Funding Archives - Page 79 of 88

Nearex Closes Series B Funding

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 8, 2015
Categories: Funding, Nearex

Singapore-based Nearex, a proximity-transaction solutions company, received an undisclosed amount of funding in a Series B round today. This marks the second round of funding Nearex has received from a group of investors, led by Tata Capital Growth Fund LP. Existing investors also contributed to the new round, including Japan-based BEENOS Asia and Xinvesco.

The company, which specializes in contactless micro payments, debuted Xip at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose. Xip’s micropayments solution offers merchants a tiny mobile point-of-sale terminal, called a XipPOS, that communicates with the consumer’s Mobile Money account via a personalized NFC sticker, XipTAG, to initiate a contactless payment.

The hardware integrates with existing mobile wallets. Nearex’s target clients include financial institutions and other mobile money service providers.

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A Dash of Good Karma: Karmic Labs Raises $5 Million

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 8, 2015
Categories: Funding, Karmic Labs

Was it good karma? San Francisco-based Karmic Labs, a company whose APIs offer payment and SaaS solutions to enterprises, pulled in $5 million in a Series A funding round today.

The funds come from Greycroft Partners, who led the round, with participation from Trusted Ventures, Accelerator Ventures, Pipeline VC, Correlation Ventures and individual investor Iqram Magdon-Ismail. The new amount tops the company’s 2013 Seed round, in which it garnered $2.7 million from Draper Associates. Karmic Labs’ funding now totals $7.7 million.

The company debuted its Dash Prepaid MasterCard at FinovateSpring 2015 (watch the live demo below). Dash is a business-expense-management platform that supplies employees with MasterCard prepaid cards, and enables managers to view, approve and control employee spending via a mobile app. The all-in-one system facilitates budgeting and accounting by simplifying the expense-reporting process.

The company is working with FIS as a distribution partner for Dash and plans to use the $5 million to advance Dash and create product awareness.

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Fintech Fundings: 18 Companies Raise $400 Million Week Ending July 3

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 3, 2015
Categories: Funding

As folks in the U.S. headed for the beach, investors in the rest of the world unleashed a tsunami of cash into the fintech sector. Depending on the size of the undisclosed A round to Alibaba’s Ant Financial—a valuation rumored to be $45 to $50 billion—it was probably a record week. Even without counting Ant’s funding, $400 million was raised, meaning we almost certainly had our third unicorn week in the past 12 months.

Finovate alum, BankBazaar received one of the big raises, bringing in $60 million for its Indian financial services portal, lead by none other than Amazon.

In total this week, 18 companies raised $393 million. Only three of those—worth $107 million—were in the United States. At the halfway point of 2015, we’ve tracked $8.3 billion in new fintech investments, not including the Ant round.

Here are the deals from 27 June to 3 July ranked by size:

Ant Financial
Alibaba financial services spin out: Alipay, MyBank, Sesame Credit, Y’ue Bao)
HQ: Hangzhou, China
Latest round: Undisclosed Series A ($45 billion valuation)
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Alibaba (parent), payments, credit scoring, investments, digital banking, lending
Source: Techcrunch

GFG Group
Consumer payment services
HQ: Auckland, New Zealand
Latest round: $167 million
Total raised: $180 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, telecom
Source: Crunchbase

Chrome River Technologies
Expense reporting and invoice management
HQ: Los Angeles, California
Latest round: $100 million Series D
Total raised: $120 million
Tags: Accounting, accounts payables, SMB, enterprise
Source: Crunchbase

BankBazaar
Online marketplace for financial services
HQ: Chennai, India
Latest round: $60 million Series C
Total raised: $79 million
Tags: Personal finance shopping, loans, credit cards, insurance, lead generation, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Pret d’Union
P2P lending
HQ: Paris, France
Latest round: $34 million
Total raised: $52.4 million
Tags: Lending, consumer, crowdfunding, lending, investing, peer-to-peer
Source: Crunchbase

Velocity
Mobile payments and rewards systems for hospitality industry
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $12 million
Total raised: $12.4 million
Tags: Mobile payments, POS, point-of-sale, tablet, order entry, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

SimplyInsured
Health insurance for small businesses
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $5.9 million Series A
Total raised: $7.7 million
Tags: Insurance, health care, SMB, Y-Combinator
Source: Crunchbase

InvoiNet
Invoice-based financing marketplace in Latin America
HQ: Argentina
Latest round: $4 million
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: SMB, accounting, payables, receivables, billing, billpay, enterprise, IFC (investor)
Source: The Paypers

Mondo
U.K. neo-bank startup
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $3.1 million Seed
Total raised: $3.1 million
Tags: Consumer, personal finance, PFM, debit card, mobile, digital banking
Source: Crunchbase

Tagcash
Micropayments platform
HQ: Manila, Philippines
Latest round: $3 million Angel
Total raised: $3 million
Tags: Mobile payments
Source: Crunchbase

myCFO
Accounting and small-business financial management services
HQ:Mumbai, India
Latest round: $1.5 million Seed
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: Accounting, enterprise, advising, payables, receivables, cash management
Source: Crunchbase

Mobeam
Mobile reward redemption at the point-of-sale
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $28 million
Tags: Mobile payments, rewards, card-linked offers, gift cards, POS, SMB, retailers, brick-and-mortar
Source: Crunchbase

Bayzat
Financial services comparison site
HQ: Dubai, UAE
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Personal finance comparison, lead generation, consumer, insurance, loans, cards
Source: FT Partners

Payever
Ecommerce and payments platform
HQ: Hamburg, Germany
Latest round: $550,000
Total raised: $810,000
Tags: Payments, ecommerce
Source: Crunchbase

Tibdit
Online tipping and micropayments
HQ: Southwark, United Kingdom
Latest round: $190,000
Total raised: $300,000
Tags: Payments, micropayment, tips, publishing
Source: Crunchbase

Prometei
Predictive analytics for financial markets analysis
Latest round: $100,000 Seed
Total raised: $100,000
Tags: BI, enterprise, investing, financial advisers
Source: Crunchbase

LoanSolutions
Consumer loan discovery
HQ: Cebu, Philippines
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Lending, lead generation, consumer
Source: Crunchbase

Moneytis
Digital platform for money exchange and remittances
HQ: Paris, France
Latest round: Undisclosed Angel
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: FX, remittances, transfers, payments, international remittances, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

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BankBazaar Scores $60 Million in Funding Led by Amazon

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 2, 2015
Categories: BankBazaar, Funding

BankBazaar, an India-based company that sells financial service products on behalf of third parties, raised $60 million in Series C funding today.

The round was led by Amazon, which holds a minority stake, and marks the ecommerce giant’s second investment in BankBazaar. New investors include Fidelity Growth Partners and Mousse Partners. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Walden International also contributed.

BankBazaar’s funding now totals $79 million, but there’s no word on a current valuation for the company.

BankBazaar has big plans for the funds. It will use the large sum to boost its technology integration, strengthen partner relationships, create an end-to-end customer experience, and expand its marketing efforts to reach a broader customer base.

The company’s technology is available to consumers on Android and iOS apps, and it currently has 23 bank partners to offer a wide portfolio of solutions to consumers.

BankBazaar demoed at FinovateAsia 2012 in Singapore.

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Fintech Fundings: 15 Companies Raise $250 Million Week Ending 26 June 2015

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 25, 2015
Categories: Funding

Naturally, we are always rooting for Finovate alums to make it big. And there are few fintech success stories bigger than 2008 alum, Credit Karma, which scored $175 million this week at a reported $3.5 billion valuation. That makes the credit-score provider the second most valuable alum (after Lending Club, currently trading at $6 billion).

Three other alums received new investments this week: Currency Cloud ($18 million), Signifyd ($7 million) and Prairie Cloudware (undisclosed).

Total investment into the fintech sector this week were $245 million flowing to 15 firms. So far this year, fintech has attracted $7.9 billion.

Following are the deals announced from 19 June to 25 June in order of size:

Credit Karma
Credit reports and personal financial services
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $175 million (at $3.5 billion valuation)
Total raised: $368 million
Tags: PFM, credit scores, credit monitoring, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Currency Cloud
Cross-border payments
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $18 million
Total raised: $35 million
Tags: Payments, fx, remittances, transfers, SMB, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

PayRange
Mobile payments for vending machines
HQ: Portland, Oregon
Latest round: $12 million
Total raised: $15.2 million
Tags: Payments, acquiring, SMB, mobile, cards
Source: The Oregonian

Vogogo
Payments risk and compliance management
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Latest round: $12 million
Total raised: $21.5 million
Tags: Payments, risk, compliance, SMB, merchants, cards, acquiring
Source: FT Partners

Canopy Tax (formerly Beanstalk)
Tax and accounting-practice management
HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
Latest round: $8 million
Total raised: $10 million
Tags: Tax, adviser platform, marketing, client services, accounting, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

Signifyd
Fraud detection
HQ:
Latest round: $7 million Series A
Total raised: $11 million
Tags: Security, fraud, payments, ecommerce, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Digital Contact
Data analytics with financial services focus
HQ: United Kingdom
Latest round: $3.8 million
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Investing, analytics, BI, big data, information
Source: FT Partners

Creditmantri
Consumer credit scores and lead generation
HQ: Chennai, India
Latest round: $2.5 million Series A
Total raised: $2.5 million
Tags: Credit portal, credit scoring, lead generation, loans
Source: WhoGotFunded.com

PromisePay
Payments gateway for online marketplaces
HQ: St. Louis, Missouri
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2.1 million
Tags: Payments, merchants, SMB, acquiring
Source: FT Partners

BankerBay
Online investment banking platform
HQ: Bangalore, India
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $3 million
Tags: Investing, wealth management, networking
Source: Fortune Term Sheet (26 June)

StockSpot
Online investment manager
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Latest round: $1.25 million Series A
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Investing, wealth management, stocks, trading, equities
Source: FT Partners

Givesurance
Insurance premium commissions donated to charitable causes
HQ: Woodland Hills, California
Latest round: $900,000 Seed
Total raised: $1 million
Tags: Insurance, charitable giving, philanthropy
Source: Crunchbase

Prairie Cloudware
Digital payment solutions for financial institutions
HQ: Omaha, Nebraska
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $5 million
Tags: Payments, enterprise, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Pipelend
Puerto Rican marketplace lender
HQ: Puerto Rico
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Lending, underwriting, consumer, loans, P2P, crowdfunding, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Coinplug
Bitcoin and blockchain technology
Latest round: $45,000 (award from JB Financial)
Total raised: $3.4 million
Tags: Payments, crypto-currency, bitcoin, authentication, security, virtual currency
Source: Coinbase

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Currency Cloud Cooks Up $18 Million in New Funding Round

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 24, 2015
Categories: Funding, The Currency Cloud

Cross-border payments as a service company Currency Cloud closed an $18 million Series C funding round this week, bringing its total funding to $36 million.

Strategic contributors to the round include SAP’s independent venture arm, Sapphire Ventures, along with the Rakuten FinTech Fund. The U.K.-based company will leverage the SAP relationship to offer cross-border money remittance services to SAP’s business customers. Currency Cloud will work with Japan-based Rakuten to help guide its expansion into Asia next year.

Existing investors also contributed to the round:

XAnge Private Equity
Notion Capital
Atlas Venture
Anthemis Group

The company will use the funds to invest in R&D, product enhancements, and to support international expansion. Last year Currency Cloud expanded to the U.S. and opened an office in New York.

Currency Cloud, which launched in 2012, has seen 100% year-over-year revenue growth over the past two years. Adding to its success, this year Currency Cloud received an eMoney license from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This permits it to execute payment transactions and issue electronic money.

Michael Laven, Currency Cloud CEO, divulged additional metrics in an interview with TechCrunch:

Laven says that by the end of 2015, the company will be processing $1 billion per month in transactions. Those transactions, meanwhile, tend to be for around $15,000 to $20,000, with “many” extending to $1 million.

At FinovateSpring 2015, Currency Cloud launched Payment Engine, an API that Finovate alums such as Transferwise, Azimo, Kantox, Fidor Bank, and CurrencyTransfer use to power their services. Check out its launch video below:

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New $175 Million Investment Earns Credit Karma a $3.5 Billion Valuation

By David Penn Posted on June 23, 2015
Categories: Credit Karma, Funding, Lending Club

An investment of $175 million has boosted Credit Karma’s total capital to $368.5 million and given the company a valuation of $3.5 billion.

Participating in the Series D round were Tiger Global Management, Valinor Management, and Viking Global Investors. Credit Karma said the new funding will help them add new features to the platform.

“Today, no one tells you when your credit rating goes up or when a lower interest rate is available for your loan,” says Ken Lin, Credit Karma CEO and founder. “We’ll soon be able to let people know when they have an opportunity to save money, and if they’ll be approved, with new levels of certainty.”

Lin says he plans to leverage the data insights from the company’s more than 40 million members to “deliver top-quality insights for everyone looking to improve their personal finances.”

The funding announcement also included a preview of what Credit Karma has in store for the platform. This new functionality includes the ability to consolidate student loans with just a few clicks; comparison-shop for customized insurance quotes; find the best credit card for their spending and savings profile, and more. “Our members will be able to apply for something without filling out endless forms,” says Nikhyl Singhal, Credit Karma’s chief product officer. The goal is to ensure that customers don’t have to provide any more personal information than is absolutely necessary, while at the same time providing access to a broad variety of potential lenders.

It was less than a year ago that Credit Karma announced a valuation of $1 billion, and a little over a year since the company began providing free weekly credit reports to its members. This spring, Credit Karma launched its Thin File customer experience, which helps members with little or no credit history review their own situation to learn how to build a good credit history and see which credit products (cards and loans) would be most appropriate for their needs.

Credit Karma last demoed as part of FinovateSpring 2009. Named to Inc.’s “20 Financial Startups You Need to Know” in May, Credit Karma was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco. It is now the second-most-valuable Finovate alum, trailing only Lending Club (LC), trading at a $6.2 billion valuation today.

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Fintech Fundings: 17 Companies Raise $250 million Week Ending June 19

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 18, 2015
Categories: Funding

After a slow start, the week finished strong, thanks largely to the $140 million raised by marketplace lenders Bond Street and LendInvest. Finovate alum, Azimo landed the fourth biggest round, $20 million at a $100 million valuation.

All told, 17 fintech companies raised $253 million ($153 million equity, $100 million debt) this week. Year-to-date, $7.7 billion has been invested in the sector.

Here are the fundraisings from 13-through-18 June, ranked by size:

Bond Street
Marketplace lender for small businesses
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $110 million Series A (includes $100 million debt)
Total raised: $120.8 million (includes $100 million debt)
Tags: P2P lending, SMB, lending marketplace, investing, alt-lending, small business underwriting, credit
Source: Crunchbase

Namely
Payroll and benefits platform
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $45 million Series C
Total raised: $77.8 million
Tags: Payroll, insurance, HR, benefits, SMB, enterprise
Source: Crunchbase

LendInvest
P2P mortgage lending
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $34.2 million Series A
Total raised: $34.2 million
Tags: P2P, mortgage, peer-to-peer, investing, crowdfunding, lending, underwriting, credit
Source: FT Partners

Azimo
Payment processor
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $20 million (at $100 million valuation)
Total raised: $31 million
Tags: Payments, SMB, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Lavu
Restaurant point-of-sale system
HQ: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Latest round: $15 million Series A
Total raised: $15 million
Tags: Payments, merchants, SMB, POS, iPad, acquiring
Source: Crunchbase

FundsIndia
Indian investment portal
HQ: Chennai, India
Latest round: $11 million Series C
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Investing, insurance, mutual funds
Source: Crunchbase

PolicyGenius
Consumer comparison site
HQ: Brooklyn, New York
Latest round: $5.3 million
Total raised: $6.1 million
Tags: Life insurance, renters, pet, long-term care, lead generation, AXA (investor), Transamerica (investor)
Source: FT Partners

Harvest Exchange
Investor network
HQ: Houston, Texas
Latest round: $5 million Series B
Total raised: $9.4 million
Tags: Investing, wealth management, network
Source: Crunchbase

Pier
Mobile alt-credit
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
Tags: China (market), underwriting, alternative underwriting, credit reporting, mobile
Source: FT Partners

Reveal
Social cryptocurrency
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $ 1.5 million
Total raised: $ 1.5 million
Tags: Bitcoin, mobile, social media, P2P payments
Source: Crunchbase

Case
Hardware wallet for cryptocurrency
HQ: Rochester, New York
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: Bitcoin, virtual currency, security
Source: Crunchbase

Corlytics
Compliance and risk-management technology
HQ: Dublin, Ireland
Latest round: $1.1 million
Total raised: $1.1 million
Tags: Risk management, security, regulation, compliance
Source: Crunchbase

Pumpkin
French mobile-payments app
HQ: Lille, France
Latest round: $800,000
Total raised: Unknown
Source: WhoGotFunded.com

FairCent
Marketplace lender
HQ: India
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $4.25 million
Tags: P2P lending, consumer, peer-to-peer, underwriting, credit, investing
Source: WhoGotFunded.com

Sequent
Mobile wallet APIs
HQ: Mountain View, California
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: More than $12 million
Tags: Mobile, payments, API
Source: FT Partners

GoFundMe
Crowdfunding site for nonprofit causes
San Diego, California
Latest round: Undisclosed ($500 million valuation)
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: P2P, peer-to-peer, fundraising, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Swave
Mobile personal finance manager
HQ: United Kingdom
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: PFM, savings accounts, mobile, Citibank (investor), Lloyds (investor)
Source: FT Partners

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Fintech Fundings: 18 Companies Raise $230 Million Week Ending June 12

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 11, 2015
Categories: Funding

Funding was up sharply this week with 18 companies raising a total of $232 million (includes $20 million in debt). The total included five Finovate alums:

Cachet Financial Solutions (public: CAFN) raised $4.4 million in a private placement, bringing their market cap to $8.6 million
Mobile POS provider SumUp added an undisclosed amount, bringing total funding to $45 million
Bright Funds raised a $1.8 million seed round for its charitable giving system that plugs right in to payroll and HR systems
BanktotheFuture raised $1 million for its about-to-launch equity crowdfunding platform
CashSentinel scored undisclosed seed funding to help expand its mobile payments and escrow service

So far this year, $7.5 billion has been invested in the sector, an average of $325 million per week.

Here are the deals from 5 to 12 June 2015, ranked by size:

PropertyGuru
Real estate platform
HQ: Singapore
Latest round: $129 million
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Home purchase, mortgage, real estate search
Source: Crunchbase

Moula
Alt-lending platform to SMBs
HQ: Melbourne, Australia
Latest round:$30 million
Total raised: $30.9 million
Tags: Small business, lending marketplace, underwriting, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

LoanHero
Point-of-sale financing platform
HQ: Carlsbad, California
Latest round: $21.7 million ($1.7 million Seed; $20 million Debt)
Total raised: $22.1 million (includes $20 million debt)
Tags: Lending, POS, underwriting, alt-lending
Source: Crunchbase

Miura Systems
Payments hardware
HQ: Stokenchurch, United Kingdom
Latest round: $16 million
Total raised: $16 million
Tags: POS, point of sale, SMB, security, cards, merchant acquiring
Source: Crunchbase

eFileCabinet
Paperless systems for accounting and other industries
HQ: Lehi, Utah
Latest round: $14 million
Total raised: $25 million
Tags: Storage, fee income, cloud services
Source: Crunchbase

Cachet Financial Solutions
Remote deposit and mobile money solutions
HQ: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Latest round: $4.4 million private placement
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Remote deposit, payments, funds transfer, mobile, check cashing, Finovate alum
Source: CNN Money

Clip
Mobile payments and rewards app for hospitality industry
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Latest round: $3.6 million (for 31%; $11.6 million valuation)
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Payments, POS, point-of-sale, restaurant, bar, merchants, SMB, card acquiring
Source: FT Partners

Mobi724 Global Solutions
Mobile payments
HQ: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Latest round: $3.0 million
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: PIN debit, cards
Source: FT Partners

Bright Funds
Charitable giving solution for enterprises
San Francisco, California
Latest round: $1.8 million Seed
Total raised: $3.0 million
Tags: Payments, enterprise, SMB, payroll, HR, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Control
Payments management platform
HQ: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Latest round: $1.5 million Seed
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: Payments, enterprise, analytics, business intelligence
Source: Crunchbase

Zane Benefits
Health insurance reimbursement system
HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
Latest round: $1.5 million Seed
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: Healthcare, payments, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

Symbiont
Smart securities on the blockchain
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $1.25 million Seed
Total raised: $1.25 million
Tags: Blockchain, investing, securities
Source: FT Partners

Create
Real estate information and workflow platform
HQ: Washington D.C.
Latest round: $1.1 million
Total raised: $2.2 million
Tags: Mortgage, investing, analytics, collaboration
Source: Crunchbase

BanktotheFuture
Equity crowdfunding platform
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1 million
Tags: P2P, peer-to-peer lending, underwriting, investing, SMB, small biz, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Open Bazaar
Bitcoin-based ecommerce marketplace
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1 million
Tags: Cryptocurrency, ecommerce, payments, trading, barter, USV (investor), Andreessen Horowitz (investor)
Source: Coindesk

PrimaHealth Credit
Alt-lending for the elective surgery industry
HQ: Newport Beach, California
Latest round: $1 million Seed
Total raised: $1 million
Tags: Healthcare, payments, financing, credit, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

SumUp
Mobile point-of-sale system
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: Undisclosed Series D
Total raised: $45 million
Tags: Payments, mPOS, point of sale, SMB, security, cards, merchant acquiring, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

CashSentinel
Mobile payments with escrow
HQ: Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Payments, SMB, peer-to-peer, escrow, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

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SumUp Unveils New Financing

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 10, 2015
Categories: Funding, SumUp

U.K.-based payments startup SumUp announced a new round of funding today. While the amount remains undisclosed, SumUp CEO Daniel Klein confirmed that the company has now raised a total of $45 million in funding since it was founded in 2012.

According to TechCrunch, Klein estimates the company is now valued somewhere in the range of “healthy hundreds of million” euros.

The newest round comes from Venture Incubator AG, a firm that includes ABB, Bühler, Credit Suisse, Hilti, Nestlé, Novartis, Schindler, SUVA, Sulzer and ZKB. This list of heavy-hitters should come as no surprise, since SumUp’s earlier rounds were led by American Express, Groupon, BBVA and other renowned venture-capital firms.

SumUp’s mobile point-of-sale system includes Chip & PIN as well as EMV processing technology, available on Android and iOS mobile apps. The company will use the funding in two ways:

1) Focus on contactless payment hardware.
SumUp differentiates itself by being as vertically integrated as possible. That means that it designs all of its own hardware, and does not rely on third parties. The company sells its terminal for around $90, and considers the hardware to be one of its competitive advantages. Says CEO Klein, “We’ve reached a competitive point in this respect for us to be able to produce terminals at a cost that is lower when we sell it. We are already making a profit on our hardware and continue to do so.”

2) Expand its geographical reach.
SumUp currently operates in 13 countries, and will add two more this year, one of which will be Sweden.

SumUp reported 300,000 merchant customers as of last month. In the last six months, sales volume has doubled on the platform. The startup plans to be profitable by next year.

The company launched at FinovateEurope 2013 in London where it won Best of Show for its portable card reader and point-of-sale solution.

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Bright Funds Closes Seed Round with $1.8 Million Investment

By David Penn Posted on June 10, 2015
Categories: Bright Funds, Funding

Bright Funds has announced the successful closure of its Series Seed funding round. The financing was led by Aspiration Growth and featured participation from investors including 10K Investments, Bloomberg BETA, Mission & Market, and Wellspring Growth Partners. Individual investors Godfrey Sullivan and Frank Yeary were also involved.

Bright Funds CEO and co-founder Ty Walrod said that the funding would help the company “move enterprises large and small beyond the largely transactional employee giving programs in the marketplace today.” Bright Funds has developed technology, the Bright Funds Enterprise platform, that seamlessly integrates into payroll and human resource information systems (HRIS), making it easier to launch and manage charitable giving programs. From vetting potential charities and issuing payments to managing employee contributions and tracking volunteer time, the platform is designed to provide, in Walrod’s words, “a much more rewarding experience for employer and employee alike.”

The funding takes the total equity capital for Bright Funds to more than $3 million.

From left: Bright Funds co-founders Rutul Dave, chief of products and marketing, and CEO Ty Walrod demonstrated their charitable giving platform at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco.

Bright Funds serves more than 30,000 charitable givers at more than 25 different companies and organizations. Charitable givers on the platform are provided a portfolio that allows them to concentrate all of their donations within a single theme, such as education or the environment, or to divide the contribution over multiple themes (70% Global Health; 30% Anti-Poverty). More than 1.5 million pre-screened nonprofits are represented on the platform. Donations through the platform are 100% tax deductible, and there is no charge to open an account with Bright Funds.

Bright Funds has been in the news recently with its commitment to help facilitate charitable donations to Nepal in the wake of the spring 2015 earthquakes that took the lives of thousands. The company was featured in a Forbes.com column on the relationship between technology and community, and profiled in a San Francisco Business Times article on how Bright Funds “mines tech companies and their employees for philanthropic dollars.”

Bright Funds made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2013. The company was founded in February 2012 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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CashSentinel Closes Seed Round of Undisclosed Amount

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 9, 2015
Categories: CashSentinel, Funding

Earlier this year, CashSentinel launched its mobile payment escrow service to the public in Switzerland. The startup aims to create a safe environment for two private parties to buy and sell used vehicles (check out our in-depth review of the platform).

The startup announced today it closed a seed round of an undisclosed amount. Investors include Business Angels Switzerland (BAS), GoBeyond, and other angel investors. Since it was founded in 2012, CashSentinel has received a total of $650,000 in seed funding and grants. Today’s seed round brings the company’s total funding somewhere north of that figure.

Pictured: CashSentinel CEO, Sylvain Bertolus, with client

In January, the fintech company made its service available on the website AutoScout24, an online European marketplace for used vehicles. Since then, CashSentinel has seen a steady increase in transactions and recently exceeded $1 million (1 million CHF) processed on its platform.

CashSentinel expects its growth to burgeon in the future, as more than 500,000 used vehicles trade hands every year in Switzerland alone. The startup plans to expand into the greater European market later this year.

CashSentinel debuted at FinovateEurope 2015 in London. The company holds partnerships with Swissquote Bank and AutoScout24.

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