the investing action by participating in Featurespace’s latest funding as new investors, alongside existing investors including Touchstone Innovations, Nesta, TTV Capital and Robert Sansom. As part of the funding agreement, Worldpay will licence Featurespace’s real-time, ARIC platform, which uses “adaptive behavioural analytics” to detect anomalies in individual behaviour for fraud and risk management.
Finally, ESF Capital, along with its subsidiary, ThinCats, has completed funding for loans of up to £5 million for growing UK SMEs. The £200 million funding programme comprises of £30 million committed by ESO Capital and £70 million from Waterfall Asset Management.
All funding under the programme will continue to be invested in loans originated through ThinCats. Lending will focus on funding growing companies with asset backing and cashflows, including acquisition finance, across the UK.
