Funding

Splitit Lands $50 Million, Plans to Delist from the Australian Stock Exchange

Splitit Lands $50 Million, Plans to Delist from the Australian Stock Exchange
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Funding, SplitIt
  • Splitit is set to receive $50 million from Motive Partners.
  • The funding will be issued in two $25 million installments.
  • Motive Partners stipulates that Splitit must delist from the Australian Stock Exchange and meet certain performance milestones in order to receive the funds.

There is something poetic about a BNPL company receiving private equity funding in installments. One of the first BNPL players in the market, Splitit, has landed a $50 million investment from private equity firm Motive Partners. The funds, which will boost Splitit’s total funding to $325 million, will be paid out in two tranches.

For Splitit, which is a publicly traded company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) under the ticker SPT and also trades on the US OTCQX under tickers SPTTY and STTTF, today’s investment isn’t a straightforward transaction.

Splitit will receive the funds in two $25 million installments in exchange for the issuance of new preference shares. According to the release, Splitit will receive the first installment after two conditions have been met– first, when shareholders approve the company delisting from the ASX and second, after the company moves its incorporation site from Israel to the Cayman Islands. Splitit will receive the second $25 million after achieving certain performance milestones.

Splitit’s board opted to agree to Motive Partners’ transaction terms for five reasons:

  1. The funds offer growth capital in the midst of a difficult fundraising environment.
  2. The partnership with Motive Partners was especially attractive, given the firm’s resources, network, and talent.
  3. The ASX undervalues Splitit’s business and doesn’t appreciate the company’s “differentiated value proposition and prospects.”
  4. The move to become a private, Cayman Islands-based company will offer Splitit more flexibility and less administrative costs.
  5. The move from the ASX will offer existing shareholders the option to choose to retain ownership in Splitit as a private company or to decrease their ownership in the run-up to the delisting.

“Attracting a strategic investor of this calibre is a testament to the quality of our team and our unique, innovative offering– especially given difficult market conditions for raising capital,” said Splitit Managing Director and CEO Nandan Sheth. “This level of investment significantly strengthens our balance sheet, allowing the team to focus on our white-label product strategy, innovation, and our Tier One global distribution partners.”

Splitit was founded in 2012 under the name PayItSimple. The company’s Installments-as-a-Service offering allows merchants to add a white-labeled BNPL option embedded into their checkout flow. Splitit also offers a BNPL tool that works at the physical point-of-sale by pre-qualifying consumers with available credit on their credit card for the value of that available credit.

Earlier this year, Splitit partnered with Atlantic-Pacific Processing Systems to offer BNPL services to their merchants. The company also partnered with Visa to embed a BNPL solution within merchants’ existing credit card processes. Splitit also holds partnerships with Stripe, Shopify, and Alipay to act as an Installments-as-a-Service option for their merchant clients.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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Currency Risk Management Startup Finofo Launches with Cross-Border Payments Solution

Currency Risk Management Startup Finofo Launches with Cross-Border Payments Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Currency risk management company Finofo launched today.
  • The Calgary-based startup announced that the first phase of its launch is the release of its cross-border payments tools.
  • Finofo raised $1.25 million ($1.6 million CAD) in pre-seed funding in January.

Canadian currency risk management startup Finofo launched publicly today. The company, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, calls its platform an “all-in-one” solution for businesses’ financial needs and has unveiled tools for cross-border payments as its first offering.

In an extended blog post Finofo co-founder Prateek Sodhi announced the company’s launch and its mission to help businesses manage currency risk. Sodhi underscored the challenge of managing currency risk, calling it a “multifaceted task that requires specialized talent in finance.” He noted that larger companies can often afford to hire the specialized talent required to effectively manage currency risk. However, Sodhi said, “most regular businesses are left grappling with these complexities with a team consisting mainly of trained accountants and corporate finance specialists.”

To this end, Finofo has built a digital platform that leverages advanced algorithms to examine the intricacies of currency fluctuations for individual businesses. If currency fluctuations become an issue, the platform quantifies the value of the risk. This enables the platform to develop tools and strategies, specific to individual businesses and their financial condition, to manage this risk.

The launch of Finofo, according to Sodhi, will take place in three stages. The first stage, announced today, includes the platform’s cross-border payments tools. These tools enable businesses to send or receive money in more than 40 currencies across 180 countries. Businesses will also be able to use Finofo to convert money into different currencies and automate accounts payable.

The second stage of the launch will involve development of the company’s smart hedge engine. This solution will help streamline currency hedging trade execution to reduce the price risk of currencies during the trading process. Future initiatives include financial planning and analysis solutions to help businesses conduct real-time foreign-exchange risk analytics.

“We’re not interested in merely selling financial instruments,” Sodhi wrote this week. “Instead, we leverage our unique technology to help businesses understand if, when, and how much they need them.”

In addition to its launch announcement, Finofo also disclosed that it raised $1.25 million ($1.6 million CAD) in pre-seed funding back in January. The round was led by Motivate Venture Capital. SaaS Venture Capital, Desjardins Financial Holding, and Sweet Spot Capital also participated.

Photo by Juman Salem

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Knot Raises $10 Million to Increase Account Interoperability

Knot Raises $10 Million to Increase Account Interoperability
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Knot has raised $10 million for its tool that updates consumers’ card-on-file at the company’s network of merchants.
  • The round was led by Nava Ventures and brings Knot’s total funding to $13 million.
  • Knot also offers a subscription cancelling solution and is currently working on a password updating tool.

With a mission to build an interconnected future online, Knot API has a long road ahead. Nevertheless, the New York-based company received a boost to help it make strides toward that goal with a new $10 million funding round today.

The Series A investment was led by Nava Ventures, with participation from Amex Ventures, Plaid, and more than 20 CEOs and founders. When added to the $3 million Seed round Knot received in 2021, today’s round brings the company’s total funding to $13 million.

Knot was founded in 2019 with an API to enable card issuers to update card-on-file information at Knot’s network of merchants– including Walmart, Netflix, Amazon, Starbucks, and Uber– with just a few lines of code. The company’s technology makes for an easier onboarding experience for consumers while helping the bank retain its customers.

Knot will use the $10 million to scale its services and expand its merchant support. The company’s goal is to “ultimately encompass virtually all online merchants.”

In addition to its card-on-file switching solution, Knot also offers a subscription cancelling tool that helps customers view and cancel their recurring subscriptions. The company is also working on an account creation tool that allows organizations to initiate accounts at third parties on their customers’ behalf, and a password updater that instantly updates customers’ passwords across the web.

“Securing this Series A funding signifies the immense trust our investors have in Knot’s potential to revolutionize the way card issuers manage their customers’ payment methods,” said Knot CEO Rory O’Reilly. “We’re grateful for the chance to further our mission of building a financially interconnected future, and we’re excited about the new opportunities this funding opens up for our team and our customers.”

Photo by analogicus

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Tradeshift Forms Joint Venture with HSBC, Raises $70 Million

Tradeshift Forms Joint Venture with HSBC, Raises $70 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Funding, Tradeshift
  • Tradeshift is partnering with HSBC to develop embedded finance solutions.
  • As part of the partnership, HSBC is contributing $35 million to Tradeshift’s $70 million funding round announced today.
  • There is limited information about the details of the new joint venture between the two parties, but the announcement said more information will be unveiled ahead of the planned launch slated for early 2024.

Supply chain procurements and payments company Tradeshift is teaming up with HSBC to launch a new business. The jointly-owned business endeavor will focus on developing embedded finance solutions and financial services applications. 

As part of the partnership, HSBC is investing $35 million in Tradeshift as part of a round that is expected to close at around $70 million. Existing investors AYTK Limited, LUN Partners Group, Fuel Venture Capital, Doha Venture Capital LLC, Notion Capital, IDC Ventures and The Private Shares Fund contributed to the round.

The round will add to the more than $1.1 billion in funding Tradeshift has amassed since it was founded in 2009.

Details about the new joint venture between Tradeshift and HSBC are sparse. The announcement states that the two will “deploy a range of digital solutions across Tradeshift and other platforms” that will include embedded finance tools for trade, e-commerce, and marketplaces. The new business will enable Tradeshift to globally scale its business commerce network that currently sits at one million users.

Tradeshift expects that the HSBC brand will “bring instant credibility and broad appeal” to the new financial solutions. HSBC currently facilitates more than $800 billion in trade each year. 

“The world’s biggest trade bank and the world’s largest trade network are joining forces,” said Tradeshift CEO and Co-founder Christian Lanng. “Our deepening partnership with HSBC delivers a strong foundation from which to scale and accelerate our vision of a trade network that creates economic opportunity for businesses everywhere.”

The two will announce more details about the joint venture ahead of its launch, which is expected in early 2024.

“We are very excited to partner with Tradeshift to help businesses and their suppliers trade more smoothly using world-class technology and solutions that the joint venture will deliver,” said HSBC CEO of Global Commercial Banking Barry O’Byrne.

Photo by Yusuf Miah

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SuperFi Raises $1 Million for Debt Prevention Platform

SuperFi Raises $1 Million for Debt Prevention Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • SuperFi received $1 million in pre-seed funding for its debt management and repayment platform.
  • The round saw contributions from Ascension, Fair By Design, Force Over Mass, and includes a grant from the Greater London Authority.
  • SuperFi’s debt management app will be publicly available in late 2023.

Personalized debt support platform SuperFi has landed $1 million in pre-seed funding for its platform that helps users understand, manage, and pay off their debt. The round brings the company’s total funding to $1.2 million.

The investment was led by Ascension and its impact fund, Fair By Design, and saw contributions from Force Over Mass and others. Also included in the investment amount is a grant from the Greater London Authority. SuperFi received the grant funds as part of the Mayor of London’s Challenge LDN scheme to combat poverty.

U.K.-based SuperFi was founded in 2021 with a goal to support the 18 million British adults struggling to pay their monthly bills during the cost of living crisis. To accomplish this, the company shows users an overview of their debts, analyzes their financial and personal circumstances, and offers them access to debt prevention tools and services.

“We believe that debt management should be proactive, not reactive. Our goal is to help millions of people struggling to pay their bills and credit commitments better manage their debt before it becomes a crisis,” said SuperFi Cofounder Tom Barltrop. “In doing so, we believe we can help British people during the cost of living crisis – saving businesses and society billions associated with problem debt.”

Today’s funding will help SuperFi test its platform with Councils and Housing Associations across London before the company rolls the product out to a wider U.K. audience. The investment will also be used to form partnerships with London boroughs.

SuperFi plans to make its app publicly available in late 2023.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya

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Dutch Neobank Bunq Earns $1.8 Billion Valuation with Latest Fundraising

Dutch Neobank Bunq Earns $1.8 Billion Valuation with Latest Fundraising
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Dutch neobank bunq raised an additional $49.3 million (€44.5 million) in growth capital.
  • The investment takes the firm’s total capital raised this year to $111 million (€100 million). bunq’s valuation stands at $1.8 billion (€1.65 billion).
  • Founded in 2012, bunq has nine million customers and $5 billion (€4.5 billion) in customer deposits

Netherlands-based bunq, the second-largest neobank in the European Union, has earned a valuation of $1.8 billion (€1.65 billion). The new valuation comes as the firm locked in an additional $49.3 million (€44.5 million) in growth capital. Current investors Pollen Street Capital, bunq Chief Information Officer Raymond Kasiman, and bunq founder and CEO Ali Niknam participated in the round. bunq has secured a total of $111 million (€100 million) funding this year alone.

“It’s been a truly magical year for bunq; we’re rapidly expanding and have seen massive deposit growth,” Niknam said. “With more and more people entrusting their money to us, we’re convinced that we should double down on our momentum and cement the way forward for future growth.”

bunq was founded in 2012, and offers banking, savings, payments, cards, and other financial services. The neobank specializes in serving “digital nomads”: individuals who live and work in more than one country. This strategy has helped bunq reach nine million customers and $5 billion (€4.5 billion) in customer deposits. Compare this with 5.4 million customers and €1 billion in customer deposits just two years ago. bunq primarily serves banking customers in Europe. Nevertheless, the company has begun the process of securing a banking license in the U.S.

In 2021, bunq received an investment of $213 million (€193 million). At the time, the fundraising was the largest Series A round raised by a European fintech. In the final quarter of 2022, bunq announced its first net profit. The company expects to achieve a full year of profitability this year.

“I’m incredibly proud that, just a decade since our inception, bunq’s service-oriented business model has proven to be profitable,” Niknam said in February. “Truly aligning our user-centered philosophy with financial success, we were able to build a business that’s only successful as long as our users are happy.”

bunq also announced a set of new enhancements this month. The company now gives customers up to 2% back on card spending on public transportation. Cardholders can also take advantage of 1% cashback for purchases at restaurants and bars. Bunq now enables users to save in multiple currencies, with interest paid out weekly. And with climate change top of mind for many of its customers, bunq has added carbon footprint tracking.

Check out our conversation with bunq Chief of Staff to the CEO Bianca Zwart from earlier this year at FinovateEurope. Zwart explained the company’s origins and its unique business model. She also discussed bunq’s goal of becoming the “global neobank for digital nomads and international people and businesses.”

Photo by Marko Zirdum

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Five Reasons to Look for a Fintech Funding Rebound in the Second Half of 2023

Five Reasons to Look for a Fintech Funding Rebound in the Second Half of 2023
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, List series

Stocks might be soaring over the summer. But the headlines of late have been filled with dour reflections over fintech investment in the first half of 2023. The first half of the year – and the second quarter in particular – have been tough on fintechs seeking funding. But here are five reasons why fintech funding in the second half of 2023 – and beyond – is likely to be better than the first half.

The first half was pretty bad

One of the reasons why the second half of the year might see higher levels of fundraising in fintech is because the first half has set a fairly low bar. In its analysis of H1 fintech investment this year, S&P Global Market Intelligence noted that Q2 2023 was the “slowest quarter on record over the past two and a half years” in terms of deal count. In the U.S., H1 funding was down 28% from the previous year. Declines in the U.K. were even more severe, with H1 2023 trailing H1 2022 by a whopping 83%.

S&P Global Market Intelligence was careful to add that while the slowdown in investment impacted the first half significantly, the declines began late last year rather than at the beginning of this year. And while the report writers expressed anxiety over the continued low deal count, the report did note approvingly overall deal value growth, the potential for a stabilization in interest rates, and the underlying robustness of digital trends in financial services as factors that support a recovery in the second half of 2023.

About that recession

Despite layoffs in the tech sector and high-profile tremors in the banking industry like the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the widely anticipated recession – and its accompanying 5%+ unemployment rates – has yet to occur in the U.S. or Europe. As economic confidence grows, and the date for a potential economic slowdown gets pushed further into the future by economists, investors are likely to feel more comfortable putting capital at risk.

In addition to the potential for moderation on the interest rate front mentioned above, S&P Global Market Intelligence also highlighted the fact that many venture capitalists remain “flush with cash.” According to Pitchbook, the money available for investment by venture capital is at an all-time high of more than $279 billion for U.S.-based funds alone. That capital will only remain on the sidelines for so long.

Curbed enthusiasm

The popular embrace of emergent GenerativeAI solutions helped give the technology industry writ large a boost at a time when the focus was on shrinking workforces and a sense of stagnation in terms of post-smartphone innovation. At the same time, the strong but relatively muted response to Apple’s metaverse-manifesting VisionPro suggests that market for innovation is still strong, but it may be a little more sober than it’s been in awhile.

This could be a particular benefit for fintech companies where the solutions and services are geared toward clear human challenges in a way that some other areas of technology are not (more on this later). As investors return to the market in search of promising startups, those companies in industries with proven ways of using enabling technologies like automation and machine learning could see early interest.

More tech layoffs, More tech companies

It can be a delicate point. But in the same way that companies like Facebook and YouTube emerged from the wreckage of the dot.com bust, and Airbnb and Uber (and Finovate!) were born out of the ashes of the Great Financial Crisis, one door closing in the economy often signifies the opening of another. The talent that is leaving some of the biggest and most successful technology companies in history is likely to go on to launch and staff the next round of big, successful technology companies. Savvy investors know this, and will be watching to see who ends up where, and what they are up to.

Work the problem, people

One thing that I appreciate about Finovate conferences – and all similar events, to be honest – is that they are a live, in-person reminder that there are people – many of them younger than you and me – who are enthusiastically pursuing solutions to problems in their lives, the lives of their friends and loved ones, as well as the communities they belong to and care about. They tend to not have a lot of time for fear, doubt, or lamentations about what can’t be done. Instead they are more likely to embrace the old motto: lead, follow, or get out of the way.

As long as there individuals who need help sending money to relatives overseas, families struggling to save for the future, businesses looking for ways to make their services both more profitable and available to more customers, there will be fintech innovators building solutions for them. And few people know that better than the investors whose vision and commitment has help make and will continue to help make those solutions possible.

Photo by The Lazy Artist Gallery

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Ten Alums Raised More Than $209 Million in Q2 2023

Ten Alums Raised More Than $209 Million in Q2 2023
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, David's column, Funding, Fundings, Quarterly Funding

Do any of these headlines sound familiar?

“Global fintech funding nearly halves to $23B in H1 2023”

“North American Startup Funding Fell Across All Stages in Q2”

“Most Active Investors Pare Dealmaking in First Half of 2023”

These are some of the recent headlines from sources such as Crunchbase News and S&P Global Market Intelligence. While there was some real enthusiasm around Generative AI as the summer began, the reality is that technology investors remain cautious in the face of inflationary fears, higher interest rates, and a number of high-profile blowups in some of the more speculative areas of technology. This challenge has been especially acute in fintech. Not only have concerns over COVID-era overinvestment and “malinvestment” been loud in this space, but also fintech has more direct exposure to some of the economic discontents mentioned above.

The retrenchment in fintech funding was in evidence during Q2 2023 for our Finovate alums, as well. Over the quarter, ten alums raised more than $209 million. This makes Q2 2023 one of the lowest quarters in terms of equity capital raised by our alums in many years. Note that two of the nine alums that reported receiving investment dollars in April, May, and June – Agent IQ and EverC – did not disclose the amounts of their fundings. Nevertheless, this quarter’s total is a clear reflection of the relative tepid investment climate across technology writ large.

Previous quarterly comparisons

  • Q2 2022: More than $984 million raised by eight alums
  • Q2 2021: More than $2.8 billion raised by 14 alums
  • Q2 2020: More than $975 million raised by 15 alums
  • Q2 2019: More than $1.8 billion raised by 29 alums
  • Q2 2018: More than $1.5 billion raised by 26 alums

The biggest fundraising alum of the quarter was NYMBUS. The company enables financial institutions to digitally transform their operations through a variety of solutions including SmartCore, SmartPayments, and its standalone digital bank alternative, SmartLaunch. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, NYBUS made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall 2019.

Top Equity Investments

  • NYMBUS: $70 million
  • PayNearMe: $45 million
  • BioCatch: $40 million

Other big alumni fundraisers in Q2 2023 were PayNearMe and BioCatch, which raised $45 million and $40 million, respectively. PayNearMe is a three-time Finovate Best of Show winner, making its Finovate debut back in 2010. The Santa Clara, California based fintech offers a cash payments platform that facilitates online purchases and billpay.

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, BioCatch demoed its technology at FinovateFall in 2014. Since then, the behavioral biometrics innovator has grown into a major player in the advanced fraud protection industry. The firm continuously protects more than five billion sessions per month and serves more than 250 million users around the world. In 2022, BioCatch prevented more than $2 billion in fraud losses.

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q2 2023.

April: More than $35 million raised by three alums

  • EverC: undisclosed – post
  • Stratyfy: $10 million – post
  • Tyfone: $25 million – post

May: More than $127 million raised by five alums

  • Agent IQ: undisclosed – post
  • BioCatch: $40 million – post
  • Cable: $11 million – post
  • Kognitos: $6.75 million – post
  • NYMBUS: $70 million – post

June: More than $47 million raised by two alums

  • PayNearMe: $45 million – post
  • StockRepublic: $2.81 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the second quarter of 2023 and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

Photo by Reynaldo #brigworkz Brigantty

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StockRepublic Raises $2.81 Million for Social Trading Platform

StockRepublic Raises $2.81 Million for Social Trading Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, StockRepublic
  • StockRepublic has raised $2.81 million (SEK 30 million).
  • The round was led by Avanza subsidiary Placera Media, which contributed $1.4 million (SEK 15 million).
  • The relationship between Placera Media and StockRepublic began at the start of this year when StockRepublic helped Placera Media operate and modernize its stock forum.

B2B social trading platform StockRepublic has raised $2.81 million (SEK 30 million) this week. The new investment is more than double the company’s existing funding and brings its total to $5.2 million (SEK 55.6 million).

Leading the round is Avanza’s subsidiary Placera Media, which contributed $1.4 million (SEK 15 million). The remaining $1.4 million (SEK 15 million) comes from existing investors and business angels.

Founded in 1999, Avanza is one of Sweden’s largest financial websites. The firm’s media subsidiary, Placera Media, covers news and updates on equities, funds, and savings. The company publishes articles, produces podcasts, and launches several TV segments each week.

StockRepublic’s partnership with Placera Media began earlier this year. The social trading company operated and modernized Placera Media’s stock forum. Today’s strategic partnership between the two will help StockRepublic ramp up hiring, further develop its service offering, and continue its expansion.

“We are very proud to have Sweden’s leading savings platform on board, both as customers and investors,” said StockRepublic CEO Fabian Grapengiesser. “StockRepublic has previously raised capital from customers, so it is a proven and successful model for us. This collaboration brings Avanza closer to us in a very positive way and allows us to continue to develop Avanza’s platform with exciting new services.”

Sweden-based StockRepublic was founded in 2018 and demoed its technology at FinovateEurope earlier this year.. The company’s platform offers customized apps and APIs to help banks and financial services providers increase customer engagement. Specifically, StockRepublic’s technology allows investors to leverage the experience and knowledge of other investors and, in turn, share their success. The company’s platform is currently available in six markets. Commerzbank is among its clients.

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Open Payments Gateway Volt Raises $60 Million to Fuel Asia Pacific Expansion

Open Payments Gateway Volt Raises $60 Million to Fuel Asia Pacific Expansion
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • London-based open payments gateway Volt has raised $60 million in Series B funding.
  • IVP led the round, which featured participation from both new and existing investors.
  • Volt will use the capital to power its expansion into the Asia Pacific region, the Americas, and Australia later this year.

Volt, an open payments gateway based in London, has raised $60 million in Series B funding. IVP led the round, which also featured participation from CommerzVentures, EQT Ventures, Augmentum Fintech, and Fuel Ventures. The investment comes as the company announced plans for an expansion into the Asia Pacific region and the Americas.

The investment also takes Volt’s total equity funding to more than $87 million. New valuation information was not immediately available.

Founded in 2019, Volt currently operates in Europe, the U.K., and Brazil. The company connects more than 5,000 banks, bringing together a generation of account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure to a single point of access. Volt’s aggregation model offers a wide-ranging open payments reach and maximizes the speed, security, and resilience of transactions. Volt’s product suite includes Checkout, a unified ommichannel commerce experience; Circuit Breaker, a dedicated fraud prevention solution, Fuzebox, a real-time payments control center for notifications and reporting; Connect, a cash cycle management solution and real-time orchestration engine; Verify, an account ownership authentication tool; and Transformer, a solution to help consumers transition to account-to-account payments.

IVP Partner Angela Zhu praised Volt as “well positioned to redefine the future of payments on a global scale.” Zhu explained: “as over 70 countries, including the U.S., transition to RTP systems, merchants are experiencing the immense benefits of instant, secure, and cost-effective A2A payments.”

In addition to its expansion plans for Asia Pacific and the Americas, Volt is also planning to enter the Australian market later this year. The company will also use the new capital to build out its acceptance network and global reach, as well as enhance its product suite to include cash management. Volt also announced that it will “significantly” bolster its product and engineering teams.

“Testament to our progress and our vision for real-time payments everywhere, we’re thrilled to be working with our new partners at IVP, joining their portfolio of leading global brands” Volt CEO Tom Greenwood said. “We’re staying focused, and humble, as we embark on this next chapter.”

Volt’s funding and expansion news comes just days after Volt announced that it secured approval as a Shopify open banking partner. Also this month, Volt teamed up with SEPAexpress to offer Request to Pay services across Europe, and partnered with Worldpay from FIS to help merchants take advantage of open banking.

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Canadian Wealth Management Startup OneVest Raises $17 Million in Series A

Canadian Wealth Management Startup OneVest Raises $17 Million in Series A
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Canadian wealth-as-a-service platform OneVest raised $12.8 million (CAD $17 million) in Series A funding this week.
  • The company’s technology provides financial institutions with a modular, scalable solution that enables them to launch new wealth management services in weeks.
  • The funding takes OneVest’s total capital raised to $18 million (CAD $24 million).

OneVest, a wealth-as-a-service platform for financial institutions, raised $12.8 million (CAD $17 million) in Series A funding this week. The investment takes the Calgary, Canada-based company’s total capital raised to $18 million (CAD $24 million). OneVest will use the funding to accelerate growth and expand into the U.S. market. The capital will also enable the company to add to its team in multiple areas, including enterprise sales, business operations, product, and engineering.

OMERS Ventures led the round. Existing investors Luge Capital, Panache Ventures, AAF Management, and FJ Labs participated, as well. The Series A also featured new investors Fin Capital, Pivot Investment Partners, and Deloitte Ventures.

“We’ve built OneVest as a durable, highly scalable platform that can shape the future of wealth management,” OneVest co-founder and CEO Amar Ahluwalia explained. He underscored the challenge of delivering “exceptional” financial experiences while meeting the expectations of customers, financial advisors, and regulators alike. “The ability to implement a modern service with all the required compliance requirements built in, is compelling,” Ahluwalia said.

Financial institutions can integrate and configure the different components of the platform based on the needs of their customers. The solution provides intuitive interfaces for investors and advisors, data aggregation, a reliable book of record, and a comprehensive portfolio management engine. Institutions can leverage the platform to automate and streamline administrative and middle office operations, as well. The technology is designed to enable banks and other FIs to launch customized, wealth management offerings in weeks, rather than years.

Ahluwalia, Jakob Pizzera (COO), and Nathan Di Lucca (CTO) founded OneVest in 2021. The company provides solutions for fintechs, banks and credit unions, wealth managers, insurance companies, dealers and custodians, and asset managers.

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Mitigram Raises $11 Million for its Global Trade Financing Platform

Mitigram Raises $11 Million for its Global Trade Financing Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding, Fundings
  • Global trade financing platform Mitigram landed $11 million in funding.
  • The investment will bring Mitigram’s total funding to $38 million.
  • Mitigram will use the funding to scale its operations via software-as-a-service offerings.

Digital global trade financing platform Mitigram announced today it received $11 million in funding, boosting its total raised to $38 million.

The company will use the funds to scale its operations via software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings and add competitive advantage by scaling its network. “The lack of connectivity is trade finance’s biggest cost,” said Mitigram’s Interim CEO Malin Bäcklund. “Around 4 billion paper documents are manually generated, checked and transported in trade each year, which creates the perfect storm for high operating costs and a spiraling lack of control. At Mitigram, we are passionate about closing the gap that is estimated to cost the industry $4 trillion in total each year. This new funding round will allow us to continue doing exactly that.”

Mitigram was founded in 2014, creating a digital exchange in global trade financing. The company offers three main products:

  • MitiSquare, which helps companies assess risks, capacity, and pricing from partner banks in global trade financing.
  • MitiManager, which allows organizations to view, manage, and structure all trade financing data.
  • MitiGateway, which digitizes origination records and manages the end customer experience.

Among the company’s clients are Louis Dreyfus Company, Bridgestone, Vale, Ericsson, ArcelorMittal, Trafigura, Siemens Healthineers, and over 150 banks.

As part of today’s announcement Mitigram CEO Milena Torciano is stepping down, but will remain on the company’s board of directors. Bäcklund, who currently serves as CEO of Moor Holding, will act as interim CEO until a replacement is found.

“We founded Mitigram with the mission to open up a closed market, and to streamline and augment global trade and I am incredibly proud of the tremendous growth that we have achieved since I joined six years ago,” said Torciano. “Today, we are trusted by more than 300 multinational corporations, leading commodity traders and financial institutions, and have facilitated $100+ billion in flows currently across 185 markets. This investment is an excellent opportunity to further build on the strong foundations we have established, and to deliver best practice for digitalized trade finance.”

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

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