From Monzo’s seeing its valuation plummet to Checkout.com becoming one of Europe’s most valuable FinTechs, the last week has been full of funding rounds that could cause big waves in the sector.
There has been no shortage of funding rounds in the FinTech space this week. Over the past seven days, FinTech Global has reported on 31 different investment deals. These rounds could help paint a clearer picture of where the industry is heading. It’s also encouraging to see some big rounds, with Checkout.com, Pagaya and Payfone all raising rounds worth over $100m.
Checkout.com broke the mould last year when it raised Europe’s biggest Series A round for a FinTech startup ever by collecting $230m. Now it could possibly have become the continent’s most valuable FinTech, having collected $150m in a Series B round and a valuation of $5.5bn to boot. This makes it the third company in the sector to have collected a $5.5bn valuation over the past 12 months, with UK challenger bank Revolut and Swedish buy now, pay later unicorn Klarna being the other two.
It’s also been a week of noteworthy investments in the neobank segment of the industry. UK startup Monzo, its US rival Upgrade and the Filipino neobank tonik all secured significant capital injections over the past seven days.
The tonik round is significant given previous reports that the Asian digital banking sector is going to grow tremendously in the next few years, after having previously been slow to get the ball rolling. Backbase and IDC recently revealed that 63% of customers in the?Asia-Pacific are interested in switching from traditional lenders to neobanks within the next five years as 100 new financial institutions are estimated to launch in the region by 2025. The trend in the region can partially be explained with new and more liberal laws and the issuance of new banking licenses like the ones issued by Singapore in early 2020 are two of the key drivers behind this expected growth.
The Monzo round provides a lesson of another kind. While the rumours had been going on for some time that the UK challenger bank would be down-valued as part of its new funding round, last week apparently saw those rumours confirmed when the news of its latest funding round hit the wire. Apparently, Monzo saw its valuation drop from $2bn to $1.24bn, representing a 40% fall, as it collected $60m in new capital. A report from TechCrunch suggested that a number of Monzo’s investors were quite tough on the challenger bank in a hope to lower the price on shares.
As many of the dejecting stories we’ve seen this year, it’s easy to speculate that the coronavirus could’ve have played its part in the neobank’s misfortunes. Like many other European challenger banks, Monzo quickly felt the shock waves of the pandemic earlier this year. For instance, it has seen the rate of new signups slow down, been forced to close its Las Vegas office and let go the 165 staff members who worked there, reportedly furloughed 295 UK staff members and had to fight back rumours on social media sites that it was going bust. And in the beginning of June it was revealed that another 120 of its staff might be let go as it tries to cut costs to weather the crisis. Still, it remains to be seen if the Covid-19 crisis was the reason for the down-round.
Identity companies have seemingly been on a roll lately. While Unum ID and Payfone both raised funds this week, they are not the only big deals from the past few months. In April we reported that digital identity startup Proxy acquires wearable technology company Motiv and that ForgeRock had bagged $93.5m in new Series E round. April also waw biometrics specialist Onfido collect $100m in fresh capital to fuel further expansions and tech developments.
Of course, this is hardly surprsing given the identification and background check market is one of the biggest RegTech sectors in the world. Between 2015 and 2019, the sector has made up between 13.6% and 19.5% of the total investment going into the RegTech industry, according to RegTech Analyst research.
Since the Covid-19 crisis first started, we have seen numerous reports about how cyber criminals have taken advantage of the pandemic to launch different types of hack attacks and frauds. With that background in mind, it’s unsurprising to see that several cybersecurity ventures raised money last week. You can read more about the the Haven Group, CounterCraft, Kasada, Uptycs, Open Raven, Salt Security, Kymatio and OPORA as well as all the other rounds we’ve covered over the past week below.
Checkout.com bags $150m in Series B round
Britain-based payment FinTech Checkout.com has closed a $150m Series B funding round and can now boast having a valuation $5.5bn, making it one of Europe most valuable FinTech startups. Although, payment tech venture Klarna and UK challenger bank Revolut have both achieved the exact same valuation of $5.5bn over the past year.
Technology focused hedge fund Coatue led the Series B round, which also saw participation from existing investors, including Insight Partners, DST Global, Blossom Capital and Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC.
Pagaya to hire more data scientists after securing $102m Series D round
Asset management support service Pagaya has collected $102m in its Series D round, which was led by an unnamed strategic financial institution. Contributions also came from Aflac Global Ventures, Poalim Capital Markets, Viola, Oak HC/FT, Clal Insurance, GF Investments, former American Express chairman and CEO Harvey Golub and Siam Commercial Bank. Pagaya will use the money to recruit more data scientists, bolster its technology development and pursue additional asset classes such as real estate, auto loans, mortgages and corporate credit.
Payfone raises $100m in new round
Having established itself as a leading digital identity company provider, Payfone has secured $100m in new funding round. It plans to use the money to to acquire strategic assets, further strengthen its machine learning capabilities, and build a cross-industry consortium to secure digital transactions and experiences.
The investment was led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity team of Apax Partners. New investors Sandbox Insurtech Ventures and Ralph de la Vega, the former vice chairman of AT&T also joined the raise as did existing investors MassMutual Ventures, Synchrony, Blue Venture Fund, Wellington Management and the former CEO of LexisNexis Andrew Prozes.
Monzo collects $60m in new round but sees its valuation drop
UK challenger bank Monzo reportedly saw its valuation drop from $2bn to $1.24bn, representing a 40% fall, as it collected $60m in new capital. Investors to the capital infusion include existing backers Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Accel, Stripe, Goodwater, Orange, Thrive and Passion Capital. Reference Capital and Vanderbilt University also joined the round to make their first contributions into Monzo.
US challenger bank Upgrade closes $40m Series D led by Santander InnoVentures
Neobank Upgrade has strengthened its finances with a $40m investment round led by Santander InnoVentures, the Santander Group venture capital arm, and will use the money to fuel the growth of current and upcoming products. Existing investors Union Square Ventures, Ribbit, Vy Capital and Silicon Valley Bank also participated as did new investors Ventura Capital and Uncorrelated Ventures also participated in the round, bringing total funding since company inception to $200m.
Brightside closes $35.1m Series A to support growth
Brightside, a financial care platform, has closed its Series A round on $35.1m to support the growth of its customer base. The investment was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with contributions also coming from Comcast Ventures and Trinity Ventures. With the equity backing, the company will look to reach more employers and employees.
Uptycs nets $30m in Series B
Security analytics startup Uptycs has raised $30m in a Series B round led by Sapphire Ventures with participation of Comcast Ventures and ForgePoint Capital. The round brings to total capital raised by Uptycs to $43m. It will use the new cash injection to keep reimagining cloud workload and endpoint security with its structured query language-powered security analytics platform.
Botkeeper closes $25m Series B as it looks to help improve accounting functions
Bookkeeping platform Botkeeper has closed a $25m Series B round and is now looking to grow its team. The round was led by Point72 Ventures, with additional commitments coming from new backers High Alpha Capital, Republic Labs, Oakridge and Peak State. Also joining the round was a number of existing Botkeeper investors such as Ignition Partners, Greycroft Partners, Gradient Ventures and Sorenson Capital.
Data platform MayStreet bags $21m in its new funding round
MayStreet, a market data infrastructure solution, has closed its Series A round on $21m, to support the global expansion of its platform. Credit Suisse Asset Management FinTech growth investment division NEXT Investors led the Series A. Having closed the round, the company will bolster its globalisation efforts, increase its product development and deepen its sales and marketing presence.
Philippines first digital neobank tonik secures $21m Series A as it gears up for Q3 launch
Philippines-based digital bank tonik has scored $21m for its Series A round which will support its planned Q3 2020 launch. The round was led by Sequoia India and Point72 Ventures, with contributions also coming from Insignia and Credence. tonik was recently given a banking license from the Philippines banking regulator, making it the first digital-only neobank in Southeast Asia, it claims.
Salt Security closes $20m Series A round
Salt Security, which protects all types of APIs, has closed its Series A round on $20m, brining its total equity raised to $30m. Tenaya Capital led the investment, with additional contributions coming from previous backers including, S Capital co-founders Haim Sadger and Aya Peterburg, and Check Point Software co-founder Marius Nacht.
EasyKnock closes the door on $20m funding round
EasyKnock, a technology-powered institutionalised residential sale-leaseback company, has bagged $20m in a new funding round. The investment was co-led by Blumberg Capital and QED Investors, with contributions also coming from FJ Labs, Correlation, Moderne, 7BC and Interplay. Having secured the capital infusion, EasyKnowck will enhance its technologies while boosting product offerings and increasing its team size.
Open Raven bags $19.1m Series A, just months after coming out of stealth
Cloud native data security platform Open Raven has closed its Series A round on $15m, putting its total equity raised to $19.1m. Kleiner Perkins led the round, with previous backers including Upfront Ventures also contributing the round. Having closed the round, the company will look to expand its engineering, customer support, sales and marketing efforts.
Steady nets $15m in funding round
Steady, which offers US workers advice to help build stable income, has secured $15m in its Series B round. Recruity Strategic Partners led the investment, with additional contributions coming from Flourish Ventures, Loeb Enterprises, Propel Venture Partners and CMFG Ventures. Capital from the round will be used accelerate its growth in the US and bolster its data, product and technical operations.
Chipper Cash closes $13.8m Series A round led by Deciens Capital and Raptor Group
Mobile cross-border money transfer startup Chipper Cash plans to hire 30 more staff members after bagging $13.8m in fresh capital. The new employees will be recruited to Chipper Cash San Francisco, Lagos, London, Nairobi and New York branches.
BizCapital collects $12m in Series B round
Brazilian online lender BizCapital has bagged $12m in a new funding round as it moves to develop more products to support small businesses’ financing needs. The investors participating in the Series B round included the Quona Capital, Monashees, Mercado Libre Fund, KFW DEG and Chromo Invest.
Fincy receives $11m capital injection from parent company GBCI to grow across Asia
E-wallet company Fincy has revealed that it has filled its coffers with an additional $11m power boost to launch its South-East Asia. The new investment comes from parent company GBCI Ventures, the Asian venture capital fund and venture builder.
Cybersecurity company Kasada secures $10m in its Series B round
Kasada, a web traffic security solution, has scored $10m in its Series B round as it looks to bolster its growth in the US. The lead investor of the round was Ten Eleven Ventures, with additional contributions coming from Main Sequence Ventures and Reinventure, the venture capital division of Westpac. With the equity boost, the cybersecurity company plans to increase its US expansion and the development of new products.
TransferGo has secured $10m in new round
International money remittance service TransferGo has reportedly netted $10m in funding, after its customer base surges past two million. The investment round was co-led by Seventure and Vostok Emerging finance, according to a report from TechCrunch. Additional support came from Hard Yaka, Revo Capital and Bootstrap Europe.
Cybersecurity startup OPORA closes $7m seed round
Cybersecurity startup OPORA has closed its seed round on $7m, which was led by Jerusalem Venture Partners and a number of angel backers. With the capital injection, the company is looking to increase its product development, sales and marketing efforts.
The Haven Group has secured €5.7m in new investment to fuel growth across Europe
Cybersecurity investor C5 Capital has added €5.7m to the Haven Cyber Technologies Group war chest in a new investment aimed to drive further expansion of the company. It plans to use the money to expand across Europe.
River Financial closes its seed round on $5.7m
Cryptocurrency startup River Financial secured $5.7m in its seed round. The investment was backed by Polychain Capital, Slow Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, DG Lab Fund, Cygni, Pfeffer Capital Ltd and IDEO CoLab Ventures.
CounterCraft raises $5m to accelerate its growth across the US
Cybersecurity startup CounterCraft has bagged $5m in a new round led by Adara Ventures.
The venture capital firm was joined by new investors eCAPITAL and Red Eléctrica Group. The round also saw participation from existing investors including Evolution Equity Partners, ORZA and Wayra. CounterCraft will leverage the new funds to acquire greater market share in the US.
Likvido bags €2.5m in a seed funding round led by BlackFin Tech
Danish accounting solution startup Likvido has successfully tapped European investor BlackFin Tech to be its lead investor for its new funding round. Existing investors also joined the €2.5m seed round. Likvido is described as a solution for companies looking for a way to make payments easier, boost customer relations and minimise debtor losses.
InsurTech startup Qlaims scores ?2.3m in its seed funding round
Qlaims, a property claims platform, has reportedly scored ?2.3m in its seed funding round as it looks to enhance its technology. The capital was supplied by West Hill Corporate Finance, as well as other backers, according to a report from Insurance Edge.
Planet42 closes €2.2m seed round to support growth plans
Planet42, which offers consumers a rent-to-buy vehicle rental, has reportedly netted €2.2m in a funding round. The seed round was led by Change Ventures, with commitments also coming from angel investors including Bolt co-founder Martin Villig, Pipedrive co-founder Ragnar Sass and Katana MRP co-founder Kristjan Vilosius, according to several reports in the media.
Unum ID secures $2m in seed capital
Unum ID, a digital identity company, has secured $2m in its seed funding round which was led by earl-stage venture capital firm Draper Associates. Additional contributions came from TappanHill Ventures, Wedbush Ventures, Hard Yaka and several unnamed angel backers. Proceeds from the round will be used to accelerate the sales and product development of the platform.
Credit score platform Grow Credit collects $2m in seed round
Grow Credit, which helps consumers to build their credit and access financial services, has bagged $2m in its seed round. Mucker Capital invested into the seed round.
Spanish cybersecurity company Kymatio closes €500,000 round
Kymatio, which designs employee cyber risk management tools, has reportedly secured €500,000 in a new crowdfunding round. The investment was raised via the crowdfunding platform TheCrowdAngel, according to a report from Nordic.
GoldenPi said to raise $459,785 in a seed round
Robo-advisory platform GoldenPi has apparently collected roughly Rs 3.5 Crore ($459,785) in a funding round led by Rainmatter Capital. With the close of the round, the company will look to entice more retail investors to its platform, according to a report from VC Circle.
ScoreData closes Series A round for an undisclosed sum
ScoreData has closed its Series A round on an undisclosed amount, as it looks to forge partnerships with market leading organisations. The capital injection was supplied by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Impact Venture Capital.
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