Investment & Funding


Fintech funding round-up: 23 February 2017

Let’s put the fun in funding by keeping it mercifully brief. A round-up of key events. Featuring Tala, Nymbus and Monzo. US micro-loan start-up Tala (formerly InVenture), led by founder and CEO Shivani Siroya, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. The money will support its expansion plans in South Asia and Latin America. […]

US fintech slides, Asia and Europe rise says KPMG

Last year was a challenging one for fintech. The Brexit vote, the US presidential election, the slowdown of the Chinese economy, and fluctuations in exchange rates forced investors to tread cautiously, according to KPMG’s latest report “The Pulse of Fintech Q4 2016”. Despite a decline in overall fintech investments, 236 M&A transactions were recorded worth […]

RateSetter gets Plum deal for investing

Plum, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered Facebook chatbot, has teamed with peer-to-peer investing platform RateSetter to encourage the UK to save more. Plum says its algorithm understands spending patterns, identifies income and bills and creates a unique profile for each one of its users. It calculates a small amount of money to save or invest […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 15 February 2017

Life is a cabaret… and a fast one at that. Here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. Featuring KPMG, Microsoft, Hyperledger and more. Japan’s largest Bitcoin exchange Bitflyer has finished a new ¥200 million ($1.75 million) funding round from Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Mizuho Capital and SMBC Venture Capital. The banks’ backing […]

SolarisBank raises €26m in funding round

Berlin-based SolarisBank has raised €26.3 million in its series A funding round as it targets European expansion, according to a “confidential source that’s close with the company”. The official press release is expected in the next two weeks, where Solaris will announce its new partners, as well as the products available for these partner companies. […]

EquiChain launches new blockchain platform for capital markets

London-based fintech firm EquiChain has unveiled a working prototype blockchain platform for capital markets. The company plans to implement a full end-to-end “execution to custody” (E2C) pilot in 2017, as it jumps on the distributed ledger technology (DLT) bandwagon Nicholas Bone, EquiChain’s founder and CEO says it “creates a verifiable, transparent and immutable flow of […]

Brexit wrecks it for UK fintech investment

Uncertainty over Brexit has created a 33.7% decrease in UK venture capital (VC) investment for fintech firms, according to research by Innovate Finance. Investment was down to $783 million – less than two thirds of 2015 investment of $1.2 billion. Nine of the top 20 UK deals closed post Brexit, with total investment after the […]

Banks and UN launch sustainable investment framework

United Nations, together with 19 banks and investors worldwide, have launched “a global framework aimed at channelling the money they manage towards clean, low carbon and inclusive projects”. The framework – The Principles for Positive Impact Finance – is a first of its kind set of criteria for investments to be considered sustainable, says the UN.

Dubai ponders regulatory framework for loan-based crowdfunding platforms

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has issued a consultation paper, “Crowdfunding: SME Financing Through Lending”. The paper proposes a regulatory framework for anyone looking to operate a loan-based crowdfunding platform in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

DFS Innovation Lab launches fintech bootcamp

Powered by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Digital Financial Services (DFS) Innovation Lab has launched a new high-intensity fintech bootcamp for companies in Sub-Saharan Africa and and South Asia.

Bank Central Asia sets up fintech focused VC company

Bank Central Asia (BCA), an Indonesian bank with over 1,100 branches and 17,000 ATMs, has established a venture capital company, Central Capital Ventura (CCV). CCV has a paid-up capital of IDR 200 billion ($15 million).

BNP Paribas Securities Services invests in fintech start-up Fortia

BNP Paribas Securities Services has acquired a minority stake in an Fortia Financial Solutions. This deal helps Fortia, a start-up that provides compliance software to the financial services industry, cement the relationship it formed with the bank during the inaugural session of the fintech accelerator by L’Atelier BNP Paribas.

Ecobank launches fintech challenge for start-ups

Pan-African banking conglomerate Ecobank has launched a fintech challenge for start-ups. The event, open to Africa’s entrepreneurs, innovators and developers, provides an opportunity to win $500,000 in funding as well as partner with Ecobank and roll out services across 36 countries.

Citi analyses VC investments in fintech for fresh insights

Citi’s global perspectives and solutions team has issued a 100-page report on digital disruption in the fintech industry. It has analysed venture capital (VC) investments in the fintech industry between 2010 and 2016, as well as the emerging technologies across the globe.

Fintech funding round-up: 17 January 2017

They said it. We read it. We edited. A round-up of the latest funding efforts in the fintech and payments space. Featuring Kasisto, BillGO, Gumption Labs and Fraugster.

CSI Kick Start incubator calls for start-up applications

CSI Kick Start, a start-up incubator founded by Florida-based payments firm CSI GlobalVCard, has opened up its second annual application process for funding. The incubator is offering portfolio companies investments starting at $500,000, mentorship from an advisory board of industry experts, cross-selling opportunities and additional resources. It says its key areas of interest in B2B […]

Fintech funding round-up: 20 December 2016

Because you’ve all been so good this year, here’s a fintech funding round-up to save you time… so you can eat and drink more over Christmas. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and a group of other financial institutions including ICAP’s venture arm are finalising an investment in blockchain start-up Axoni, according to Reuters. New York-based […]

Fintech tour Toronto: Ontario calls for venture capital

Ontario in Canada is calling for more venture capital to come to the region as it looks to boost its fintech industry. This is the main message from a tour of Toronto, given to the international media by the Ministry of Economic Development and Growth (MEDG).

British Business Bank pledges £400m to UK fintechs and other businesses

The UK Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced a plan to invest £400 million of venture capital funds into the British Business Bank, a government vehicle to lend money to British businesses. The idea is to support the home-grown business sector – including fintech firms – and to prevent them from being snapped up by international companies.