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This week for our Finovate Global Lists feature we congratulate the graduates of Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai. Eleven startups successfully completed the MENA-based accelerator program in late February, wrapping up the three-month experience with a pitch opportunity before an audience of investors, corporate partners, mentors, and industry analysts. “As the Demo Day has passed and the Read more…
As our recent conversation featuring Boss Insights founder and CEO Keren Moynihan, reminds us, the fintechs (and “TechFins”) of the Great White North are engaged in some of the most forward-looking innovation on the continent. This week brings an above average volume of news from Canada’s ambitious real-time payments industry. For one, the Vancouver Bullion Read more…
Zelf, a messenger-based challenger bank based in Latvia and focused on Generation Z customers, announced earlier this week that it has secured $2 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Austrian venture capital firm 3VC, and featured participation by Seed X, Hard Yaka, Goldfinger, and angel investor Chris Adelsbach. The company, founded by Read more…
After 20 years as a player in the retail banking market of the Czech Republic, ING is calling it quits. The firm announced this week that it plans to withdraw from the country’s retail banking scene and is encouraging its customers to consider Raiffeisenbank Czech Republic as their alternative bank going forward. ING expects to Read more…
The rise of insurtech – entrepreneurs and innovators looking to do for insurance what fintechs have done for financial services – is a global phenomenon. And one of the areas where insurtech is beginning to take hold is Vietnam. The country experienced a fintech mini-boom from 2017 to 2019 which, among other things, helped put Read more…
Though we’re only four weeks into it, 2021 has been a big year for cryptocurrency. While there has been a multitude of news items in the crypto space, there are a handful of items worth highlighting. Though much of the cryptocurrency news cycle is often quite hyped, it’s important for the traditional financial sector to Read more…
Earlier this week we reported on the $400 million Series G closed by Brazilian neobank – and Finovate alum – Nubank. The firm, founded in 2013 and based in Sao Paulo, serves more than 34 million customers in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, and offers a digital savings account, a no-fee credit card, as well as Read more…
The following is a guest post by Sandeep Sood, CEO of Kunai. Last year, Facebook announced that all Whatsapp users in India would be able to send payments using India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI was responsible for 2 billion payments in India during the last month alone. It makes it possible for Indians to Read more…
There’s not much room in 2021 for 2020-style pessimism. Sure, if you look, you can find plenty of things to be negative about so far this year. However, one aspect of 2021 that’s giving fintechs hope is the recent uptick in valuations across the fintech sector. Despite last year’s global events, many fintechs received valuations Read more…
One of the greatest “How It Started” vs “How It Going” stories in international fintech these days continues to be the rise of Grab Financial, the spin-off from ride-hailing and food delivery company Grab. The Singapore-based company announced this week that it has secured more than $300 million in a round led by Hanwha Asset Read more…
The news that retail giant Walmart is turning its attention to fintech is an impressive reminder of how the industry has grown. What began as a land of incumbents defending itself from a siege of digitally-savvy disruptors has become more of an Age of Exploration, in which companies large and small compete for slices of Read more…
There’s no better time than the present to plan for the future. That’s the approach taken by European fintech Bitpanda, which announced earlier this week that it was investing €10 million ($12 million) to launch a technology and innovation hub in Poland. The initiative will be headquartered in Krakow and will employ 300 engineering professionals Read more…