ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Funding Societies, Fero, Kroo and Zilch
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.
Singapore-based Funding Societies, a digital finance platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has raised $7.5 million in debt funding from Norfund.
Funding Societies raises $7.5m in debt financing
Norfund is a Development Financial Institution (DFI) which operates an investment fund owned by the Norwegian government for developing countries.
This is the first debt transaction by Norfund with a fintech SME lender in Southeast Asia.
Through this debt fundraise, Funding Societies plans to channel the cash via its range of tailored financing solutions to SME segments across all five of the Southeast Asian markets it operates in.
In September, Funding Societies secured $27 million in a debt funding round led by AlteriQ Global, with Aument Capital Partners and Orange Bloom also taking part.
Netherlands-based start-up Fero Payment Science has raised $3 million in a seed round from Coatue, Volta Ventures and Antler.
While participating in Antler’s founder residency in 2022, Fero’s co-founders Craig Savage and Maximilian van Boxel say they “identified an opportunity to create personalised purchase preferences that would make it easier and more seamless for consumers to complete their payments”.
The fresh funding will enable Fero to expand its online payment solution to tackle what it estimates to be $5 trillion of annual revenue that merchants lose at the point of checkout. Fero also plans to build out its team across Europe and the US and enhance its product offerings to serve more retailers around the world.
UK challenger bank Kroo has launched a fresh crowdfunding round in partnership with Crowdcube, with early access for current customers from 1 November and public access beginning 15 November.
Kroo opens crowdfunding round
With the crowdfunding round, Kroo says it aims to support its ambition “to change banking for good and put money and power back into customers’ hands”.
Since securing its full UK banking licence in 2022, Kroo claims to have opened 145,000 accounts and accumulated £765 million in deposits.
“Banks are guilty of prioritising profits over customers. They make decisions that impact all our lives, but we have no say in how they are run. Kroo wants to change that,” says Andrea De Gottardo, CEO of Kroo.
“By inviting our growing customer base to be investors, they will have a say in how we run the bank – from our services to our products.”
UK-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech Zilch has secured an undisclosed sum of investment from eBay Ventures at a sustained valuation of £1.65 billion ($2 billion), first reported by The Telegraph.
The equity investment, which is reportedly a “low single-digit million” figure, follows a £20 million fundraise held earlier in the year.
Earlier this year, Zilch CEO Philip Belamant had said that the firm was “seriously considering” plans for an initial public offering (IPO), adding that it was close to achieving “bottomline” profitability in the future.
