ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Helicap, Cercli, 3forge and Palm
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 so you can get the latest funding news.
Palm raises $6.1 million in seed funding
Palm, an AI-powered treasury management system, has raised $6.1 million in a seed funding round led by Speedinvest and Target Global.
Upfin, Liquid2 and Greens supported the round, alongside angel investors Job van der Voort, founder and CEO of Remote, and former Hedosophia partner Philippe Teixeira da Mota.
Founded in 2023 by Gurjit Pannu and Christian Sobkowski, the Palm platform consolidates data for treasury teams and provides AI-powered transactional guidance aimed at improving cash forecasting, cash positioning and reporting cycles.
The fintech says it will use the funding to expand its product, engineering and go-to-market teams to “forge more partnerships with large consultancies, and continue its expansion across Europe, the UK and the US”.
Singapore-based private investment platform Helicap has added $4.3 million to its ongoing Series B funding round, according to DealStreetAsia.
Of the funding, $4 million was reportedly secured from Kenanga Investors Berhad, the wealth management arm of Kenanga Group, which acted as lead investor alongside Saison Capital.
Kenanga Group has now secured an 8% stake in the platform, which Helicap confirms is set to be “increased in the near future to approximately 10%”.
Helicap, which connects investors with private debt investments across Southeast Asia, adds that the investment will be used to “enhance its business activities, access new markets and explore new segments”.
$4 million seed funding secured by Cercli
Cercli, a payroll and employee data platform launched this year, has raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by Afore Capital.
The round was supported by COTU Ventures, Y Combinator and Rebel Fund, alongside angel investors Karim Atiyeh, co-founder of Ramp, Rappi co-founder Sebastian Mejia, former Rippling VP Tony Dong and Oyster’s Tony Jamous, among others.
Based in Dubai, the Cercli platform works to automate payroll, reimbursement, onboarding and employee data processing functions for businesses across the MENA region.
According to TechCrunch, the start-up will use the funds from its seed round to expand its employee headcount, develop adjacent products, cement its position in core markets, and tap unrealised customer segments.
Enterprise application development platform 3forge has “closed on an investment” from Morgan Stanley, marking the first time the company has raised external capital since launching in 2011.
New York-headquartered 3Forge operates a full-stack, high-impact code platform fitted with an in-memory database, event processor and data virtualisation layer. The platform enables banks, hedge funds, asset managers, exchanges and sovereign wealth funds to build and develop enterprise applications.
According to a statement, the funds will be used to “accelerate 3forge’s global go-to-market strategy and expand its development community”.
Robert Cooke, founder of 3forge, comments: “This is an exciting milestone as we continually expand our capabilities to help enhance client workflows and productivity.”
