Luge Capital raises $85M to invest in Canadian fintech startups
There are 831 financial technology startups headquartered in or operating in Canada, according to data collected by Fintech Growth Syndicate, yet only a handful of venture capital funds specializing in the region and sector. Luge Capital, a fintech and AI-focused venture capital fund headquartered in Montreal and Toronto, is looking to close that gap. The firm has raised $85 million for its debut fund and plans to make seed investments as small as $150,000 and as large as $2 million. The relatively new outfit, founded in 2018, is led by David Nault, a former vice president at iNovia Capital, and Karim Gillani, who previously led corporate development for Xoom, the […]
Canada becomes the first country to launch Samsung POS
Today, Samsung Electronics Canada announced that Samsung POS (Point of Sale), a new, NFC-enabled contactless payment acceptance system designed for micro-merchants and small businesses, is now available exclusively in Canada. Samsung POS enables merchants to accept debit and credit payments – up to $100 CDN – by tapping contactless cards, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay wallets onto Samsung NFC-enabled devices, without the use of dongles, cables or other additional hardware. The Point of Sale solution was engineered in partnership with Mobeewave, a pioneer in contactless mobile card payment acceptance, specifically for micro-merchants and small businesses looking to grow their revenue by accepting card payments. “There is a strong […]
Utrecht-based Rabo Frontier Ventures invests in UK fintech and banking company Tide
Rabo Frontier Ventures, Utrecht-based strategic investment venture fund, has invested in the mobile business platform Tide in a Series B investment round. This investment round was led by SBI Group and Augment. Notably, the RFV deal was structured through an SPV that is managed by Anthemis Group, a major early-stage investor in Tide and one of the most active fintech investors. Jeroen van Doornik, Partner at RFV, said: This investment in Tide will generate valuable insights regarding innovation and development in SME banking and further allows us to work together with Anthemis and alongside existing investors such as LocalGlobe. The funding will help Tide substantially increase its share of the […]
Japanese fintech firm Digital Wallet acquires PH’s Speed Money Transfer
Digital Wallet Corporation (DWC), a Japan-based financial technology (fintech) company, announced today that it has acquired remittance and foreign exchange firm Speed Money Transfer Philippines (SMTP) for an undisclosed amount. SMTP, which operates in the Philippines and Australia, will be renamed as Digital Wallet Philippines following the acquisition. The deal and the name change have been approved by the country’s central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). DWC’s acquisition of a Philippines-based remittance company comes as Filipinos working abroad remitted $2.88 billion in August, slightly higher than July’s $2.87-billion tally, according to data from the BSP. Of the total remittances in August, about $2.59 billion were sent through banks, […]
Canadian FinTech firms set sights on the UK
12 Canadian FinTech firms visit Edinburgh and London as part of a trade mission lead by the Department for International Trade. At the London Stock Exchange on October 21, 12 Canadian FinTech companies begin an exciting 5-day trade mission across the UK as they look to set-up operations in the UK market. The trade mission marks another successful year so far for the UK FinTech industry, which recorded a record level of investment into the sector in the first half of the year. The delegation of companies visiting the UK led by the Department for International Trade (DIT), have collectively raised over half a billion dollars in venture capital and […]
Mako Fintech announces launch of US transfer agency business and formation of advisory board
Mako Fintech, a tech startup delivering next-generation software for securities transfer and administration, announced today that it has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a securities transfer agent in the United States. The transfer agency space has long been overdue for modernization. Legacy systems, low availability, high service costs and transaction delays have created a significant opportunity to move the industry forward through innovation. Mako is entering the transfer agency market with a streamlined, cloud-based SaaS service, offering centralized online voting, engaging investor communications and superior availability through smart automation. “Speaking with customers, we realized that there was a huge disconnect between the service clients […]
Fidelity fully rolls out cryptocurrency custody services
Fidelity, the Boston-based financial services firm with $2.8 trillion USD under management, is fully rolling out its cryptocurrency custody service after launching in fall 2018 and adding some clients in a limited capacity at the beginning of 2019. Abigail Johnson, CEO of Fidelity, highlighted that this move makes a difference for everyday non-technical customers that want to invest their money in digital currency regardless. She also addressed how their custody service helps individuals figure out how to pass on their cryptocurrency assets after they die and/or dealing with lost USB drives, saying that individuals have “got to have a plan to be able to get those coins to somebody else”. […]
How Crowdfunding is becoming regular investing
A decade ago, an entrepreneur wanting to raise cash pretty much had to have rich relatives or pals, or gain entry into the clubby world of venture capital. Sure, that entrepreneur could take it to the web, asking people to make their own relatively small investments, but that was considered less than respectable – the digital version, perhaps, of panhandling. My, how much has changed since 2009. Now crowdsourcing is not only the hip way to raise money, but is pretty much expected to be part of the overall fundraising process. And one person who has helped in that shift is Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Seedrs, a crowdsourcing platform where new businesses […]
