ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Untangled Finance, Kennek 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.
UK-based Untangled Finance has raised $13.5 million in multi-year strategic funding from lead investor Fasanara Capital.
Established in 2020 and headquartered in London, Untangled Finance focuses on tokenising real-world private credit assets (such as invoices and SME loans) into on-chain structured credit pools, which facilitate the issuance of collateralised debt notes to DeFi and TradFi investors.
Untangled Finance will launch on the Celo blockchain this month, and the funding will go towards product development, “ecosystem incubation” and growth initiatives.
UK fintech Kennek has secured $12.5 million in a seed funding round led by HV Capital, with participation from Dutch Founders Fund, AlbionVC, FFVC, Plug & Play Ventures and Syndicate One.
Kennek team secures $12.5m
Founded in 2021 and based in London, Kennek offers an operating system for lending, with its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform covering all aspects of lending including loan origination, monitoring and servicing, and investor reporting via API technology.
Kennek says it will use the fresh funding to accelerate its growth in the UK market as well as to “deepen” its platform functionality.
It also plans to expand into Europe, following the recent signing of its first client there.
Singapore-based Web3 wallet solution provider, Account Labs, has raised $7.7 million from Amber Group, MixMarvel DAO Ventures and Qiming Ventures, among other investors.
Alongside the funding, the fintech has also launched its first consumer app UniPass wallet on the Polygon blockchain. With the app, users can sign up and log in to a self-custody Web3 wallet using a Google account and top up using Mastercard or Visa cards.
Account Labs was formed from the merger of Keystone and UniPass in May this year with the aim to democratise access to Web3.
Along with the launch of the app, Account Labs will deploy the funding to “drive mass crypto adoption”. It is currently focusing on the app launch and testing phase in the Philippines, before expanding to Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
UK-based instant payment start-up Lopay has secured £6 million in seed funding.
Lopay raises £6m
The round saw participation from BackedVC, Portage, The Venture Collective, as well as a number of “high-profile” angel investors.
Founded in January 2022 and based in London, Lopay is a payment app that enables small businesses to take card payments from their customers “for a fraction of the cost charged by the corporate payment providers”.
It claims more than 20,000 businesses have signed up since its launch, and is on course to process more than £400 million in payments in 2023. With the new funding, Lopay plans to launch internationally and develop new products “that save small businesses even more money”.
Dutch fintech Carbon Equity, which claims to be “the world’s first” climate venture capital and private equity fund investing platform, has bagged €6 million in its Series A funding round.
The round was led by BlackFin Capital Partners, with participation from existing investor, 4Impact. The company’s total funding now stands at €9 million.
Founded in 2021 and based in Amsterdam, the platform allows individuals to invest in climate technology companies by offering “low minimum access” to climate VC and PE funds. It claims its assets under management have increased by 300% and has seen a 100% rise in user base since its last funding round in 2022.
With the additional capital, Carbon Equity plans to expand across Europe, enhance its distribution channels, and deploy it towards its inaugural ELTIF fund, accessible from €25,000.
