Airwallex hires Pranav Sood to head up EMEA operations
Sood joins from GoCardless, where he was most recently vice president of small business.
Australasia
Aussie fintech for farmers AgriDigital raises $17.4m
The round, a mix of debt and equity, was led by a local fund.
Aussie B2B BNPL fintech BizPay cuts 30% of workforce due to “challenging market” for fintechs
BizPay is undergoing an “operational transformation”, which has seen a number of processes automated.
Kiwi regtech start-up First AML lands £15.6m Series B, makes UK debut
The company’s co-founder Bion Behdin is relocating to its new London office.
Aussie fintech Archa lands $24m in equity and debt funding
The pre-Series A investment round consists of $4 million in equity funding and a $20 million debt facility.
Stripe-backed one-click checkout fintech Fast folds
Fast CEO Domm Holland says: “Sometimes trailblazers don’t make it all the way to the mountain top.”
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 8 April 2022
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
ANZ and Worldline launch new payment service in Australia
Worldline holds a 51% stake in the new entity, with ANZ holding the remaining 49%.
Australian fintech start-up Yondr Money goes crowdfunding to boost growth
The Aussie challenger bank is looking to raise up to $1.5 million through crowdfunding.
Aussie paytech Zepto secures $19m Series A raise
The Series A round was led by Airtree Ventures and Decade Partners.
Aussie fintech Parpera launches to help people grow their businesses
Founded in April 2020 by Daniel Cannizzaro, Parpera has already raised AUD 2.7 million in equity funding.
Start-up Cape raises $33.1m to help businesses “unlock expense nirvana”
Cape will invest the money in technology, product expansion, and doubling its headcount in the coming months.
PPRO acquires Alpha Fintech to become “global payments powerhouse”
The Alpha Fintech takeover will extend PPRO’s reach to Asia Pacific.
Aussie BNPL firm Zip confirms Sezzle acquisition
The deal values Sezzle at approximately $360 million (AUD 491 million).
Australian fintech Zeller lands $73m Series B funding
Zeller says it has signed up more than 10,000 Australian businesses within eight months.
Westpac appoints Damien MacRae to lead new BaaS business
Westpac’s BaaS offering was built in partnership with 10X and integrates 30+ various tech services.
Volopay raises $29m in equity and debt for international expansion
Volopay is “building the control centre for modern companies for all their financial management needs”.
Aussie banking app Douugh taps TrueLayer for open banking data access
Australia’s Consumer Data Right framework enables the sharing of customer data between banks and fintechs.
Aussie SME financial management platform Thriday set to launch in beta
Thriday was set up to tackle “the poor quality of financial management solutions offered to small businesses”.
Digital ID verification start-up OCR Labs expands to North America with $30m funding
OCR Labs has raised $46 million through its combined Series A and B.
UK challenger Revolut secures Aussie credit licence
Revolut Australia CEO says the firm is creating the “world’s first truly global financial platform”.
Wealthtech FNZ secures $1.4bn investment
The company says the investment is one of the largest ever primary equity raises in the sector.
Online brokerage ThinkMarkets secures $30m investment to support growth
The trading platform has headquarters in London and Melbourne.
Kiwibank taps software firm ACI to boost real-time payments push
The deal will see ACI provide and manage Kiwibank’s digital payment hub.
FinTech Australia appoints paytech veteran Andrew Porter as CEO
Porter previously held senior roles at OFX, World First and TransferMate.
Aussie BNPL firm Zip confirms Sezzle takeover talks
The potential deal would follow a string of acquisitions by Zip over the past 18 months.
BNPL provider Splitit appoints new CEO, Nandan Sheth
Nandan Sheth moves from Fiserv, where he was head of global digital commerce and the firm’s Carat business.
Sydney fintech start-up Cape makes tech and product leadership hires
Julian Guppy joins as CTO and Andrew Fanner as chief product and marketing officer (CPMO).
Financial wellness and savings app Flamingo launches in Australia
Flamingo aims to help the 31% of Australians who reported being under financial stress.
Fintech start-up DiviPay plans international expansion following $20m Series A round
The new funds will also be used for further product development and to hire more staff.
Aussie fintech Finder secures first capital injection worth $22m
Finder co-founder Fred Schebesta says the company has been “bootstrapped since day one”.
Westpac acquires money management app MoneyBrilliant
MoneyBrilliant’s technology will be integrated into Westpac’s digital banking app.
AMP appoints new CTO, Felicia Trewin
Felicia Trewin will start her tenure in March 2022 and join AMP’s executive committee.
Australia’s Mr Yum secures $64m Series A funding
Female-led company is focused on mobile orders and payments in restaurant and hospitality sectors.
Revolut buys SME hospitality ePOS software provider Nobly POS
Nobly POS software will be integrated with Revolut payment offerings internationally.
Airwallex adds $100m funding with Series E extension
The new capital injection adds to the firm’s $200m Series E funding.
Singapore fintech Sleek raises $14m to fund global expansion
The company’s platform acts an ‘operating system’ for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Zip completes acquisition of Czech BNPL firm Twisto
The move will grant Zip access to the EU market from its UK springboard.
Aussie digital bank Volt partners Frollo to launch BaaS app
The app will be fully integrated with Volt’s core banking system.
US cloud AI platform H20.ai raises $100m in Series E round
Commonwealth Bank of Australia led the round and will form strategic partnership with H20.ai.
