ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Rillet, Aveni, Mamo, Payflow, 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 so you can get the latest funding news.
Rillet bags $13.5 million
Rillet, a US-based accounting fintech, has secured a $13.5 million investment round from Creandum and First Round Capital.
The round also included backing from notable individual investors including Chad Byers of Susa Ventures and Kevin Hartz, the founder of Eventbrite and Xoom.
Founded in 2021, Rillet claims its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is tailored to the “workflows of accounting and finance teams” with the aim to help businesses automate and streamline their accounting processes.
It’s offering includes investor reporting, revenue recognition, automated invoicing, and prepaid management features. The company also offers an AI-powered accounting solution to help businesses learn more from their data quickly.
The new capital will be used to expand the firm’s headcount and support new clients across various verticals, from e-commerce to fintech.
Aveni, a Scottish regtech building large language models (LLMs) and AI products designed specifically for the financial services industry, has landed a £11 million Series A funding round, described as one of the largest investments in a Scottish business this year.
The round was led by London-based VC Puma Private Equity with participation from Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide, along with previous investor Par Equity.
Aveni says the investment will enable it to “build on the success of existing products”, which includes its compliance and productivity solutions Aveni Detect and Aveni Assist.
The cash will be used to fuel the development of its FinLLM solution, a financial services-specific large language model, with the company aiming to “set the standard for the transparent, responsible and ethical adoption of Generative AI across UK financial services”.
The Series A funding adds to the £2.75 million raised in 2022 in a round led by The Tricapital Syndicate and Par Equity.
Obconnect secures £10.5 million investment
London-based open banking company Obconnect has bagged a £10.5 million investment from UK paytech PayPoint.
The investment will increase PayPoint’s ownership stake in Obconnect to 59.3%. PayPoint also has the option to buy the remaining 40.7% for a total cash amount of up to £20 million.
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Watford, UK, Obconnect offers open banking products and consultancy services to help boost the adoption of the technology.
The financing extends PayPoint’s recent spending spree, following last month’s £1 million investment in AperiData, a UK-based credit reference agency.
Lithuanian fintech Bourgeois Bohème (BoBo) has raised a €6.5 million seed round led by Austrian investment firm Graphit Lifestyle.
Founded in 2018, BoBo offers a financial services management platform for ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs). Its offering can facilitate high-value cross-border wire transfers and card transactions of up to €1 million within the European Union and the UK.
Commenting on the financing, Hugo Gomez, Bourgeois Bohème co-founder and CEO, states: “The round we just raised will help us make the service even more convenient by expanding the functionality for managing high-volume payments, including the addition of an administrative panel for third-party management and opening the MENA region for our clients.”
Payflow lands €6 million
Spanish fintech Payflow has secured a €6 million funding round to increase its presence in Spain and Portugal and power its expansion into the Latin American markets of Colombia and Peru.
The round was led by previous backers Cathay Innovation, Seaya Ventures, Wayra, and 6 Degrees Capital. Additionally, the round featured new investors including GED Conexo Ventures from Spain and Thomson Reuters Ventures from the US.
Founded in 2020, Payflow enables employees to access their earned wages.
In an interview with Business Insider, Benoît Menardo, a co-founder of Payflow, states that the company is “still growing more than 100% year-on-year”, but thanks to its latest financing, “we no longer need external financing to maintain these rates of growth”.
Chicago-based FranShares, which offers a platform for franchise investing built to improve “fund investors’ access to liquidity”, has landed $4.1 million in seed funding led by Chicago Ventures.
The US investech company plans to use its latest funding to expand its operations and launch a secondary marketplace later this year.
Founded in 2020, FranShares claims to serve over 43,000 investors. The company has now raised $5.76 million in total capital.
Mamo bags $3.4 million
UAE-based fintech Mamo has secured $3.4 million in its latest funding round, bringing the total capital raised by the company to $13 million.
The investment round was led by Cyfr Capital, 4DX Ventures, and the Dubai Future District Fund.
Founded in 2019, Mamo’s flagship solution is Mamo Pay, which enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to accept payments in more than 15 currencies.
Mamo plans to use the cash injection to boost its market presence in the UAE, enhance its product offerings, and test product lines in Saudi Arabia as part of its regional expansion initiative.
In addition, the company says the capital will be utilised to help SMEs “streamline their payment collection, corporate cards, and expense management needs”.
Hawk, a Munich-headquartered fintech providing AI-driven fraud prevention and anti-money laundering services, has announced a further undisclosed extension of its Series B funding round.
The extension will now see Australia’s Macquarie Capital join existing backers BlackFin Capital Partners, DN, Picus, Coalition, Rabobank, and Sands Capital. It follows an additional extension unveiled just a few weeks ago.
The company says it aims to meet the increasing “demand for AI-powered anti-financial crime technology”. According to a Hawk statement, the new finances will drive the company’s international expansion.
Commenting on its latest Series B extension, Tobias Schweiger, CEO and co-founder of Hawk, says: “Leveraging Macquarie Capital’s network and experience scaling successful risk software businesses will enable us to further expand our client base in Asia-Pacific, the US and beyond”.
