FinovateEurope Alums Reel in $940 Million in 2019

FinovateEurope Alums Reel in $940 Million in 2019
Photo by payam masouri from Pexels

With FinovateEurope less than a month away, we thought we’d take a look at some of the fundraising success the conference’s alums had in 2019.

From companies that demoed at our very first FinovateEurope in 2012 to some of FinovateEurope’s newest players, alums of our European conference raised more than $940 million in funding last year. We’ve listed the companies below in alphabetic order, along with a link to their demo so you can learn more about the company and its work.

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24sessions: $1.1 million – post – FEU19 demo

Aire: $11 million – post – FEU15 demo

Bitbond: $2.3 million – post – FEU15 demo

Capitalise: $4.5 million – post – FEU16 demo

Currencycloud: $12.2 million – post – FEU14 demo

Dashlane: $110 million – post – FEU13 demo

DataSine: $5 million – post – FEU18 demo

Featurespace: $32.2 million – post – FEU16 demo

Fintech OS: $1.2 million – post – FEU18 demo

Flybits: $35 million – post – FEU19 demo

Kantox: $5.7 million – post – FEU13 demo

Minna Technologies: $6.3 million – post – FEU19 demo

nCino: $80 million – post – FEU17 demo

Nutmeg: $58 million – post – FEU12 demo

Onfido: $50 million – post – FEU18 demo

Passport: $65 million – post – FEU16 demo

PaySend: $10.6 million – post – and $5.3 million –post – EU16 demo

Scalable Capital: $28 million – post – FEU16 demo

Tink: $11.2 million – post – and $63 million – post – FEU19 demo

Token: $16.5 million – post – FEU17 demo

TransferWise: $292 million – post – FEU13 demo

Twisto: $15 million – post – and $15.7 million – post – FEU18 demo

YellowDog: $3.3 million – post – FEU19 demo

Updated: Finovate Alums Raise More Than Three Billion in 2019; $876 Million in Q4

Updated: Finovate Alums Raise More Than Three Billion in 2019; $876 Million in Q4

Updated 12/20/2019: Finovate alums raised more than $876 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The amount takes the total raised by Finovate alums this year to more than three billion. It is both the second year in a row our alums have topped this milestone, and the biggest Q4 fundraising for Finovate alums to date.

Previous Annual Comparisons

The fourth quarter of 2019 is also the fourth Q4 in a row in which alum funding has climbed above the $500 million mark.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q4 2018: More than $800 million raised by 19 alums
  • Q4 2017: More than $730 million raised by 23 alums
  • Q4 2016: More than $700 million raised by 26 alums
  • Q4 2015: More than $302 million raised by 28 alums

The top equity investment of the quarter was the $200 million raised by Ripple, followed by the $182 million raised by Zopa and the $102.5 million raised by BlueVine the previous month. Given the relatively small number of fundings this quarter, it is little surprise to find that our top ten equity investments for Q4 make up the vast majority of the reported spending total (note that the sums involved in two of our fourteen fourth quarter investments were undisclosed).

Top Equity Investments

  • Ripple: $200 million
  • Zopa: $182 million
  • BlueVine: $102.5 million
  • nCino: $80 million
  • Spreedly: $75 million
  • Passport: $65 million
  • SheerID: $64 million
  • Eigen Technologies: $37 million
  • Aerospike: $32 million
  • Kreditech: $24 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q4 2019.

October 2019: More than $104 million raised by four alums

  • Kreditech: $24 million – post
  • nCino: $80 million – post
  • OurCrowd: undisclosed – post
  • Paper.id: undisclosed – post

November 2019: More than $311 raised by six alums

  • Aerospike: $32 million – post
  • BlueVine: $102.5 million – post
  • Eigen Technologies: $37 million – post
  • SheerID: $64 million – post
  • Spreedly: $75 million – post
  • Pinkaloo: $1.25 million – post

December 2019: More than $461 million raised by four alums

  • FintechOS: $14 million – post
  • Passport: $65 million – post
  • Ripple: $200 million – post
  • Zopa: $182 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the fourth quarter of 2019, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

More Than $1 Billion Raised by 21 Alums in Q3 2019

Finovate alums raised $1.1 billion in funding in the third quarter of 2019. The quarterly total represents a significant rebound over last year’s Q3 sum and is reminiscent of the third quarters from 2017 and 2015 in topping the $1 billion mark.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q3 2018: More than $400 million raised by 19 alums
  • Q3 2017: More than $1 billion raised by 31 alums
  • Q3 2016: More than $500 million raised by 30 alums
  • Q3 2015: More than $1 billion raised by 40 alums

As our list of the quarter’s top equity investments below reveals, the $460 million fundraising from Klarna in August represents a significant amount of this year’s Q3 total. The investment, led by Dragoneer Investment Group, gave the Swedish ecommerce innovator a valuation of $5.5 billion and the title of the largest private fintech in Europe.

Also noteworthy was the $200 million raised by San Francisco, California-based payroll, benefits, and HR platform Gusto. Along with a pair of new participants Fidelity and Generation Investment Management, Gusto’s investors boosted the company’s valuation to $3.8 billion in the third quarter. There must be something special about Q3 and Gusto; the company’s previous $140 million in funding led the quarter’s top investments last year.

Top Ten Equity Investments for Q3 2019

  • Klarna: $460 million
  • Gusto: $200 million
  • Trulioo: $53 million
  • Credit Sesame: $43 million
  • Numbrs: $40 million
  • HackerOne: $35.4 million
  • Flybits: $35 million
  • Sezzle: $30 million (IPO)
  • Scalable Capital: $28 million
  • Kyndi: $20 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q3 2019.

July 2019: More than $354 million raised by 10 alums

August 2019: More than $554 million raised by six alums

September 2019: More than $148 million raised by five alums


If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the third quarter of 2019, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

More Than $1.8 Billion Raised by 29 Alums in Q2 2019

Our “Best Q2 to Date” just got bested.

Finovate alums raised more than $1.8 billion in new funding in the second quarter of 2019. The Q2 figure from this year surpasses the previous, record-setting second quarter from 2018 by more than $300 million. This year’s amount also represents an increase of more than 3x over our alum funding total of $468 million for Q1.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q2 2018: More than $1.5 billion raised by 37 alums
  • Q2 2017: More than $726 million raised by 25 alums
  • Q2 2016: More than 510 million raised by 23 alums
  • Q2 2015: More than $840 million raised by eight alums

The second quarter of 2019 also marks our fifth billion dollar quarter since 2015.

Previous Billion Dollar Quarters

  • Q2 2018: More than $1.5 billion raised by 37 alums
  • Q1 2018: More than $1.3 billion raised by 26 alums
  • Q3 2017: More than $1 billion raised by 31 alums
  • Q3 2015: More than $1 billion raised by 40 alums

Our biggest fundraising alum for the quarter was financial management platform Sofi – by a mile. But Sofi aside there were still more than a handful of sizable investments in Finovate alums this spring, including four other nine-figure financings in Marqeta, Blend, Dashlane, and multiple-time Best of Show winner MX.

The top ten equity investments for our alums in Q2 totaled $1.35 billion, representing 75% of the quarter’s total funding.

Top Ten Equity Investments for Q2 2019

  • Sofi: $500 million
  • Marqeta: $260 million
  • Blend: $130 million
  • Dashlane: $110 million
  • MX: $100 million
  • Bill.com: $88 million
  • Alkami: $55 million
  • Clinc: $52 million
  • Synapse: $33 million
  • Payfone: $24 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q2 2019.

April 2019: More than $205 million raised by seven alums

May 2019: More than $1.25 billion raised by 11 alums

June 2019: More than $375 million raised by 10 alums


If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the second quarter of 2019, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

$468 Million Raised by 20 Alums in Q1 of 2019

$468 Million Raised by 20 Alums in Q1 of 2019

One of the big questions about first quarter funding for Finovate alums over the past few years asked: which is the truer barometer of the fintech funding environment: the post-election parsimony of Q1 2017 or the billion+ investment rebound of Q1 2018?

We now have our answer: Alums in the first quarter of 2019 racked in more than $468 million in funding. This figure more than doubles the Q1 2017 total, and represents financings from 20 companies that have demoed at our conferences in the past (both Finovate and FinDEVr). Q1 2019 totals are less than that of the previous two first quarters in 2016 and 2015, but on a “per alum funded” basis this year’s first quarter is comparable to all but 2018’s historic start.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q1 2018: $1.32 billion raised by 26 alums
  • Q1 2017: $230 million raised by 20 alums
  • Q1 2016: $656 million raised by 32 alums
  • Q1 2015: $680 million raised by 29 alums

Unlike some quarters in which overall totals are boosted by a single outsized investment (Credit Karma’s $500 million fundraising in Q1 of last year comes to mind), the first quarter investments for alums this year were in the moderate range. That said, adding up to $428 million, this quarter’s top 10 equity investments make up a sizable 91.5% of the quarter’s total funding.

Top 10 Equity Investments

  1. Stash: $65 million
  2. Tink: $63 million
  3. Coverhound: $58 million
  4. Nutmeg: $58 million
  5. Personal Capital: $50 million
  6. Mambu: $34 million
  7. Featurespace: $32.2 million
  8. Socure: $30 million
  9. SpyCloud: $21 million
  10. Zafin: $17.2 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q1 2019.

January: More than $111 million raised by five alums

February: More than $276 million raised by nine alums

March: More than $81 million raised by six alums


If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the first quarter of 2019 and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

Top image designed by Freepik

More than $1 Billion Raised by Alums in Q3 2015

More than $1 Billion Raised by Alums in Q3 2015

sackofmoneyFinovate alums raised about $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2015.

The fundraising in Q3 of this year is more than 5x last year’s Q3 tally of $194 million, and 6x the 2013 total of $171 million. The number of deals was up as well: 40 last quarter compared to 17 in Q3 a year ago, and 23 in Q3 2013.

There were also four acquisitions:

Top 1o Fundings in Q3:

  • Twilio: $130 million
  • Kabbage: $120 million
  • Behalf: $119 million
  • Kreditech: $92 million
  • Fenergo: $75 million
  • ShopKeep: $60 million
  • BankBazaar: $60 million
  • Radius: $50 million
  • Payoneer: $50 million
  • RealtyMogul: $35 million

Total: $1.07 billion raised by 40 alums

July: $748 million raised by 16 alums

August: $153 million raised by 12 alums

September: $173 million raised by 12 alums


If you are an alum that raised money in the third quarter of 2015, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We are eager to share your good news! Funding received prior to becoming a Finovate alumnus is not included in our research.