Of the 27 FinTech companies to raise rounds in the last seven days, cybersecurity and InsurTech companies enjoyed the most cash injections.
2020 continues to be a tumultuous year for the FinTech industry. Since New Year’s Eve, the sector has had to tackle the uncertainties caused by Brexit and the upcoming US presidential election. However, no factor has proven as disturbing for the industry as the global coronavirus pandemic. In fact, it may even be behind some of the funding trends we have seen recently.
Just looking at the 27 funding rounds FinTech Global has covered in the past seven days, it seems as if cybersecurity and InsurTech have picked up the majority of the cash injections seen.
Looking at the cybersecurity sector, we reported how Perimeter 81, Oomnitza, IRONSCALES, clean.io, Blumira, HyperQube Technologies and Plurilock Security Solutions all announced rounds in the last week. This is hardly surprising given that the threat from cyber criminals have risen on the back of the pandemic.
Bad actors have tried to leverage Covid-19 in their criminal enterprises since the start of the year. As we have reported in the past, cyber criminals have launched more ransomware, phishing, financial frauds and other schemes on the back of the pandemic as businesses have increasingly embraced remote working and thus created a bigger attack surface for bad actors. Moreover, the costs of security breaches has also gone up since the coronavirus outbreak.
In response, enterprises around the world have upped their investment into their digital defences as IT professionals have pushed cybersecurity to the top of their priorities, which could explain why many cybersecurity companies have enjoyed reasonably big funding rounds.
In the first quarter of 2020, the cybersecurity sector raised $1.5bn, according to FinTech Global’s research. That’s more than a quarter of the $4.7bn raised through the entirety of 2020. That being said, many of those rounds had been in the pipeline before the health crisis broke out.
In the first six months of 2020, the sector raised $3.9bn in total, representing a 5% growth from the same period the year before.
However, the cybersecurity boom could be about to slow down. Experts have warned that businesses may soon tighten their purse strings to save enough money to help them ride out the crisis.
The investments into InsurTech ventures last week can be seen from a similar light. The idea that has been floated by some industry experts is that the Covid-19 crisis has prompted the insurance industry to speed up its adoption of the latest technology. As such, InsurTech startups could prove to be among the big winners of the pandemic.
Still, InsurTech investments around the world declined in the first half of 2020, according to FinTech Global’s research. Whole funding into this space jumped from $1.68bn in 2016 to $5.96bn in 2019, the sector only attracted $2.01bn in the first six months of this year.
Trumid Financial becomes the next FinTech unicorn
Credit trading company Trumid Financial has secured its unicorn status on the back of a $200m round. Growth equity firm Dragoneer Investment Group led the round. TPG, T. Rowe Price Associates and BlackRock were also among the investors backing the round. Trumid Financial will use the money to fund its expansion into new geographies and enhance its product suite to meet the needs of emerging markets. Asia is of the regions the company is exploring expansion opportunities in.
PayActiv strengthen its financial muscles with $100m Series C round
Financial wellness platform PayActiv has bagged $100m in its Series C funding round to increase its customer base. Eldridge led the round, which also enjoyed participation from Generation Partners and the Ziegler Link Age Fund II.
PayActiv will use the new capital to grow its customer base and providing additional benefits to its existing customers. Currently, the FinTech serves more than four million employees across 1,000 businesses.
Blend bags $75m and nearly hits the $1.7bn valuation mark
Lending solutions provider Blend has picked up a valuation close to $1.7bn on the back of a $75m funding round and is now planning to solve banks’ Covid-19 problems. Canapi Ventures, the FinTech-focused venture capital firm, led the round. Existing investors Temasek, General Atlantic, 8VC, Greylock and Emergence also injected new capital into the venture.
PPRO scores $50m in funding after a year of strong growth
PPRO, a local payments platform-as-a-service, has closed a $50m funding round. The company’s funding burst came from Sprints Capital, with support coming from existing investors Citi Ventures and HPE Growth. With the round closed, PPRO is eyeing the expansion of its organisation and strategic growth plans to support the international breadth of its platform.
Perimeter 81 closes $40m Series B
Zero-trust secure network Perimeter 81 has closed its Series B on $40m, coming just months after a Series A extension. Insight Partners led the new investment, which will help the startup to increase its hiring and development. The cybersecurity company previously secured $4.5m in March, adding to the capital it had already raised in its Series A in 2019. This capital was supplied by Toba Capital and SonicWall. Perimeter 81 has raised a total of $25m in its seed and Series A round.
Habito secures £35m in Series C round
London-based PropTech Habito has bagged £35m in a Series C round led by Augmentum Fintech, SBI Group and mojo.capital. Existing investors Ribbit Capital, Atomico and Mosaic Ventures also participated in the raise. They previously backed the PropTech startup’s £18.5m Series B raise in 2017. The new round brings the total invested into Habito to £63m. Habito will use the cash injection to strengthen its brokerage, lending and home-buying services.
Kin Insurance closes $35m Series B
Home insurance platform Kin Insurance secured $35m in a Series B round led by Commerce Ventures. Hudson Structured Capital Management, Flourish Ventures, QED, Alpha Edison, Allegis NL Capital, Avanta Ventures, August Capital and the University of Chicago via its Startup Investment Program were among the companies injecting capital into Kin Insurance. The InsurTech, which is currently available in Florida, is hoping to launch its platform in more US states on the back of the raise.
Celebrity fundraising platform Omaze bags $30m in Series B
Omaze, the celebrity fundraising platform, has reportedly raised $30m in a Series B round led by FirstMark Capital. The company also enjoyed cash injections from Causeway Media Partners, BDMI, Tusk Ventures, Inherent Group, Gaingels and several angel investors. In the past, Omaze has created fundraising campaigns for people wishing to meet Michelle Obama or cast members of Star Wars or to visit filming sets.
Axle Payments said to raise $27.7m in a round of debt and equity
Axle Payments has reportedly bagged $27.7m in a mixture of debt and equity to increase its market spread. The round, which comprised of $2.7m in equity and $15m in debt, was supported by Anthemis and Techstars. With the debt funding, Axle plans to deploy its financing services to new markets, while the equity investment will be used to increase product development.
Incomlend nets $20m in Series A round
Incomlend hopes to alleviate some of shipping companies’ concerns on the back of its new $20m Series A round. The global online invoice trading platform raised the funds in a round led by Sequoia India. Earlier investor, shipping and logistics company CMA CGM Group, returned to offer the startup its continued support.
High Definition Vehicle Insurance pulls in $16m Series A
Commercial auto insurance startup High Definition Vehicle Insurance (HDVI) has netted $16m in its Series A round. 8VC and Munich Re Ventures led the round, with participation also coming from Qualcomm Ventures and Autotech Ventures. HDVI will use the money to grow its product offering to meet the changing market demands. Priorities for the funding include growing the team size, launching into new US states and building additional technology tools for agents, fleets and drivers.
End-to-end cybersecurity solution Oomnitza closes its Series B on $12.5m
Oomnitza, which helps companies to secure and manage their digital presence, has closed its Series B round on $12.5m. The investment was led by Shasta Ventures and Riverside Acceleration Capital. Oomnitza helps companies to manage their evolving IT infrastructure by addressing critical requirements for security, compliance, procurement and employee experience.
Mexico-based Creze reportedly bags $12m in funding
Mexico-based FinTech startup Creze has reportedly raised $12m in a funding round from unnamed investors based in the country. With this capital injection, the company will update its technology and better cope with the market instability caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It will also look to improve its risk analysis so loan requests can be processed quicker.
WealthPark collects $8.5m in funding round
Japan-based FinTech WealthPark has bagged $8.5m in a funding round, which will help it strengthen its operation capabilities. Investors of the round include SBI Investment, Mizuho Capital Co., Aozora Bank, Japan Finance Corporation and a number of unnamed domestic and foreign investors. With the fresh equity, the company will increase the size of its engineering team, bolster its corporate operation capabilities and improve business foundations.
Email security startup IRONSCALES scores $8m in Series B round
IRONSCALES, a self-learning email security solution, has scored $8m in its Series B round to support its rapid growth plans. The investment was led by Jump Capital, a venture capital firm based in Chicago. As part of the deal, Jump Capital partner Saurabh Sharma will join the IRONSCALES board of directors.
Payments company Vitesse nets £6.6m in its Series A
Cross-border B2B payments company Vitesse has netted £6.6m in its Series A round, which was led by Octopus Ventures. Participation also came from previous backers Hoxton Ventures and unnamed angel investors. Vitesse plans to use its new financial muscles to continue to develop a global settlement and liquidity management system to better handle international money transfers. The venture will also put money aside to hire additional staff for its sales and marketing teams, as well as boosting its presence in the US.
Bambi Dynamic bags $6m to bolster its mobility insurance offering
On the back of its new funding round, InsurTech Bambi Dynamic wants to update car insurance for a modern world where ownership might be a thing of the past. Covid-19 threw a spanner in the works for businesses around the world, but for Bambi Dynamic the coronavirus proved to be a perfect way to showcase the need for its services.
Cybersecurity startup clean.io nets $5m in its Series A round
clean.io, which protects enterprises from the execution of malicious and untrusted JavaScript, has bagged $5m in its Series A round. Tribeca Venture Partners led the round, with contributions also coming from Real Ventures, Inner Loop Capital and Grit Capital Partners. The capital injection will enable clean.io to continue its growth and expand its product line.
Accounting company Proper secures $4.8m seed round
Proper, an accounting platform for property management, has reportedly raised $4.8m in its seed round. The investment was supported by MetaPop, Expa and Bling Capital, according to a report from Vator. With the capital, the company plans to improve its automation technology, focusing on its Accounts Payable tool.
InsurTech the Demex Group bags $4.2m in seed funding
Climate risk InsurTech the Demex Group has secured $4.2m in a seed funding round led by Anthemis and IA Capital Group. The technology company boasts about being at the forefront of the sector thanks to its ability to customise and deliver climate-resilience through financial risk solutions on a global scale. Its solutions enable financial firms to mitigate unique weather risks and seize climate-linked business opportunities.
Cambodian FinTech Clik bags $3.7m in funding round
Cambodia-based payments company Clik has reportedly netted $3.7m in a funding round as it edges nearer to its launch. The round was backed by Openway, Poems Pte and a number of unnamed angel investors, according to a report from Jump Start Mag. A third of the angel investors were based in Cambodia. This investment is supposedly the biggest seed round into a Southeast Asian mobile payments, loyalty programme, data visualisation and cloud data services company.
Paymob secures $3.5m funding round
Egyptian digital payments company Paymob has secured $3.5m in its funding round, which was led by Global Ventures and Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank FMO. Previous Paymob backer A15 also contributed to the round. The fresh equity will be used to expand the company’s merchants’ network to meet rising demand. Capital will also be used to increase product development and increase its regional footprint. Paymob has the goal of making digital payments more accessible in Egypt and driving the country towards greater financial inclusion.
Healthcare payments startup Sift Healthcare secures $2.8m in funding
Sift Healthcare, an AI-powered software designed to improve healthcare payments, has secured $2.8m in a new funding round. Of the capital injection, $1.8m was supplied by Rock River Capital Partners and the Winnebago Seed Fund. The FinTech did not disclose how the remaining $1m was raised. Following the close of the over-subscribed seed round, the company plans to expand its data science and data engineering teams in order to meet rising demands. Capital will also be used to deepen its AI-based solutions.
Blumira bags $2.6m in funding
Cybersecurity platform Blumira has bagged $2.6m in a funding round to help it deepen its threat detection and response technology. The round was led by M25, a Chicago-based venture capital firm, with contributions also coming from San Francisco-based Array Ventures. With the capital, the company is looking to enhance its detection and response technology.
HyperQube Technologies secures $2.5m in funding round
HyperQube Technologies enables businesses to easily create a secure cloud network and has bagged $2.5m in funding to increase support for remote working. The capital investment was led by Leawood Venture Capital, an early-stagy technology-focused investor. Following the close of the round, the company will expand its sales, marketing and engineering teams.
ElGameya secures six-figure investment
Group lending app ElGameya has reportedly bagged six-figure pre-seed investment from an angel syndicate. The round was led by AUC Angels, an angel investor network from the University of Cairo. Other contributors include Cairo Angels and Alex Angels. With the equity burst, the company aims to enhance its application features and grow its user base. ElGameya did not disclose the exact figure raised.
Plurilock raises $90,000
Plurilock Security Solutions has raised $90,000 in funding to support the next stage of passwordless authentication technology. The equity infusion was supplied by the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), as a research and development support package.
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