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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Sometimes a partnership is not enough and only a full-fledged union will suffice.
This is the approach taken by Cairngorm Capital, a U.K.-based private equity firm that announced this week that it had acquired FinovateMiddleEast alum Munnypot– along with investment management services provider Whitefoord – in order to launch a new digital wealth management firm, Verso Wealth Management.
“Our firm believes that the parallel trends of the increased complexity of consumers’ advice needs, their growing adoption of digital services and rising automation in wealth management will endure over the long term,” Cairngorm Capital’s Neil McGill explained. “The combination of award winning technology, high quality advice, and an exceptional management team ensures that the Verso Group is well placed to capitalize on this.”
Founded in 2015 and making its Finovate debut three years later in Dubai, Munnypot was developed to serve both mass market investors who struggle to secure traditional financial advice, as well as existing investors looking for a goal-based, low-cost, digital alternative. Munnypot offers Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), General Investment Accounts (GIAs), and Junior ISAs (JISAs) that enable parents to make investments on behalf of their children. Designed for investment and savings goals that are at least five years in the future, Munnypot analyzes the investor’s objectives and other key details to provide tailored advice on the most suitable investment plan to meet those goals
The new firm will be run by Munnypot CEO Andrew Fay and Managing Director Simon Redgrove, who will take identical positions in leadership for Verso. Also joining Verso’s executive ranks will be Whitefoord Chief Executive Vince Whitefoord who will lead the firm’s discretionary investment management business. Verso will operate as a combination of human expertise from its client advisors and investment professionals with an automated investment advice capability. This approach is designed to appeal to a broader range of potential customers, including small savers and those new to equity investing.
“Verso will make it far easier for advisors to maximize efficiency, reduce compliance risk and increase revenue,” Fay said. “Our goal is to become the leading digitally driven IFA consolidator and there’s no limit to our ambition.”
Mortgagetech innovator Blend is the latest fintech to go public. The company, which unveiled its “data-driven mortgage” solution in its Finovate debut five years ago, made its debut as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange last week under the ticker BLND. Blend raised $360 million in the IPO, earning a valuation of $4 billion.
In a blog post, Blend CEO and co-founder Nima Ghamsari reflected on the irony of launching a mortgagetech business “out of the ashes of the great recession” in 2012. The goal then was to build a solution that leveraged technology and data to made financial services simpler and more transparent, specifically in the “complex and paper-based” mortgage process. Since then, the company has expanded its product portfolio beyond mortgages to include initially home equity loans and lines of credit, before helping streamline origination workflows for financing products ranging from personal loans and credit cards to deposit accounts. This expansion has allowed Blend to enable its financial institution clients to cross-sell personalized offers and services to their customers and members.
“At every step of our journey, our customers have asked us to build more,” Ghamsari wrote. “That’s why this moment means so much to me and everyone at Blend.
A winner of the NAFCU Services 2021 Innovation Award for Best Digital Lending Platform in June, Blend facilitated more than $1 trillion in loans in 2020, an increase of 2x over the previous year. The company also introduced a variety of new platform features in 2020 including a new loss mitigation workflow for homeowners, and a digital portal to process PPP loans. Blend currently has more than 290 lender partners, representing 30% of all mortgage volume in the U.S.
In addition to its debut at FinovateSpring in 2016, Blend is also an alum of our developer’s conference, FinDEVr. At the event, the company’s technical team showed the thinking behind the design of its platform including the importance of automated workflows, data connectivity, and innovation by design.
Financial superapp Revolutsecured $800 million in funding this week. Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global were the investors in the Series E round, which gave the London-based fintech a valuation of $33 billion. Both Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global are new investors to the company.
Company founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky said that the investment was an endorsement of Revolut’s goal of building a “global financial superapp” that enables users to meet all of their financial needs via a single platform. “We want our global superapp to offer our customers 10x better value and 10x better service and security than they can achieve anywhere else,” Storonsky said. He emphasized the value of personalization in delivering a superior customer experience, as well as the importance of transparency and keeping costs low.
Storonsky also noted that the investment makes Revolut the most highly-valued fintech in the U.K. which he said “demonstrat(ed) investors confidence that we can deliver products that raise the bar for customers’ expectations across the whole financial services industry.”
Since demonstrating its personal money cloud at FinovateEurope in 2015 and making its name as a money transfer and exchange specialist, Revolut has grown into a multi-service fintech company with more than 16 million personal and business customers around the world. The company offers wealth management, spending, and payments solutions for individuals; and gives business owners tools and services ranging from smart company cards to multi-currency accounts with support for more than 28 different currencies.
The Indian payments industry continues to be one of the most vibrant aspects of fintech in the country.
This week we learned that two of India’s bigger rivals in the payments space – Paytm and MobiKwik – are taking their businesses to the public markets. MobiKwik will seek to raise $255 million in its initial public offering, while Paytm announced plans to raise $2.2 billion when it offers shares to the public.
Paytm, one of the most highly-valued startups in India, was founded in 2009 to enable consumers to make digital payments from their phones. The company currently operates a payments gateway, an e-commerce marketplace, and also offers products and services like ticket booking, insurance, and digital gold. Led by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm plans to use the capital from the IPO – and from a pre-IPO round the company is discussing with Goldman Sachs and Fidelity – to add to its payments offering, explore acquisitions, and launch new initiatives.
MobiKwik offers a mobile wallet service that enables users to make digital payments and, like Paytm, also helps consumer secure insurance products and access personal financing. With more than 101 million registered users, MobiKwik also offers credit cards courtesy of a partnership with American Express. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Gurgaon, India, MobiKwik includes both Sequoia Capital India and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its investors.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Central and Eastern Europe
Germany financial consultancy Fonds Finanz partnered with digital asset manager Growney to launch a roboadvisor, Comfort Invest.
American Express is getting into the financial planning business – and has partnered with Finovate alum BodesWell do help them do it.
TechCrunch reported today that Amex has launched a pilot of a self-service, digital financial solution called My Financial Plan to a group of 25,000 American Express card holders. The solution was developed in collaboration with BodesWell, whose technology enables banks, insurance companies, and financial advisors to empower their customers and clients to build their own financial plans.
BodesWell’s solution leverages an easy, drag-and-drop interface to support self-directed financial planning. Users have the ability to see income level projections, understand the impact of financially-significant life events like buying a house or sending a child to college, and receive advice and suggestions from Mentor Messages to help them adjust and improve their financial plans and meet their goals.
Making financial planning a part of a company’s financial services offering is an helpful response to the lack of financial planning for many families; BodesWell estimates that 85 million U.S. households do not have a financial planner. But in addition to supporting financial wellness and inclusion by adding financial planning services to their offering, BodesWell partners also benefit from “precious insights into their customers financial needs,” as BodesWell CEO Matthew Bellows pointed out earlier this year at FinovateSpring. This enables companies to better prioritize product development, research acquisition and retention strategies, as well as more accurately target products for revenue-generating up- and cross-sell opportunities.
“When we launched BodesWell at Finovate 2019 we made a promise to you,” Bellows said during his company’s Finovate appearance earlier this year, “we promised that we could provide digital financial planning to millions of Americans who don’t already have a financial planner.” News of the company’s partnership with American Express today is early evidence of promises kept.
Days after Bloomberg News reported that Apple will add Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) functionality to Apple Pay, we learn that Buy Now Pay Later “OG” Sezzle has received an investment of $30 million from Discover. And not only will Discover make a financial commitment to the company, which most recently demonstrated its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall in 2018, Discover also entered into an agreement that will enable the card company launch a Buy Now Pay Later service on its own Discover Global Network.
“We are excited about our relationship with Discover, as we believe our mission, vision, and values align,” Sezzle CEO and Executive Chairman Charlie Youakim said. “Discover’s capabilities via their network and financial products will enhance our own offerings and provide more paths to financially empower our consumers.”
Today’s announcement is also the fruit of an agreement inked back in February that enabled Sezzle to work with selected merchants on the Discover Global Network. Discover SVP of Global Business Development and Acceptance Jason Hanson underscored the benefit that BNPL provides to its merchant partners, and also noted that the partnership would boost Sezzle’s ability to “grow its business and provide new payment opportunities.” To this end, as part of the collaboration, Sezzle also will join a dedicated referral program that will introduce Discover’s credit and debit card products to its customers.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sezzle enables consumers to make purchases at more than 34,000 participating retailers, and pay for those purchases in four, interest-free installments over six weeks. Approval decisions are available instantly, and using Sezzle has no impact on the consumer’s credit.
The explosion in interest in Buy Now Pay Later payment schemes has been a boon for companies like Sezzle that were helping consumers shop today and pay tomorrow before it was cool. Last month, Sezzle announced partnerships with Target and Barstool Sports, and the company continues to affirm its plans for an initial public offering in the U.S. – having launched publicly on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 2019.
M1 Finance, which offers a financial super app featuring automated investing, lending, and banking services, has secured $150 million in Series E funding. The round was led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and takes the company’s total capital to more than $300 million. The Chicago, Illinois-based fintech now has a valuation of $1.6 billion, giving the firm “unicorn” status.
In its funding announcement, M1 Finance noted that the investment will help the company develop and deliver new products and features, continue to innovate on its platform, and expand its workforce. The Series E, which featured the participation of existing investors, as well, comes after a year in which the M1 Finance launched a trio of new solutions – Send Check, Custodial Accounts, and Smart Transfers – and reached more than $4.5 billion in total assets under management.
“Each funding round is proof and motivation that people believe in our mission of empowering financial well-being,” M1 Finance founder and CEO Brian Barnes said. “Financial well-being isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Our platform helps people have more control, more freedom, and more power over their money. We experienced massive growth in the past year, and it’s extremely gratifying to see investors and clients believe in our vision and make it a reality.”
A Finovate alum since its debut at FinovateFall in 2016, M1 Finance combines the ability to build and maintain a personalized, automated investment portfolio – including access to fractional share investing – with a flexible line of credit and a digital banking service integrated into the user’s investment portfolio. M1 Finance offers both a free Basic program as well as a Plus program for $125/year (with the first year free) that has a lower borrowing rate, 1% cash back on spending, and access to Smart Transfers, Custodial Accounts, and Send Check functionality.
“M1 Finance simplifies the complex, time-consuming money management process for individuals,” SoftBank Investment Advisers Managing Partner Munish Varma said. “We believe the company is well-positioned to consolidate users’ financial lives on a one-stop super-app with its Invest, Spend, and Borrow products.”
If you had “Apple” on your bingo card as the next Big Tech company to edge its way deeper into fintech territory, congratulations! Bloomberg News reported this week that Apple’s Apple Pay solution will gain Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) functionality – enabling consumers using Apple Pay to pay for purchases in interest-free installments.
The new service will leverage Apple’s partnership with Goldman Sachs – Apple’s credit card partner since 2019 – to facilitate what will reportedly be called Apple Pay Later. And while it is clear that Apple is taking advantage of one of the hottest retail trends in years, it is worth noting that Apple has ventured into installment payment territory before. Apple consumers can use their Apple Card to buy designated products in the Apple store and pay via monthly, no-interest payments. Apple cardholders also have been able to buy iPhones in 24 monthly installments with zero interest since shortly after the cards were launched in August of 2019.
According to Bloomberg, when users make purchases on their Apple device using Apple Pay, the service will enable users to pay either with four, interest-free payments made every two weeks, or over several months with interest charged. Neither Goldman Sachs nor Apple have responded to the Bloomberg report.
Fueled by powerful technology trends making online and mobile commerce easier for a new generation of consumers – as well as a low-interest rate economy – Buy Now Pay Later has grown to account for more than 2% of all ecommerce transactions around the world, according to a report from Worldpay. This growth is expected to accelerate by as much as 2x by 2024. In the United States, $20 billion worth of e-commerce transactions in 2019 used BNPL payment structures.
How will Apple’s arrival as a Buy Now Pay Later competitor impact the rest of the field of Klarna, Affirm, Splitit, Afterpay, Sezzle, and so many others? Is there enough room for growth in the BNPL market for multiple players to succeed before competition between them starts to intensify? For now, it is traditional credit card companies that have the most to lose from the rise of BNPL, as Millennials who came of age during the Great Recession continue to shun interest-charging payment methods, and Generation Z consumers grow up in a world in which Buy Now Pay Later options are not just available, but increasingly commonplace.
Our Women in Fintech Series returns with an interview featuring Izabella Gabowicz, Chief Operating Officer of Sensibill.
An innovator in the field of SKU-level data insights,Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based Sensibill made its Finovate debut in 2017 at FinovateFall. At the event, the company won Best of Show for its Insights solution that helps institutions identify and act upon revenue opportunities from on- and off-card purchase data.
We caught up with Izabella Gabowicz to talk about her work with Sensibill, the importance of achieving a work-life balance, and why everyone benefits when women have a seat at the table when decisions are being made.
Tell us about yourself.
Izabella Gabowicz: I graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Cognitive Science and AI, and I joined IBM as a developer in 2001. During my 14 years at IBM, I had the opportunity to work in the airline, banking, and telecommunication industries, improving customer and employee experiences via technology and processes, as well as normalizing data and interfaces to connect disparate systems across enterprises.
The lessons I learned from IBM, such as the importance of value creation, helped me transition into my next role at Sensibill where I became one of the founding team members. Moving from a global organization of a few hundred thousand to a startup of five was energizing. I contributed to product strategy, built client relationships and our client success division from zero, as well as shaped the company’s vision and organizational structure. Today, as COO, I’ve been directly involved in finalizing agreements and rolling out technology to large financial institutions and core banking providers. It’s been a rollercoaster ride, but an incredibly rewarding one.
When I’m not working, you’ll find me trying to stay physically active, which is often outside in nature where I feel connected. I enjoy spending time with my family — whether that’s weekly dinners with my parents or walking through a nearby creek with my daughters. Over the years, I’ve learned the importance of making time to “refill my cup” in order to show up as my best self at work, while also approaching each new phase of my career as a learning opportunity.
What are some tips for balancing work and life?
Gabowicz: The reality is you can’t do that perfectly, and that’s okay. There’s this myth that successful women always have it all together, and that holds us back because we keep believing we should be able to do it all, all the time. Instead, let’s accept the fact that everything is a series of trade-offs. On the days that I’m pitching to an important client, I’m looking at a messy house – or my parents are helping with childcare so I can travel for business, or my partner is making me dinner when I’m putting in longer days to negotiate an agreement. Sometimes I get the balance right, sometimes I don’t. But giving myself permission to drop some of the balls I’m juggling from time to time and being kind to myself when they do has been game changing.
Why is it important for women to have a seat at the table?
Gabowicz: Businesses need to have decision-makers who reflect and represent the people they serve, which is why it’s critical for women to also be part of the teams making the decisions – at each level. While this concept hasn’t been successfully done at the top levels, technology companies are becoming more mindful of their efforts to be inclusive. Financial institutions have, however, made huge strides in including women – from the working teams that are designing the customer journeys and the leadership teams that are choosing the initiatives to be prioritized, to the board and executives who identify the strategic direction, mission, and corporate objectives. When you belong to the group that is being targeted for a product and/or service, often it can be easier to empathize with their needs and understand them. And since half of the population are women, having a seat at the table is that much more important.
For women who have a seat at the table, be yourself. There are so many of us who feel as if we have to be reserved and polished to be seen as respectable professionals. But I argue that women can be respected because of the concepts and thoughts they bring to the table, as well as their competence, while still feeling empowered to be themselves. And that might include being a little quirky and awkward at times, but that’s okay.
How can women having a seat at the table help drive personalization?
Gabowicz: The key to personalization is to avoid thinking of everyone in any targeted group as having the same thoughts, valuing the same things, and having all the same needs. To humanize the experience, we need to look at customers as microsegments. That requires analyzing additional data, aside from demographics, to inform messaging and advice. Harnessing deeper, contextual data like SKU-level insights can reveal interests, lifestyles, spending habits, and behaviors. This alternative data enables the financial institution to speak to customers on an individual level using language, messaging, and imagery that’s relevant to them, creating an emotionally compelling experience where the customer feels listened to and understood.
How can financial institutions benefit from harnessing SKU-level data?
Gabowicz: People typically don’t buy products for the sake of making a purchase; they buy them to solve a problem or satisfy a need. A financial institution has a myriad of products it can offer to its customers, involving cards, investments, loans, and so on. But the uptake won’t be there unless the institution is presenting an offer that is personalized, meaningful, and compelling to their customers, at the right time to fit their unique financial needs. If the 360-degree view of a customer is only looking at their interaction patterns, but not the details of their spending and expenses, then there is a lot of rich information being left on the table.
Such details can help pinpoint micro-moments and tailor messages that attract and retain customers. For example, the bank or credit union might see two customers spend $100 at Costco, but SKU-level data can reveal customer A might be an expecting mother and B a small business owner. Messages and interactions will need to be personalized for individual financial needs, which can look very different person to person.
What advice would you share for women professionals looking to break into the field?
Gabowicz: What’s exciting to me about technology today is that “business” and “technology” are no longer separate. It’s not sufficient to build software that just meets basic requirements. There must be value created, the experience must be compelling, and companies must consider how they position the innovation in the market, onboard users, and explain its value proposition. Today’s technology jobs are not limited to writing code but can include designing the user experience, architecting systems, creating go-to-market plans, and more.
Future professionals should not shortchange any industry experience they have already amassed, but consider how they can leverage and sell it when looking for opportunities in tech. People are graduating every day with computer science and engineering degrees, and they need to work with talented professionals who can help them build products that serve the needs of all people. Together, they can create AI algorithms that are less susceptible to bias, considering all types of people in the training set.
As I think about my professional journey, I’ve learned the following:
There is substantial value in learning and growing — anything can be attainable, and there are always multiple paths to any one destination.
We’re all humans, which means we need connection, empathy, space to be ourselves, ease, and convenience. This knowledge can apply to building solutions for customers, fostering diversity in the workforce, or encouraging women building their careers to be as kind to themselves as they are to others.
And lastly, outcomes matter. You need to consider both data and behavioral psychology when building strategies to drive value and generate results that make a difference.
Connectivity and financial data enhancement innovator MXlaunched a new suite of financial insights APIs and embeddable user interfaces this week. The APIs will enable developers to quickly and securely bring MX-powered financial data into their solutions, helping companies pursue their open finance initiatives. MX also noted in their announcement that their offering will help firms accelerate time-to-market for financial wellness products – with personalized smart recommendations and insights built into the company’s app or website.
The API integrations and widgets now available enable companies to enjoy the benefits of MX-powered financial data without requiring them to build their own front-end solution. The embedded nature of the offering allows developers to add widgets to mobile banking and shopping apps, for example, without having to make major changes to the overall app or user experience.
“MX APIs and widgets make it easy for any company to embed financial insights and wellness tools into their current products and services,” MX Chief Product Officer Brett Allred said. “We’re making data-driven financial wellness tools more available and scalable than ever before by giving developers an easier and more secure way to connect financial data and help build products that power new money experiences for customers.”
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Lehi, Utah, MX began the year with a $300 million Series C funding round that gave the company a valuation of $1.9 billion. Since then, the multiple-time Finovate Best of Show winner has forged partnerships with banks and credit unions including Libro Credit Union, First Hawaiian Bank, and AbbyBank. MX also this year has teamed up with Viva First to help the digital bank promote financial wellness in the Latino community. In April, MX collaborated with Moov to bring faster account verification to fintechs.
MX currently connects more than 16,000 financial institutions and fintechs with its data connectivity network. The company powers 85% of digital banking providers, as well as thousands of banks, credit unions, and fintechs, reaching more than 200 million financial services customers. Ryan Caldwell is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.
This week’s Partnership Outlook focuses on recent Finovate alum – and Best of Show winner – Finzly. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based fintech announced that it will work with ICBA Bancard to bring instant payments to its payments hub, Payment Galaxy. ICBA Bancard is the payments services subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), and the partnership with Finzly will enable the company to offer community banks and credit unions – as well as their customers and members – more efficiency and convenience, as well as improved cash flow.
“The rise in digital and contactless payments, fueled by the pandemic, has heightened demand for faster payments,” ICBA Bancard President and CEO Tina Giorgio said. “Through this collaboration, ICBA Bancard is helping community banks deliver payments when and where customers want while streamlining their payment processes for additional value and distinction in the market.”
Finzly’s Payment Gateway features preloaded connections to both the Fed and The Clearing House to support instant payments; built-in compliance tools for powerful, thorough audit trails; a bulk payment service for both real-time and future-date scheduling disbursements; and a secure, fraud management system for both payments and messages.
“Finzly’s payments hub not only helps banks stay relevant in today’s fast-paced market, but also helps future-proof their payment infrastructure,” Finzly founder and CEO Booshan Rengachari said. “We are very excited to partner with ICBA Bancard and are eager to see more community banks pursuing the road to innovation through smarter payments transformation.”
Most recently demonstrating its technology at FinovateWest 2020, Finzly took home Best of Show honors for its demonstration of its Digital Account Opening (DAO) solution, powered by Finzly’s BankOS. In the months since then, the company has teamed up with Pacific Western Bank, which selected Finzly’s FX STAR platform for end-to-end management of international banking products, and announced a strategic partnership with Fintel Connect, a performance marketing company specializing in financial services companies and fintechs. The Finzly-Fintel alliance will create a digital growth solution for bank partners, enabling them to meet growing customer demand for digital services and provide alternatives to in-person, in-branch services.
“Banks that rely on Finzly’s modern offerings really want help with digital marketing,” Finzly Chief Strategy Officer and advisor Dave Hunkele. “Fintel Connect provides our clients with a cost-effective, digital channel for attracting potential customers, who can then be onboarded through Finzly’s account opening solution.
Other major partnerships this year for a very-busy Finzly have included collaborations with California Community Banking Network and Fulton Bank, both announced in March. The company began the year with news that it had joined the pilot program for Federal Reserve’s FedNow instant payment service. Finzly was founded in 2012.
Six years after its launch, Danish fintech Pleo has become Europe’s latest fintech unicorn.
The smart company card provider announced early this week that it had raised $150 million in Series C funding – the largest Series C round for a Danish company to date – earning a valuation of $1.7 billion in the process. The new capital, according to CEO and co-founder Jeppe Rindom, will help scale the business and “ramp up” the company’s product offering. Pleo will also look at opportunities for market expansion, both by entering new markets as well as “doubling down” on the markets that Pleo is already active in.
“While this investment round is taking Pleo to new heights,” Rindom noted in a post on the company’s blog this week, “our core mission remains the same: to make everyone feel valued at work. Since day one, we’ve been committed to creating a spending solution that encourages a work culture built on trust and transparency, instead of overwhelming control and needless bureaucracy.”
More than 17,000 companies from a variety of industries rely on Pleo’s smart company cards that automate expense reports and make company spending easier. Pleo integrates seamlessly with major accounting software packages – including Xero, Sage and Quickbooks – and features three pricing tiers, Essential, Pro, and Premium – to make its technology accessible to small companies as well as bigger firms with larger teams.
The Series C round was co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and Thrive Capital. Existing investors Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes, and Seedcamp also contributed.
Our other international fintech funding news story centers on Finovate alum Lidya, a digital bank based in Nigeria that announced receiving an investment of $8.3 million this week. Lidya, which made its Finovate debut at our fall conference in 2016, helps small and medium-sized businesses quickly secure the financing they need in order to grow and expand.
Companies can build a profile in just five minutes, select the type of loan that works best for them, and secure financing within 24 hours. Lidya’s credit scoring technology, Sardis, leverages machine learning, a proprietary algorithmic model, and an analysis of more than 1,000 data points to build a credit profile and establish creditworthiness.
“A customer repeat rate of over 90% in Nigeria and Europe shows that we are providing the services that SMEs need,” Lidya co-founder and CEO Tunde Kehinde explained. “At the height of the pandemic, we started lending in Europe. It was an important means of financial support for multi-sectoral businesses, including care, groceries and other important sectors. Multi-sectoral businesses. When the world began to emerge from this crisis, we were innovative. We are committed to enabling a strong ecosystem of leading SMEs with our products, unlocking their potential and helping the growing economy rebuild better. “
The pre-Series B Funding round was led by Alitheia Capital (by way of the uMunthu Fund) and featured participation from Bamboo Capital Partners, Accion Venture Lab, and Flourish Ventures. Lidya has operations in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as Nigeria, and manages a technical team in Portugal. The company has raised a total of $16.5 million.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Kenyan digital savings app Koa announced a partnership with Britam Asset Managers to enable investment services.
The tech-first alums of our FinDEVr developers conferences are often as savvy fundraisers as they are sharp technologists. This week in our Q2 Alum Funding Report, we noted that two of the quarter’s biggest fundraisings were from companies that made their Finovate debuts at FinDEVr events: Brazilian neobank NuBank, which secured $750 million in funding in June, and financial data network Plaid, which raised $425 million in funding in April.
This week, we add another FinDEVr alum to this list. LoanPro, a Farmington, Utah-based fintech that made its FinDEVr debut earlier this year, has raised $100 million in Series A funding. The growth equity investment comes courtesy of FTV Capital, and will help LoanPro add to its SaaS-based loan management, servicing, and collections platform, as well as enter new lending verticals and make investments in other “client-centric growth initiatives.”
“As founders who started out as lenders, we understand the pain points that lenders experience,” LoanPro co-founder and CEO Rhett Roberts explained. “LoanPro was built by lenders for lenders – we use a modern tech stack to simplify the user experience of managing loans – we do the hard work on the back end to make the front end clean and simple to use.”
With more than $15 billion of loans under management and 600+ clients in the U.S. and Canada, LoanPro offers a diverse range of loans types and lending programs. The company’s product suite include prime, sub-prime, and personal loan products, as well as consumer, auto, and business financing solutions. LoanPro also offers point-of-sale financing and the retail financing rage of the day – buy now pay later payment options – as well. LoanPro’s platform gives lenders an automated, configurable workflow, real-time access to data and insights, frictionless payment collections, and a flexible lending program.
In addition to the financial support, FTV Capital will use its market knowledge and strategic network to help grow LoanPro’s platform. The firm’s Robert Anderson, who led the investment, will join LoanPro’s board of directors.
“FTV Capital is excited to partner with LoanPro’s strong, passionate leadership team who have built an industry leading SaaS platform based on a deep understanding of their market and the needs of their customers,” Anderson said.
