Spanish fintech Finect raises capital as BME takes minority stake
BME invests in Finect
Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) has acquired a 9.7% stake in Spanish fintech Finect, in a transaction valued at “lower than €1 million”, reports David Penn at Finovate (FinTech Futures‘ sister company).
Finect provides a social trading community for investors to communicate with and learn from financial professionals. Nearly two million users take advantage of Finect’s solutions, the company says, including its financial aggregator for portfolio tracking, interactive “pildoras” to respond to specific user questions, and a knowledgeable community of both private and professional investors.
“The transaction is a milestone in our mission to assist investors in their financial decisions,” says Antonio Botas, Finect’s CEO. “BME will bring us experience and leadership, both financial and technological.”
BME’s CEO, Javier Hernani, adds: “This investment and the alliance with Finect is another step forward in the company’s diversification policy and growth of the business’ technological area.”
BME’s investment comes amid a major digitalisation initiative for the Spanish stock market operator, which is moving to increase the role of technological consultancy services among its offerings. BME integrated its IT, consulting, regulation, and innovation value-added services into BME Inntech last year, as part of this process.
With origins as a social network for financial advisors, asset managers and their clients, Finect was launched by founder Nicolas Oriol in Spain in 2008 and in the US in 2012.
