Welcome to The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Tuesday 16 July 2024 bringing you the latest updates from across the world.
Appointments
CUBE, a UK regtech backed by Hg, has welcomed new members to its board. Chelsea F.C’s CEO Chris Jurasek joins as non-exec chair, while Emma Brown joins as chief financial officer. Stéphane Besson joined CUBE’s board earlier this year and continues as non-exec director. Also on CUBE’s board is founder and CEO Ben Richmond, as well as Christopher Fielding and Thomas Martin from CUBE’s investment partner Hg.
Allied Payment Network, a provider of real-time, open-network payments solutions to banks and credit unions, adds Hank Vanjaria as its new chief financial officer. Most recently, Hank served as CFO at Apptega, a B2B SaaS provider of cybersecurity and compliance solution.
Redwood Bank is on a mission to become the UK’s best specialist business bank and has promoted Sam Taylor to the role of business development manager to support its growing business development offering across the East of England and the East Midlands. Sam joined Redwood from the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2020 and has more than eight years’ experience in secured lending and asset finance roles.
Capco, the global management and technology consultancy, appoints Paul Riseborough as managing partner for Capco’s business in the UK. He was formerly a partner in Capco’s UK banking and payments practice, working with clients to deliver solutions to help them meet their growth and transformation goals. Based in London, Riseborough will also become a member of Capco’s global senior leadership team.
Stay Payments, a payment technology provider, has appointed Valentin Neiconi as chief risk officer. Neiconi brings more than 15 years of experience in risk and fraud management leadership to his new role. Most recently, Neiconi was the head of fraud and risk North America for Adyen. He also serves as part of Visa’s risk executive council.
More appointments
Cryptomathic has welcomed Edmundo Diaz as its new sales director for Southern Europe, Africa and Latin America. Before joining Cryptomathic, Diaz was the sales manager for Europe, North Africa and LatAm for cyber security solutions provider Ascertia.
DLA Piper appoints Lorica Elferink as a new corporate director in South Africa. Elferink advises domestic and international clients on corporate law, company and securities law, and governance related matters. These include takeovers, private acquisitions, mergers and demergers, joint ventures, restructurings, listings, and equity raises. Her experience spans the consumer goods, food and retail, insurance and financial services sectors.
SMEB, a financial services and payments company dedicated to supporting small business, has appointed Dickson Chu as head of payments. Having previously held senior product roles at Dedoco, Lalamove and YouTrip, Dickson specialises in building and leading product teams, with a focus on global scale product development in startups.
BCB Group, a provider of business accounts and trading services for the digital asset economy, has welcomed Tim Renew as chief revenue officer. He is responsible for leading and driving the commercial functions of the business as well as executing the strategy for BCB Group’s expansion. Prior to joining BCB Group, Renew spent over four years at Banked, where he served as CEO APAC and group CRO.
Funding and investments
Molten Ventures, a VC firm investing in high growth technology businesses, has led the latest round in One Data, a German software company, in a Series B extension totalling €32million. HV Capital and Vsquared Ventures also took place. One Data intends to use this additional capital to strengthen its position in data product management, as well as to expand into new international markets.
Cubbit, a geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, has closed its $12.5million funding round. LocalGlobe and ETF Partners co-led the raise. The new funding will enable Cubbit’s to grow CAPEX free in Europe, focusing on the DACH, and French-speaking regions, as well as the UK. The round will also accelerate Cubbit’s technology adoption. Part of the funding will also go towards further consolidation of the application ecosystem around Cubbit’s enabling technology to support vertical projects in various industries.
fundcraft, a fintech specialising in digital-native fund operations, announces the successful initial close of MiddleGame Ventures’ third Fintech Fund. The fund, targeting €150million, leverages fundcraft’s innovative digital platform to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. MiddleGame Ventures has utilised fundcraft’s digital operations to achieve a seamless fundraising process.
AI is taking an ever-greater share of UK venture capital according to new analysis from HSBC Innovation Banking UK and Dealroom. In H1 2024, UK AI startups raised $2.1billion and are on track for a record-breaking year, with the sector projected to raise $4.4billion by the end of the year. Year-to-date, UK AI has passed a quarter of a trillion dollars in value and now accounts for 22 per cent of UK tech value, up from 12 per cent in 2019.
More funding news
OCN (formerly OneCarNow), a fintech for gig workers across the Americas, announces an $86million Series A fund raise. Participating institutions include Caravela Capital (Brazil); Collide Capital (US); and Great North Ventures (US) with the debt element provided by new investor i80 Group – a New York-headquartered investment firm. Proceeds will be used for strategic international expansion.
Dopay, the fintech providing a digital payroll and payments platform serving unbanked and underbanked workers in emerging markets, has closed a strategic $13.5million Series A extension round. This funding milestone tops up a previous $18million Series A funding round and marks a significant step in Dopay’s mission to transform cash-based economies by digitising payments.
Partnerships
Tottenham Hotspur has unveiled a global brand partnership with Kraken. Ahead of the 2024/25 season, Kraken will become the club’s first-ever official crypto and Web3 partner, and the official sleeve partner for its men’s and women’s teams. Both sides will work to educate Spurs’ global fan base about crypto and provide opportunities for fans to deepen their connection to the team through crypto assets.
Fintech PAYSTRAX has forged a new partnership and integration with UK payment solutions provider Cardstream to provide smooth card and online transactions for its customers. Utilising Cardstream’s global payment gateway, PAYSTRAX customers can now benefit from an additional way to connect with its acquiring services and accept cross-border payments smoothly and securely. PAYSTRAX merchants can also integrate Cardstream’s payment gateway into their online platforms, websites or mobile apps.
Expedia Group, the online travel platforms, has finalised a multiyear agreement with Wells Fargo and Mastercard to launch two new co-branded credit cards. Designed to complement One Key, Expedia Group’s loyalty programme, the One Key Card, and One Key+ Card, will offer more flexibility, savings and perks for US travellers.
ChargeAfter, the embedded lending platform for point-of-sale financing, announces its partnership with Snap Finance, a flexible pay-over-time financing option provider. The collaboration strengthens ChargeAfter’s subprime lender coverage, equipping merchants with additional options to better support customers who are likely to be declined for traditional financing or credit models.
Company launches
Lemonade, the digital insurance company powered by AI and social impact, has launched buildings and contents insurance in the UK. Expanding the company’s home insurance offerings, homeowners throughout the UK can now purchase extensive coverage for their home and belongings. It has launched the insurance in partnership with Aviva.
HelloSafe, a Canadian insurance comparison service provider, has launched an AI-based Blue Card Insurance Comparator, a service exclusive to the Canadian market, developed to help Quebec consumers understand and maximise the insurance coverages included with their bank cards.
Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, has introduced Xsolla Backend, a solution designed to help developers of all sizes, especially indie and midsize teams, work across various gaming platforms. Xsolla Backend makes games more accessible by allowing developers to unite their audience across all platforms: PC, console, mobile and the web. This addresses audience fragmentation common to most games and enables developers to save costs while creating deeper engagement as they grow their gaming business.
Bandhan Bank has launched its latest payment solution through the Bharat QR Code for its current account and savings account customers. This will simplify the way these self-employed segment customers make payments at any merchant outlet. An instant notification will also be received on every payment through a small speaker.
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