Fintech funding round-up: 4 May 2017
Money talks, but it doesn’t sing and dance, and it doesn’t walk. And long as I can have you here with me, I’d much rather be, forever in fintech funding. Featuring FriendlyScore, Nav, Stockspot and InDebted.
London-based FriendlyScore, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) B2B credit-scoring platform, will be opening its doors to new investors. The company is looking to raise £500,000 through a special bridge funding round that will take place in the second quarter of 2017. The firm’s plan is to reach its Series A funding round, which will be held in Q2 2018 – with a target of £1 million.
FriendlyScore says it uses big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to assess credit risk. Its model incorporates data from social media, mobile devices, bank transactions, third-party databases and other existing measures of creditworthiness. It also has an office in Wroclaw, Poland.
Nav, a California-based online financing marketplace, has increased its B round to $38 million for planned expansion in the US market. The new funding is being led by Goldman Sachs.
The firm offers an app that gives free access to personal and business credit reports, cash-flow data, “tools to help build business credit” and a marketplace that matches business owners to suitable financing options based on their credit and suitability. According to Nav, it works with more than 200,000 small businesses and has a marketplace with more than 100 financing products, including credit cards.
Over in Australia, Stockspot, a digital investment adviser, has got a $2.2 million Series A round led by Graham Tuckwell, founder and chairman of ETF Securities, and Sydney-based Alium Capital.
Stockspot’s total equity funding now stands at $3.7 million, after having raised $1.25 million in June 2015.
Staying Down Under, where debt collection platform InDebted has got $1 million seed from Westpac’s venture capital firm Reinventure. As Banking Technology reported last year, the Australian bank doubled its investment in Reinventure – with $50 million for start-ups.
This latest deal is InDebted’s 15th transaction since its foundation in early 2014. The start-up plans the usual stuff – to expand its platform to banks and other companies.
