MortgageGym receives £500K investment from Henry Ritchotte
MortgageGym, a UK-based regulated mortgage robo-adviser, received a personal investment of £500k from Henry Ritchotte. Ritchotte, former Chief Operating Officer and member of the management board of Deutsche Bank AG, was also appointed as an adviser. He has over 24 years’ experience in the investment banking and financial services industries. Since leaving Deutsche earlier this year, Ritchotte has been making early stage investments in financial services firms with a focus on disruptive regulatory- and technology-driven business models. He previously held the role of ‘Head of Digital Bank’ at Deutsche. Ritchotte previously worked as Deutsche’s Chief Digital Officer on projects to digitalise banking services. Other roles at Deutsche included Chief Operating […]
LandlordInvest raises seed funding from Alan Gabbay, Director of O&H Properties
LandlordInvest, one of the first fully FCA authorised peer-to-peer lending platforms for residential mortgages, raises seed funding from Alan Gabbay, Director of O&H Properties, a London based privately owned property investment firm with assets valued at approximately £1 billion. LandlordInvest was launched at end of 2016 by founders Filip Karadaghi, Nikolajs Smirnovs and Joe Vallender and became the first peer-to-peer lending platform to offer a residential property-backed Innovative Finance ISA (“IFISA”) to UK savers, targeting tax-free returns of up to 12% per annum. The company’s achievements were recently highlighted by the industry as LandlordInvest was shortlisted as the “Crowdfunding Platform of the Year” at the PropertyWire Awards, holding off competition […]
One of the world’s fastest growing fintech platforms started as a side project — now it’s coming to the UK
A German fintech business backed by Silicon Valley VC Peter Thiel is planning to launch its investment platform in the UK. Max von Bismarck, Chief Business Officer and Managing Director of Deposit Solutions, told Business Insider at the Money2020 conference in Copenhagen this week that the company plans to launch its Zinspilot platform in Britain later this year. The Hamburg-based startup, founded in 2011, currently has one person based in London and is looking to scale-up UK operations. Von Bismarck said Zinspilot will also likely be re-branded for the British market. Zinspilot is a platform that lets people invest in savings products from a variety of banks across Europe using […]
Peek inside the Fintech arms race between banks and startups
Brick-and-mortar banks are in desperate need of a makeover. They know it too. Capital One is opening Capital One Cafes in major cities across the U.S., with hip decor and more laidback consulting vibes than traditional branches. JPMorgan is trying the same idea with its Manhattan technology hub. Bloomberg reported the bank’s $9.6 billion technology budget coincided with new startup-style offices featuring foosball tables, open workspaces and snacks. But it might be too little, too late. Banks aren’t changing things up just because they want street cred. They see the writing on the wall. Startups like PayPal and SoFi have become some of the nation’s largest online lenders, offering all […]
FinTech brand TrueMoney paves the way for low remittance rate for Filipinos
TrueMoney is the largest and fastest growing mobile payment and financial service provider is Southeast Asia. It was established in 2003 as part of the True Corp and CP Group. In the last 2 years, they expanded to other emerging markets in Southeast Asia. They now have presence in multiple markets such as Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, with more markets being opened soon. Xavier Manzan, Country Managing Director and CEO for TrueMoney Philippines said, “Our Mission is really to provide access to affordable financial services, to particularly the unbanked and underserved populations today.” In the Philippines, 70% of adults are considered “unbanked,” according to Manzan while […]
Investors are preparing to give fintech app Revolut £50 million even though it’s bleeding money
Fast-growing fintech app Revolut is close to sealing a £50 million funding round that will value the nascent company at £300 million, Sky News reports. London VC Index Ventures, already an investor in Revolut, is leading the round, Sky says. Silicon Valley investor Ribbit Capital is also said to be taking part in the round. CEO and founder Nikolay Storonsky told TechCrunch earlier this month that the company was close to “large equity round.” London-based Revolut offers a pre-paid international currency card, initially offering zero-fee, zero-commission foreign exchange. Cash is pre-loaded to the card through an app. The big round and chunky valuation are eye-catching for a number of reasons. […]
InvestCloud to launch London FinTech incubator
InvestCloud Inc., a global FinTech firm, is set to launch a financial technology incubator and accelerator at its European headquarters in Soho, London. InvestCloud Innovation Center London will offer both new startups and established financial firms the ability to quickly deliver digital wealth management solutions supported by the InvestCloud platform. Deputy Mayor of London for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, has praised the move by InvestCloud to establish its latest financial technology incubator in London. The Mayor’s business chief spoke at Innovate to the future – a view from London, an event jointly hosted by the British-American Business Council Los Angeles and InvestCloud on Friday, June 23 in InvestCloud’s Los Angeles Innovation […]
Asian fintech hubs are pushing full steam ahead
Rising fintech hubs across APAC, including Hong Kong and Singapore, have been garnering attention with their efforts to promote the industry and encourage innovation within financial services (FS) more broadly. This week, these growing hubs demonstrated their continued efforts to establish themselves as innovation leaders. Hong Kong launched a fintech association. The FinTech Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK), an independent members’ association for FS players including fintechs, incumbents, academics, government departments, investors, and accelerators, launchedon Tuesday. It’s made up of committees focused on specific areas including blockchain technology, AI, big data, regtech, insurtech, financial literacy, and digital banking, among others. Leaders of each committee will educate FTAHK members on their […]
