The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup takes a look at the latest fintech stories from around the world on Thursday 19 December 2024.
Appointments
Infrastructure fintech lemon.markets is expanding its leadership team with two key appointments in newly created positions. Philipp Schäfer joins as head of commercial, bringing experience from DWS and Morgenfund, while Niko Schröer takes on the role of head of partnerships, having previously held positions at Stripe and Google. Laura Cüppers also takes on additional responsibility as VP brokerage, now also leading product management.
Global fintech Broadridge Financial Solutions appoints Mike Cowley as head of international investor communications service delivery business. His previous role was global head of asset services product development at Citibank where he led initiatives to enhance service delivery.
Community lender Salad Money has announced the appointment of Alex Marsh as chair of its board, succeeding Sir Tim Melville-Ross who held the role since Salad’s launch in 2019. In addition to his role at Salad, Marsh is a non-executive director of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT).
Northmill, a European fintech bank, has appointed Emil Folkesson as its new chief financial officer. He previously held roles at Nordea Markets, Scania, Intrum and Ratos. Founded in 2006, Northmill offers both retail and business banking services to customers throughout Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland.
Davies, the professional services technology company serving insurance and highly regulated markets, announces a new senior operating structure for its consulting division. The team who will report to consulting CEO, Pino Vallejo, will be responsible for growing the firm’s consulting offering. The appointments include Paul Johnson as chief operating officer and Matt Parkinson, who will take on a newly created role of chief revenue officer.
More appointments
Mashreq, a financial institution in the MENA region, appoints Philip Philippides as the new CEO of Mashreq Capital. In his role, he will lead the expansion of Mashreq Capital’s asset management business, overseeing investments, strategic client engagement, and the development of innovative solutions to meet the needs of a dynamic market.
Toqio, a technology platform for B2B embedded finance for businesses, has added two senior hires across its key markets of the UK and Spain. Marcello Silvestri joins as head of sales in the UK, having previously held senior positions at fintechs Divido and Vizolution, as well as at Western Union, Mastercard and Natwest. Yan Rocubert Paredes joins as VP of technology in Toqio’s home market of Spain. He previously worked at Adevinta Spain, Raet, Unitrends and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba.
Funding Circle has appointed Ken Stannard as non-executive director and chair designate with effect from 1 January 2025. This announcement follows the company’s disclosure in its 2023 Annual Report that it would commence a search process for a successor to Andrew Learoyd who has held the Chair role since May 2016.
DuploCloud has unveiled two strategic additions to its executive team: Matt Amundson as chief marketing officer and Kelly DeHart as chief revenue officer. These new appointments mark a significant milestone in DuploCloud’s growth as the company continues to empower businesses to build technology-first, automated infrastructures.
Funding and investments
Funding Societies, the unified SME digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has raised $25million in equity investment from Cool Japan Fund (CJF) – Japan’s sovereign wealth fund. It will funnel the investment to deepen its core business in SME financing across its five markets (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam); while further expanding its payments business since embarking on it in 2022.
Account-to-account payments fintech Volume has raised $6million in a round led by United Ventures, with participation from Fabrick, the open finance platform part of the Sella Group, and existing investors Firstminute Capital, SeedX and Haatch, who doubled down on their support. Volume is now focused on scaling its operations across the UK and Europe, aiming to obtain FCA regulation in the UK as well as plans for European expansion through a new licence.
BVNK, the stablecoin payments infrastructure company, has closed its $50million Series B funding round, led by Haun Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Scribble Ventures, DRW VC as well as existing investors Avenir and Tiger Global. As part of its Series B, BVNK is expanding its operations to the United States, opening a San Francisco office as well as establishing a presence in New York City.
UK fintech company Upscore has secured additional £1million in seed funding to further expand the footprint of its Finance Passport platform, a free-to-consumer product that provides access to cross-border mortgage solutions. Upscore currently originates over £2million in mortgages monthly, aiming to reach £100million in 2025.
More funding news
Sandfield Capital, a litigation fintech company that provides loans to individuals and law firms pursuing legal claims, has secured a £10.5million funding facility from a Canadian investor in a deal arranged by debt finance specialist Altimapa Capital. The new facility will enable Sandfield Capital to meet growing demand for claims funding in particular from claims against finance brokers for undisclosed commissions as well as tenants taking action against landlords for housing disrepair.
Emirates NBD, a banking group in the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye (MENAT) region has invested in Zodia Custody, an institution-first digital asset custodian. The strategic equity investment was made by Emirates NBD’s Innovation Fund, the bank’s corporate venture fund. Created in 2023, the fund strengthens the bank’s digital ambitions and regional expertise in synergy with the agility and technological innovations of fintech companies.
Habitto, a digital bank providing a new form of mobile-first financial advice to Japan’s younger generations, has secured $11.7million (JPY1.8 billion) in Series A funding. The round was led by QED Investors, DG Daiwa Ventures and Scrum Ventures. This marks QED Investors’ debut investment in Japan. It will use the funds to expand Habitto’s user base, enhance its digital banking platform, as well as develop advanced financial tools and services.
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