News
Three fintech mega-deals totalling $87 billion set the scene for a record-breaking $120 billion in disclosed transaction value for the sector in a ‘white-hot’ first half of 2019, reveals Hampleton Partners, in its latest global Fintech M&A Market Report.
Hampleton Partners, which specialises in international technology M&A and corporate finance, noted that all three of the top transactions were in the payments processing segment: Fidelity National Information Services acquired Worldpay for $43.6bn; Fiserv acquired First Data for $22bn and Global Payments acquired Total System Services for $21.2bn.
As challengers use their agility to attract new customers, legacy players are forced to acquire the necessary technology to compete. Investors and acquirers will tend towards targets that focus on automation via disruptive technology, such as real-time payment processing technology; AI chatbots (expected to save banks $7.3 billion annually by 2023); and mobile banking, as in-person branch visits are set to fall 36% between 2017 and 2021.
To read more, click here.
Curve, the multi-use banking platform which consolidates several cards and accounts into one smart card and app is launching a seven figure crowdfunding campaign this September.
With a valuation of $250m, it sits alongside the UK’s most exciting scaleups; Transferwise, Monzo, Revolut and Starling. The fintech has raised over $70m to date.
According to the business, over 500,000 people have signed up to its All Your Cards in One smart card and app since it launched in 2018. Curve currently employs 160 employees and is on track to double its customer base to around 1 million by the end of the year.
Next month, Curve will be offering eligible customers a chance to invest in and own a part of the startup. The funding will be done through Crowdcube, and eligible Curve customers will be able to invest from as little as £10 to own part of the business and gain access to exclusive shareholder rewards.
To read more, click here.
Flatfair, a London-based fintech firm, has raised $11m in a round led by Index Ventures.
The fintech, which aims to tackle the rental market in london by offering deposit free renting to tenants, says it’s already saved tenants “over £4,000,000 in deposit fees” and now looking to “lead the way with the renting revolution that’s taking the industry by storm,” in a blog post.
The $11m funding comes from popular VC Index Ventures which has backed companies such as Facebook, Deliveroo, ASOS and Revolut.
To read more, click here.
LendInvest, a UK marketplace for property finance, has received £200 million investment from the National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia’s largest banks.
The new funding expands LendInvest’s capacity to lend in the UK Buy-to-Let market. LendInvest has already lent more than £370 million in Buy-to-Let loans and is taking market share in the bank dominated market. In June this year, it also become the UK’s first fintech business to securitise its own portfolio of assets worth £259 million.
The business has now raised over £1.8 billion of debt and equity from investors, making it one of the largest non-bank mortgage lenders in the country.
To read more, click here.
Advanced Digital Innovation (UK), a digital healthcare company advancing a patient app, has secured £650k in funding.
NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, provided the funding.
The company intends to use the funds to build its sales and marketing team and further develop its product.
To read more, click here.
Israel has a new most valuable startup: project management software-maker Monday.com.
Monday.com announced it has raised $150 million in a Series D investment led by Sapphire Ventures. The round more than tripled Monday.com's valuation to $1.9 billion from $550 million in just one year, making Monday the highest-valued startup in its category of work software and the most valuable startup based in Israel.
Founded by Roy Mann and Eran Zinman as dapulse in 2014, Monday has emerged as one of the leaders in work software that helps teams track projects and assign tasks to individuals and groups, a category known as project management. Some 80,000 paying businesses use Monday today, up from 35,000 a year ago, and include businesses like Philips, WeWork and Wix.com.
To read more, click here.
Online payments giant Klarna has scooped up another $460m in an equity funding round led by Dragoneer, which values the fintech firm at $5.5bn.
Other investors included Commonwealth Bank of Australia, HMI Capital, Starling Bank investor Merian Chrysalis, Forsta AP-Fonden, IPGL, Institutional Venture Partners and several funds managed by Blackrock.
Swedish-born Klarna said it will use the funding to continue expanding in the US, where it is growing by around 6m users per year.
It is already widely popular in the UK, offering interest-free “buy now, pay later” services to more than 1,000 integrated merchants including ASOS, Cult Beauty, Ray-Ban and Schuh.
Klarna added that it will soon have new partnerships available with H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch and Boohoo.
The firm is nearing $1bn in annual revenue this year, with more than 60m consumers and 130,000 merchants using its platform.
To read more, click here.
Paysend, an international Fintech startup, has closed an £8.5m Series B fundraise from GVA Capital, alongside 933 investors on investment platform Seedrs.
GVA invested £3.95m into the international money transfer company, and Seedrs raised £4.6m. The Seedrs round was driven by leading investors Plug and Play and Digital Space Ventures, who have already backed the likes of PayPal, Revolut, N26 and Tandem.
Its products are designed for the needs of customers who are always on the move, so they can enjoy a life without borders. Paysend has already grown to over 900,000 users, facilitated over 2 million transactions every month and is processing over $55M per month.
During the campaign, Paysend also announced the launch of its global digital currency, Pays XDR. Pays XDR is a digital currency 100% backed by a basket of five fiat currencies; USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CNY. Reserves are matched in the exact proportion of the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights (SDR). Pays XDR will be available via the Global Account and a Pays XDR wallet. The reserves supporting the currency will be independently audited and openly published.
Proceeds from the fundraise will be used to support the global roll-out for the business.
To read more, click here.
Depop, the fashion resale app, is opening its first retail space in London in partnership with Selfridges.
Taking over the luxury department store’s Designer Studio on the third floor, the millennial-friendly marketplace is entering the London designer space for three months until October.
A selection of rare vintage pieces, upcycled treasures and unique accessories curated and designed by the app’s top sellers will be on display at the pop-up store.
The space will also host a range of workshops and events led by key sellers, with the aim of creating an immersive experience where visitors can discover new pieces and learn how to turn their own Depop accounts into a business.
To read more, click here.
Thriva, a London-based proactive health company, secured £6M in Series A funding. Backers included Pembroke VCT and Guinness Asset Management.
Founded by Hamish Grierson, Eliot Brooks and Tom Livesey, Thriva offers clinical-grade insights based on the latest research. To date, it has served over 100,000 people to understand how their lifestyle is impacting their health.
Its at-home testing kits allow customers to understand, keep track of and improve what’s happening inside their bodies. The kits are processed by UKAS accredited laboratories and analyse anything from vitamins and minerals to hormone function to indicators of heart disease and diabetes.
The company, which has raised £7.5m since its launch in 2016, intends to use the funds to continue to expand operation and its business reach.
To read more, click here.