• BankiFi announced a $4.8 million funding round today led by Praetura Ventures.
• The U.K.-based company will use the funds to expand into the U.S. and inch closer toward its mission to serve two million SMBs across four continents by 2024.
• The Series A round brings BankiFi’s total funding to $8.5 million.

Embedded banking solutions firm BankiFi landed $4.8 million today to help fuel its expansion into North America. The Series A round brings BankiFi’s total funding to $8.5 million. The investment round is led by Praetura Ventures and will help U.K.-based BankiFi further its mission to serve two million SMBs across four continents by 2024.

“BankiFi has proven to be an industry-leading open cash management provider in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries,” said Praetura Ventures Managing Director David Foreman. “Now that they have launched in North America, BankiFi has an opportunity for dramatic growth.”

Founded in 2018, BankiFi empowers banks to offer their small business clients a cash management platform that helps with accounting, access to working capital, invoicing, and payments. By embedding a bank within their clients’ existing accounting systems, it becomes part of the business’ daily workflow.

“Our mission is to make all aspects of cash management and payments easier for SMBs everywhere, and this investment is another huge step to making that a reality,” said BankiFi Americas CEO Keith Riddle.

In April, BankiFi launched its Open Cash Management Platform, or what it calls a “super app” for small business banking that bolstered the company’s previous offering by combining embedded banking and open banking. Earlier in the year, the company was tapped by U.K.-based TSB to launch a new app that helps small businesses get paid faster.

BankiFi has offices in Ohio, Manchester, Sydney, and Antwerp, and recently appointed Tom Shen as chair of its board of directors. Mark Hartley is CEO.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

• Paytech Finix secured $30 million in funding last week.
• The investment takes the San Francisco, California-based payment facilitator’s total capital to $133 million.
• Founded in 2015, Finix includes Kabbage, Pay Theory, and Passport among its customers.

San Francisco, California-based paytech Finix announced a $30 million investment last week. The funding featured participation from both new and existing investors, and brings the company’s total capital raised to $133 million. Finix reported that it will use the new financing to support the addition of new features to make it easier for software platforms to better manage their payments and merchants.

“The next generation of fintech is all about businesses embedding financial services when and where their customers need them most,” Bain Capital Ventures Managing Director and Finix board member Matt Harris said in a statement. “Finix is a leading example of the type of state-of-the-art payments infrastructure provider that makes this embedded experience possible.”

Calling Q2 2022 its best quarter to date in terms of new deals closed, Finix helps software platforms enable and enhance payment processing. The payment facilitator’s white-label API gives companies the ability to accept payments, manage payouts, and onboard merchants, in order to help produce greater revenues from the payment process. Underwriting, reconciliation, and dispute management are also features of Finix’s platform.

The investment comes as Finix acknowledges a number of significant accomplishments. These include becoming a registered payment facilitator, doubling total annual payments volume from 2020 to 2021, and expanding its suite of in-person payment devices and capabilities. In a blog post at the company website in May, Finix co-founder and CEO Richie Serna highlighted the firm’s recent achievements, concluding “if you compared Finix to Nilson’s 2021 list of top U.S. merchant acquirers, we would rank in the top 50 based on TPV and merchant count.” Serna noted that Finix supports more than 12,000 active small businesses, schools, and places of worship each month.

Participating in Finix’s recent investment were The General Partnership (TheGP), Franklin Templeton, American Express Ventures, Acrew Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Cap Table Coalition, Homebrew, Insight Partners, Inspired Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, PSP Growth, and Vamos Ventures. Founded in 2015, Finix currently includes Kabbage, Passport, and Pay Theory among its customers.

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• Truework has raised $50 million to bolster its income verification product.
• The Series C round brings Truework’s total funding to $95 million.
• G Squared led the round, which the company plans to use to grow its business “through instant, accessible, and accurate consumer data.”

Income and employment verification startup Truework is taking on an extra $50 million in capital today in a Series C round. When added to the $45 million in funding the California-based company has raised since it was founded in 2017, Truework’s total funding now reaches $95 million.

The round was led by G Squared; with contributions from existing investors Sequoia, Activant, and Khosla Ventures; as well as new investors Indeed, Human Capital, and Four Rivers Group. “Support from these incredible teams inspire[s] us to keep building the future of financial identity, and is bolstered by our continued focus on promoting transparency and data ownership for consumers,” the company said in a blog post.

Truework’s goal is to change the way consumers’ personal information is shared during life events such as a home purchase or getting a new job. The company has built a network for verified identity that places the consumer in control of their data by offering them the decision when to share their information and when to withhold it.

Truework anticipates it will power more than 12 million income and employment verifications by the end of this year, which will service more than 20,000 small businesses and 100 enterprises. The company will use today’s investment to help customers grow their businesses “through instant, accessible, and accurate consumer data.”

Last year, Truework launched a few new offerings, including Payroll NetworkPreapprovals, and Credentials. The Payroll Network tool offers consumers visibility into and control over how their data is being shared with third parties and also enables consumers to generate their own employment verification letters. The Pre-approvals product offers lenders more accurate underwriting and increased conversions, while the Credentials tool allows applicants to instantly and directly share their payroll data in their loan application.

“Truework is putting millions in control of their data and streamlining the lending process for both lenders and borrowers,” the company said in a blog post announcement. “Building the future with a consumer first mindset goes into every decision we make, and Series C funding will help us further empower both sides of the verification equation to help build a more efficient, secure, and stable credit system.”

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• Savana, a fintech headquartered in Pennsylvania, raised $45 million in new funding.
• The new capital consists of a combination of equity and debt. Canadian investor Georgian led the equity component of the funding.
• Savana will use the funds to fuel the continued growth of its Digital Delivery Platform.

Pennsylvania-based fintech Savana has secured $45 million in new funding. The capital infusion includes $10 million in debt financing. The Series A round was led by Toronto, Canada-based investor Georgian, and also featured participation from Fiserv – which also announced that it would expand its reseller agreement with Savana. The company will use the funds to power the growth of its Digital Delivery Platform, boost go-to-market activities, and accelerate its new capabilities roadmap.

“The banking industry is going through an incredible transformation,” Savana CEO, founder, and Chairman Michael Sanchez said. “This funding round will help support the growth of our digital delivery platform to enable any bank, whether new or going through transformation of existing technology infrastructure, to speed time to market of new products and services, support continuous digital innovation, and drive significant operational efficiency.”

Savana’s Digital Delivery Platform offers channel and product agnostic customer engagement, account servicing, and automated bank operations. The platform works with both new Gen3 cores as well as traditional core banking systems to provide universal digital delivery across all bank-assisted and consumer-direct channels. API-based and cloud-native, Savana’s Digital Delivery Platform gives financial institutions the ability to automate servicing for bank and credit union teams, as well as for customer-originated requests. The result is faster time-to-market and a more friction-free and consistent experience for customers and members, regardless of channel.

Founded in 2009, Savana is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, a township 25 miles west of Philadelphia. Last fall, the fintech announced that Live Oak Bank had converted its legacy bank operations to Savana’s process orchestration platform. A digital, cloud-based bank that serves small business owners in 50 states, Live Oak Bank was the leading SBA and USDA lender by dollar volume in 2020. Excluding PPP funds, Live Oak Bank has total assets of more than $6.9 billion.

“Our goal was to re-define what banking could become when we embarked on our transformation journey,” Live Oak Chairman and CEO Chip Mahan said. “We knew that the only way to create a more compelling customer value proposition was to lead with technology that enabled innovation, convenience, and speed of delivery from the core to the customer. Savana is a key component of our end-to-end solution.”

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• Casavo has raised $408 million in a debt and equity financing round.
• The round is comprised of $306 million in debt and $102 million in equity, and brings Casavo’s total funding to $798 million.
• The company will use the funds to grow its existing operations, while expanding into France.

Casavo, a France-based fintech that seeks to make it easier for users to buy and sell their homes, has raised $408 million in combined debt and equity. The round is comprised of $306 million in debt, along with $102 million in Series D equity financing, and brings Casavo’s total funding to $798 million.

The equity round was led by Exor NV, along with contributions from existing investors Greenoaks, Project A Ventures, 360 Capital, P101 SGR, Picus Capital, and Bonsai Partners; as well as new investors Neva SGR, Endeavor Catalyst, Hambro Perks, Fuse Venture Partners, and others. Casavo reports that the funds bring the company’s borrowing capacity to more than $510 million, which will be key to scaling its home-buying business.

Casavo was founded in 2017 to simplify the process of buying and selling homes. The company originally launched as a home-buying platform and has since evolved to offer a marketplace that serves both home sellers and buyers. Sellers can either receive a purchase offer from Casavo or find a buyer through the company’s partner agent network, and buyers can access Casavo’s inventory of properties and receive integrated services such as mortgages.

“The round will allow us to consolidate our leadership in Europe by growing across our existing markets in Italy, Spain and Portugal, while expanding into new ones, with France being a priority,” said Casavo Founder and CEO Giorgio Tinacci. “We’ll continue investing in our mission to simplify the way people sell and buy homes, having evolved from a pure home-buying platform to a leading next-generation European residential marketplace.”

Today’s funding comes just four months after Casavo’s last fundraise in March, when the company received a $203 million investment. Casavo currently has 4,000 homes in Italy, Spain, and Portugal listed on its platform. So far, the company has sold 3,200 properties for a total value of $1+ billion.

• Apiture announced an investment of $29 million to help the company meet demand for its digital banking platform. The round was led by Live Oak Bank.
• The platform, unveiled earlier this year, combined Apiture’s Xpress and Open products into a single, API-based solution.
• Apiture’s total funding now stands at $69 million.

Digital banking solutions provider Apiture has raised $29 million in new funding in a round led by Live Oak Bank. The company will use the capital to boost sales and marketing, accelerate product development plans, and help meet demand for its flagship solution, the Apiture Digital Banking Platform.

“Our platform is built by bankers, for bankers, which uniquely positions Apiture to deliver best-in-class solutions that help financial institutions of all sizes level the playing field with national brands,” Apiture CEO Chris Babcock said. He added that much of the capital raised in this latest round has “come from investors that are also Apiture clients” and highlighted Live Oak Bank, which led the round, as well as Pinnacle Bank and BHF Financial.

The investment brings Apiture’s total capital raised to $69 million.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, Apiture offers a digital banking platform that is secure, reliable, and core agnostic with more than 40 core integrations. Launched in February of this year, the platform consolidates Apiture’s existing products – Apiture Xpress and Apiture Open – into a singular solution. The platform leverages partnerships with more than 200 fintechs to help banks and credit unions access the technology they need in order to create the kind of digital experiences that are most appropriate for their customers and members. More than 300 banks and credit unions in the U.S. use Apiture’s digital banking platform.

“Financial institutions are keenly aware of the importance of digital channels and the need to elevate the onilne and mobile banking experience for their consumer and business customers,” Live Oak Bank Chief Strategy Officer Stephanie Mann said. “We are thrilled to support Apiture as it accelerates enrichments to its cloud-based, API-first technology platform while scaling to serve a growing number of banks and credit unions.”

This year, Apiture has forged partnerships with Ephrata National Bank and Martha’s Vineyard Bank, both of which will deploy Apiture’s Digital Banking Platform to power both their online and mobile banking solutions. With assets of $1.6 billion, Ephrata National Bank is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and has served communities in the area since 1881. Martha’s Vineyard Bank, based in Edgartown, Massachusetts, has assets of more than $1.9 billion and operates 10 locations on Martha’s Vineyard and in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

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• Digital insurance agency Wefox raised $400 million in a combined debt and equity round.
• The funds boost Wefox’s valuation from $3 billion to $4.5 billion.
• Wefox relies on technology to take a “prediction and prevention” approach, rather than relying on a “repair and replace” mindset.

Digital insurance agency Wefox just raised $400 million in a combined debt and equity round led by Mubadala Investment Company. EDBI, Eurazeo, LGT, Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures, and Target Global also participated. The investment brings Wefox’s total funding to $1.3 billion.

The round boosted Wefox’s valuation from $3 billion to $4.5 billion in 12 months. This increase comes at a time when other fintechs are closing funding in down-rounds, meaning their valuation has decreased.

“This new valuation of $4.5 billion is a clear validation of our business model, which focuses on indirect distribution via agents rather than direct,” said Wefox CEO and Founder Julian Teicke. “This makes our business one of the most credible insurtechs in the market right now.”

According to Teicke, Wefox doubled its revenue, which stood at $320 million last year. Within the first four months of this year, Wefox saw $200+ million in revenues, which positions the company to generate $600 million by the end of this year.

Founded in 2015 and with more than two million customers, Wefox is a licensed digital insurance company that sells insurance through intermediaries, not directly to customers. The company relies on technology to take a “prediction and prevention” approach, rather than relying on a “repair and replace” mindset, which many insurance companies take.

Wefox will use today’s funds for product development and to expand across Europe, Asia, the U.S. The company aims to reach three million customers by year-end.

“Wefox is in the strongest position ever,” said the company’s CFO and Founder Fabian Wesemann.  “In successfully closing this funding round we reinforce our strategy and enable faster acceleration on our path to greater revenues and profit.”

Photo by Erik Mclean

• OpenFin received a strategic investment from ING Ventures.
• The amount of the investment was undisclosed, but adds to the company’s $47 million raised since 2010.
• ING is an OpenFin OS client. The company began using OpenFin’s technology last year to accelerate its desktop transformation strategy.

Enterprise productivity company OpenFin received a strategic investment from ING Ventures this week. The amount of the investment was undisclosed. The New York-based company plans to use the funds to expand what it calls “the operating system (OS) of enterprise productivity,” or OpenFin OS.

OpenFin OS helps financial services organizations power internal and customer-facing digital experiences. OpenFin counts more than 2,400 banks, wealth management firms in 60+ countries as OpenFin OS users. Clients include 23 of top 25 global banks, including Barclays, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and more. OpenFin is aiming to expand the OpenFin OS “to every user within financial services.”

Today’s investor, ING, is an OpenFin OS client. The company began using OpenFin’s technology last year to accelerate its desktop transformation strategy. As a result of the implementation, ING employees can access intuitive workspace management and automated workflows, and as a result increase their productivity. 

“Our investment in OpenFin further validates our determination and commitment to digital transformation and innovation,” said ING Ventures Co-Head Frederic Hofmann. “We are excited to partner with OpenFin as they have proven to be the best in class app platform in this space, transforming distribution and significantly enhancing end-user productivity across the finance industry.”

The amount of today’s funding round was undisclosed, and so was the amount of OpenFin’s most recent round it received in December 2020. Despite this, we know that today’s investment brings the company’s total raised to north of $47 million since it was founded in 2010. That’s the amount of the previous eight investments OpenFin received from investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Barclays, CME Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, NYCA Partners, Pivot Investment Partners, SC Ventures, and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital.

Last April, OpenFin launched Workspace, a tool to help business users consolidate and automate their work across applications and tasks using a single interface. Since then, the company was awarded the “Best Workplace for Change and Transformation” by Harrington Starr.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska