Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Crastorehill Acquires Open Banking Players Qwist and ndgit

Crastorehill Acquires Open Banking Players Qwist and ndgit
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, NDGIT
  • Crastorehill is acquiring two Germany-based open banking players, ndgit and Qwist.
  • Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Crastorehill has appointed Matt Colebourne as CEO.

Fintech Capital-owned Crastorehill announced this week it has acquired two German open banking players, ndgit and Qwist (formerly known as finleap). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Warsaw-based Crastorehill builds data analytics products for financial services. The company’s strategy hinges on acquiring other open banking providers to help enhance its product suite, geographical coverage, as well as its big data and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Crastorehill is making the acquisition in anticipation of the European Union’s pending PSD3 regulation. PSD3 is an advancement of PSD2 and is expected to accelerate the proliferation of open banking based products.

As part of today’s announcement, Crastorehill unveiled it has appointed Matt Colebourne as CEO. Colebourne is Chair of ecommerce technology company Visii and former CEO of Searchmetrics.

“Open standards, in almost any technological or regulated area, create the opportunity to solve previously insoluble problems, to do things faster, more easily and more cheaply,” said Colebourne. “Much as the internet ushered in a previously inconceivable plethora of new ways to interact, transact and research, the rise of open banking will enable new ways to assess risk, verify identity, understand macro-economic behaviour and enable faster, easier interaction for consumers. I’m excited to join Crastorehill at a time when we have the opportunity to lead this transformation and grow.”

Photo by Vie Studio

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Apiture Garners $10 Million in Funding

Apiture Garners $10 Million in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Apiture, Daily news, Funding
  • Apiture received $10 million in funding, bringing its total raised to $79 million.
  • The round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price with participation from existing investors.
  • Apiture offers credit unions access to a digital banking platform that ties in partnerships with more than 300 fintechs.

Digital banking solutions provider Apiture landed a $10 million funding round this week. The Venture round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price with participation from existing investors Live Oak Bank, Truist Ventures, and Pinnacle Financial Partners. The fresh funds boost Apiture’s total funding to $79 million.

The Wilmington, North Carolina-based company will use the $10 million to accelerate product development initiatives. It will also expand its sales and marketing efforts for its Apiture Digital Banking Platform. Launched last year, the company’s Digital Banking Platform serves more than 300 banks and credit unions.

“Apiture is relentlessly focused on delivering best-in-class digital banking solutions through continuous innovation and integrations with best-of-breed fintechs,” said company CEO Chris Babcock. “This additional funding enables us to further accelerate development initiatives that will help our clients thrive in a highly competitive market.”

Founded in 2017, Apiture helps credit unions compete with larger banks and credit unions when it comes to digital banking experiences. The company’s solutions, which work with more than 40 cores, offer both consumer and commercial banking experiences, along with account opening, embedded banking, and data intelligence tools. Powering these capabilities are Apiture’s network of more than 200 pre-vetted fintech partners, including Glia, Deluxe, MX, Mambu, and DefenseStorm, which signed with Apiture earlier this month.

Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Acorns Launches Celebrity-Backed Debit Card

Acorns Launches Celebrity-Backed Debit Card
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Acorns is expanding beyond automated savings and investing this week. The California-based company announced the launch of the Mighty Oak Debit Card in partnership with actor Dwayne Johnson.

The new metal payment card is issued by Lincoln Savings Bank or nbkc bank and offers cardholders a few unique features. Not surprisingly, the Mighty Oak Debit Card allows users to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar and invest the spare change with the Real-Time Round-Ups feature. The card also offers paycheck split, which automatically saves and invests a portion of every paycheck on payday.

The card, which doesn’t have any minimum deposit or balance requirements, pays users 3.00% APY on their checking accounts and 5.00% APY on their savings. Users will also have access to Acorns Later, the fintech’s IRA retirement savings tool, as well as investment rewards earned on everyday purchases and access to 55,000 fee-free ATMs.

Dwayne Johnson is not only a celebrity sponsor, but he is also an investor in Acorns Grow Incorporated and is a director of its affiliate Acorns Labs, LLC.

“I’m personally invested in helping and rooting for people to achieve financial stability and success,” said Johnson. “I’ve worked with Acorns to create a one of a kind card that makes it easy for people to prioritize saving and investing so they can build a solid foundation for their future. I’ve been there, and know what it’s like to count every dollar and save every cent possible to provide for my family and myself. I wish I had the Mighty Oak card back in the struggling and fun days when I had only $7 bucks in my pocket, which is why I helped create this card now to empower people to take control of their financial well-being.”

The Mighty Oak Debit Card is available starting today for users in the $5 per month and $9 per month subscription tiers. Acorns is promoting the card by giving away $50,000 to seven cardholders.

Photo by Yulia Ilina

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Landsbankinn Selects Meniga to Bring Open Banking Capabilities to Iceland

Landsbankinn Selects Meniga to Bring Open Banking Capabilities to Iceland
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Meniga
  • Iceland-based Landsbankinn has selected Meniga to help it offer open banking amenities to its customers.
  • With Meniga’s help, the bank will offer both Payment Initiation Services and an Aggregation Service.
  • Meniga is calling the offerings a “breakthrough” when it comes to open banking developments in Iceland.

Iceland’s largest bank, Landsbankinn, is embracing open banking in its newest partnership with Meniga. The bank has tapped the digital banking platform to offer Payment Initiation Services (PIS) and an Aggregation Service (AIS).

The PIS will help the bank’s customers initiate funds transfers to other Icelandic banks without having to leave the Landsbankinn app. With the AIS, customers can use the bank’s app to see an aggregated view of their accounts across other banks in Iceland. Since the AIS places all of a customer’s financial information in one location, it makes it easier for them to manage their finances.

“By collaborating with Meniga, we are not only simplifying and enhancing the banking experience for our customers but also contributing to the modernization of banking in Iceland,” said Landsbankinn CEO Lilja Björk Einarsdóttir. “The launch of PSD2/Open Banking services reinforces our commitment to delivering the best financial solutions and options to our customers.”

Introducing Icelandic citizens to open banking seems like a big step for such a small nation. However, Iceland has a leg up over other regions because of its small size. The country has only three commercial bank and one investment bank, making it easier for all banks to agree on a communication protocol.

Meniga notes Landsbankinn’s offerings as a “breakthrough” when it comes to open banking developments in Iceland. Björk Einarsdóttir agrees. “We are excited to offer our customers these innovative services, which mark a pivotal moment in the Icelandic banking industry,” she said.

London-based Meniga, which was originally headquartered in Iceland, said that the partnership broadens its global reach. The fintech was founded in 2009 and powers banking apps for more than 165 banks across the globe, reaching more than 90 million people in 30+ countries. Among Meniga’s other offerings are tools such as data management, PFM, and cashflow analysis; as well as cashback rewards, carbon footprint tracking, and market insights.

Meniga’s current CEO Raj Soni took the reins from Simon Shorthose last year. Shorthose was brought in in August of 2022 to replace Co-founder Georg Ludviksson, who had served as CEO for 14 years.

Photo by Tomáš Malík

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

BMO Launches PFM Tools and Advice

BMO Launches PFM Tools and Advice
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • BMO has launched a Real Financial Progress Hub.
  • The bank uses the hub to guide customers through financial topics and recommend products.
  • The launch comes after two standalone PFM tools have recently shut down.

BMO revealed this week it has launched personal financial management tools for its clients. The digital resource, called the Real Financial Progress Hub, will offer personal finance advice, tools, and resources to help customers reach their financial goals.

“For the first time, our customers can explore any financial goal and even multiple goals at once – whether it’s budgeting, saving, homebuying, retiring, building credit and more – from one easy-to-navigate digital platform. We have brought all of our personal finance resources into one convenient spot to make financial progress easier,” said BMO Head of U.S. Customer Strategy Paul Dilda. “As we welcome new customers across the Western United States to BMO, we are proud to bring them our innovative products and services that were built with customers’ progress in mind.”

Among the tools available are expense management education, monthly expense tracking, advice for planning larger purchases, and tools to help users understand credit. The Real Financial Progress Hub offers BMO a channel to promote its own accounts, products, and services to less financially savvy customers while acting as a financial guide.

The launch comes at an interesting time. Two independent PFM sites have shut down so far this month, indicating a lack of consumer interest for standalone budgeting tools.

However, just because consumers don’t want to think about budgeting, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t. Consumers are digging into their savings are leveraging credit at higher rates than before, and according to CNBC, Gen Z consumers are less into retiring early and more into what they call “soft saving.”

BMO’s free tool is currently live and available to its digital banking users.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

OakNorth Launches Business Banking Offering

OakNorth Launches Business Banking Offering
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • OakNorth announced the Beta launch of its business banking tools to serve medium-sized businesses.
  • The neobank is taking a high-touch approach by assigning an OakNorth team member to understand each client’s business and bring them the specific set of tools they need.
  • OakNorth calls itself, “the neobank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.”

U.K.-based neobank OakNorth announced the Beta launch of its business banking offering this week. The tools are specifically aimed to serve mid-sized businesses in sectors that traditional lenders often overlook.

With its current offerings, OakNorth underwrites risk on these underserved businesses by leveraging commercial loan data that covers over 270 industries. This data-driven approach allows the company to serve a wider range of sectors and subsectors than traditional banks tend to serve.

OakNorth’s new business banking tools target the underserved group with a high-touch approach that will offer a simplified list of products and services suited to each business’ needs. To do this, the company will assign an OakNorth employee to engage with a business’ founders, CFOs, CEOs, and directors to understand their business and assess features that best suit the client. The aim of this approach is to eliminate noise caused by irrelevant products and features while offering the ability to scale as the business grows.

“OakNorth’s mission is to serve and empower businesses in the Missing Middle, ensuring each and every one of them has the right tools, insights, and support at every stage of their growth journey with us,” said OakNorth Co-founder and CEO Rishi Khosla. “We know from the last eight years of serving our customers that they don’t feel their banking needs are being met by incumbents or other neobanks. They continue to be overlooked and underserved, despite the significant contribution they make to the economy and local communities in terms of productivity, innovation, job creation, and GDP growth. Given ongoing economic challenges, it is essential that these businesses have the right banking partner to support them, and we are excited to step up to fill this need.”

OakNorth was launched in 2015 and calls itself, “the neobank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.” The U.K.-based company has raised $1 billion across nine rounds of funding. OakNorth’s most recent equity round took place in 2019 when it received $440 million in a round led by Softbank Vision Fund.

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

An Overview of the Native American Fintech Scene

An Overview of the Native American Fintech Scene
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Thought Leadership

To celebrate the start of Native American Heritage month, we wanted to highlight the current landscape of the Native American fintech scene. There’s one problem– while the culture of Native Americans in the U.S. is vibrant and alive at the moment, tools to serve this group’s unique financial needs are not.

There are, however, a handful of organizations to highlight in this space.

Totem

Totem is currently the only fintech aimed at specifically serving indigenous people. The startup was founded in 2022 as a digital bank to serve Native Americans. The app not only offers direct deposit and a debit card, but also serves as a place where users can search information on tribal benefits and programs.

Native American Venture Fund

The Native American Venture Fund is a platform that offers impact investment opportunities to investors looking to support indigenous communities. The firm’s goal is “to leverage a tribe’s economic and legal advantages to develop and operate successful business enterprises and provide job opportunities for tribal members and the local community workforce.”

KeyBank’s Tribal-Specific Banking

KeyBank is very intentional in the way it serves its Native American clients. The Ohio-headquartered bank has a specific team to offer credit, treasury management, capital markets, investment management and public finance products to tribal nations.

First Nations Financial Management Board

While not in the U.S., Canada-based First Nations Financial Management Board allows indigenous people to be eligible to borrow at similar rates and terms as other governments in Canada. It also allows tribes to use different revenue streams like taxation, government transfers, and economic development as security for borrowing under the FMA.

Banks and Credit Unions

In addition to these financial services organizations, there are a small handful of banks and credit unions serving First Nations communities. Earlier this year, NerdWallet published a blog post listing 30 U.S.-based financial institutions.

Why the lack of tools and services?

This list needs some work. There are currently 574 Native American tribes and Native Alaskan villages that are spread out across cities and the 326 federally recognized Indian reservations. Most Native Americans have severely limited access to traditional financial services and rely on clunky websites and paper-based processes to receive and maintain benefits. As an example, I own a home that I rent out to a Native American family. Eight family members live in the home, and they pay their rent each month using four separate U.S. Postal Service money orders.

There are two main drivers behind the lack of credit opportunities, resources, and education for Native Americans. First, most Native Americans and tribal units are not wealthy. If a fintech wanted to serve this group’s particular needs, it may be difficult to monetize and scale. Second, each tribe has its own unique culture and many tribes also have their own constitution. What’s more, different tribal members receive unique sets of financial benefits and resources, which can be difficult to track and manage without the proper tools. Building one solution to fit all tribes’ needs would be a challenge. Can fintech do better?

Photo by RDNE Stock project

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

More PFM Shakeup: Status Money Shuts its Doors

More PFM Shakeup: Status Money Shuts its Doors
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Status Money
  • Peer comparison PFM Status Money is shutting down and has transferred its users to Quicken Simplifi.
  • Starting November 10, the Status Money website and app will no longer be available.
  • Status Money’s closing comes a week after Mint announced it will close its doors at the end of the year.

While many in the fintech industry are still processing Mint’s departure from the fintech scene, there appears to be more shakeup in the PFM world this morning. Budgeting service and social personal finance app Status Money has notified its users that it is shutting down.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to providing you with the tools you need to get ahead financially, we will be transitioning our member accounts, including yours, over to Quicken Simplifi,” the company said in an announcement on its website.

Status Money was founded in 2016 to help users aggregate, track, and manage their entire financial lives and compare their financial standing with their peers. This peer comparison capability stood out as Status Money’s differentiating factor. The feature allowed users to compare their spending in specific categories to others by age, zip code, and income level.

The New York-based company’s other tools allowed users to set goals and participate in discussions with other users. In 2020, the company launched a $20 per month premium tier that allowed users to chat with a financial advisor on a monthly basis.

Starting November 10, however, the Status Money website and app will no longer be available, but users will be able to use their existing credentials to log into Quicken’s Simplifi budgeting tool, which costs around $3 per month. Status Money has transferred each user’s personal information and data associated with their account to Quicken. The Status Money Rewards program, which paid users in cash and Bitcoin for referrals and for engaging in product recommendations, is no longer available.

Status Money, which demoed at FinovateSpring 2019, hasn’t released much more information regarding the transition. There is currently no word on whether Quicken acquired the entire company or just its users, nor has Status Money disclosed transaction details.

One thing is clear, however. This appears to be yet another nail in the coffin of PFM. In his recent piece in Forbes titled The Demise of Intuit Mint and Personal Financial Management, Cornerstone Advisor’s Ron Shevlin goes into detail of why PFM is a dying fintech subsector. He notes that consumers are looking for more than just tracking, but are instead drawn toward tools such as those that help them optimize the return on their savings, save money, and mitigate monthly bills.

As someone who still uses an offline Excel spreadsheet to budget each month, I would argue that there may still be a market for simple PFM tools. However, the consumer-facing fintech market is crowded. In order to survive, standalone PFM companies may fare better with a B2B approach by embedding their tracking tools within larger fintechs or financial services organizations. This meets the consumer where they are already are instead of imposing an additional app to keep track of.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Better.com Helps Homeowners Shop for Insurance with the Launch of Better Insurance

Better.com Helps Homeowners Shop for Insurance with the Launch of Better Insurance
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Better.com launched a new insurance shopping marketplace, Better Insurance.
  • The new shopping tool is available through Better’s insurance arm, Better Cover, which was launched in 2019.
  • Better is collaborating with insurance technology company Sure and Farmers Insurance-owned Toggle for the launch.

Homeownership platform Better.com unveiled a new insurance shopping marketplace. The new tool, Better Insurance, allows customers to purchase homeowners insurance completely online, with no brokers or in-person meetings.

Better Insurance is available through Better.com’s insurance arm, Better Cover, which the company launched in 2019 to offer a transparent insurance shopping experience.

“Insurance is a key component of the homebuying process that comes with its own unique set of risks and challenges. At Better, we are focused on leveraging technology to make products available that can reduce pain points across all facets of the homebuying experience, and insurance is no exception,” said Better CEO and Founder Vishal Garg. “As a public company, we are more motivated than ever to continue addressing timely issues for homeowners through our robust product offerings, and the Better Cover team is leading the charge with the launch of a more seamless, consumer-first insurance product.”

Better is leveraging two partnerships for the launch of Better Insurance. The New York-based company has white-labeled the tool in collaboration with insurance technology company Sure and Farmers Insurance-owned Toggle. Better is using Sure’s APIs to integrate embedded insurance infrastructure into Better Insurance, and has tapped Toggle for underwriting and help with designing and building the product.

At launch Better Insurance is available in three U.S. states: Arizona, Oregon, and Illinois. The company plans to roll out to more regions within the U.S. “in the coming months.”

Better.com was founded in 2016 to create a fully digital way for borrowers to shop for, apply for, and ultimately obtain a mortgage. Earlier this year, Better.com launched the One Day Mortgage, allowing borrowers to apply for and obtain a mortgage within 24-hours.

Photo by Klaus Nielsen

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

The Closing of Mint Marks the End of an Era

The Closing of Mint Marks the End of an Era
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Credit Karma, Daily news, Mint
  • Intuit is closing down Mint, which it acquired in 2009.
  • Mint users are being directed to sign up for a Credit Karma account.
  • Founded in 2006, Mint is one of the oldest B2C fintechs.

For those of us who have grown up and grown old with fintech, January 1, 2024 will go down in history. That’s because Mint– which is arguably the first-ever direct-to-consumer fintech– is shutting its doors on that day.

Mint parent company Intuit announced earlier this week that it is folding Mint into Credit Karma and is inviting all Mint users to open an account at Credit Karma. “We know the most active Minters use Mint to monitor their cash flow and track their spending, and not only does Credit Karma offer these capabilities, but we’re able to take things even further for our members,” Intuit announced in a blog post.

As a bit of history, Intuit acquired Mint in 2009 for $170 million and purchased Credit Karma in 2020 for $4.7 billion. After acquiring Credit Karma, there was likely a bit of internal unrest at Intuit, since Mint and Credit Karma are essentially rivals. Both companies rely on advertiser spend via product referrals, and growing one brand would hurt the other.

Rolling Mint into Credit Karma will help Intuit double-down on sponsored advertisement revenue. The move will also build Credit Karma into a more robust competitor in the PFM space. Credit Karma was founded in 2007 to offer a flagship credit tracking and credit card comparison service and has since expanded to offer a tax filing service, checking account, savings account, credit-building credit card, and more.

It’s not surprising to see Mint’s demise. Intuit already started to cannibalize the brand earlier this year when it pulled Mint’s team in to build Credit Karma’s new Net Worth feature, a tool that enables users to view and track their net worth in a single place. Also, in a way, Mint died a long time ago. The company, which claimed 3.6 million monthly active users in 2021 but as of this year has had no material revenue, hasn’t released any new features or made any significant announcements in recent years. In fact, my last blog post about the company was titled, “Mint Brings User Interface into 2018.” Meanwhile, the company’s competitors in the PFM space were releasing their own banking tools, lending services, and investment tools. 

In the grand scheme of today’s fintech landscape, this announcement will have little impact. However, the news is worth noting for the sake of history. Mint– a company that at one point owned the entire fintech category– stood still while watching the entire fintech industry evolve around it. The company even demoed at the first-ever Finovate conference in 2007. Mint may have been able to keep up had it not been acquired by Intuit, but we’ll never know. Rest in peace, Mint (2006- 2023), and say hello to all of the other fintech ghosts on the other side for me.

Photo by Brett Sayles

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Flywheel Sells to Omnicom for $835 Million

Flywheel Sells to Omnicom for $835 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Digital commerce solutions provider Flywheel is being acquired by marketing and advertising company Omnicom.
  • The deal is expected to close for $835 million in the first quarter of next year.
  • Omnicom plans to integrate Flywheel’s Commerce Cloud product and transaction data into its audience and behavioral data.

Digital commerce solutions provider Flywheel has agreed to be acquired by marketing and advertising company Omnicom for $835 million. The deal is set to close in the first quarter of next year.

Owned by data and e-commerce optimization company Ascential, Flywheel was founded in 2014 and offers a suite of tools to help companies grow their digital commerce operations by selling more efficiently on marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba. Among the tools in the Flywheel Commerce Cloud are AI-powered content recommendations, automated fee recovery, retail performance analytics, and more.

Switzerland-based Omnicom offers services for advertising, strategic media planning and buying, precision marketing, commerce and branding, customer relationship marketing, public relations, healthcare marketing, and other sectors. The company has more than 5,000 clients spread across 70+ countries.

“The acquisition of Flywheel significantly broadens our reach and influence in the rapidly expanding digital commerce and retail media sectors, two of the fastest-growing parts of the industry,” said Omnicom Chairman and CEO John Wren. “Together, we will seamlessly integrate our offerings across retail and brand media, digital and in-store commerce, and CRM, ultimately delivering superior results for our clients.”

With 4,500 brands as customers, Flywheel and its Commerce Cloud manage “tens of billions”of dollars in product sales and “billions” of dollars in advertising spend on an annual basis across digital marketplaces. Once the acquisition is complete, Flywheel Commerce Cloud’s product and transaction data will be connected to Omnicom’s audience and behavioral data. Logistically, Flywheel will serve as what Omnicom is calling a “Practice Area.” Ascential CEO Duncan Painter will lead the newly created division.

Today’s deal is an example of how data-driven decision making has infiltrated the world of retail and ecommerce. Banks and fintechs can take note: leveraging data-driven insights is becoming tablestakes across multiple sectors, and is something consumers are growing to expect.

Photo by Jeremy Perkins

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Twinco Capital Raises $53 Million for Supply Chain Financing

Twinco Capital Raises $53 Million for Supply Chain Financing
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Supply chain financing company Twinco Capital has received $53 million in debt financing from BBVA Spark.
  • The funds boost Twinco Capital’s total combined debt and equity to $71.3 million.
  • Twinco Capital works with more than 150 suppliers and has grown 3x in the past four years.

Supply chain finance company Twinco Capital announced it has landed $53 million (€50 million) in debt financing. The funds come from BBVA’s BBVA Spark. The funds boost Twinco Capital’s total combined debt and equity funding to $71.3 million.

The Spain-based company offers financing to suppliers of large corporations working in retail and apparel. To help free up working capital, Twinco advances up to 60% of the order value within 48 hours after the retailer places the order. Twinco then pays the remaining percentage after the goods have been delivered. The company leverages business performance and ESG data combined with machine learning to assess and mitigate risk, therefore minimizing losses.

“The value added Twinco is providing to customers stems from the combination of its unique funding solution with business intelligence that provides a holistic overview of supply chain risk,” said Twinco COO Carmen Marin. “Technology and machine learning provide invaluable data insights on commercial, financial and ESG suppliers’ performance, giving our customers a state-of-the-art supply chain risk management tool.”

BBVA Spark was launched in 2022 as an investment arm to provide venture debt and growth loans to what it calls “high-impact” companies. The firm currently has more than 800 clients and has facilitated $265 million (€250 million) in financing.

Launched in 2019, Twinco has received equity funds from Quona Capital, Working Capital Fund, Mundi Ventures, and Finch Capital. The company works with more than 150 suppliers located across 13 different countries. Twinco has grown 3x in the past four years.

“We are very pleased to support Sandra and Carmen, two entrepreneurs who, with Twinco, have reinvented the way supply chains are financed on a global scale and who have also incorporated innovative environmental and social criteria into their supplier financing model,” said BBVA Spark Head Roberto Albaladejo.

Photo by Felix Haumann

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook