ID Finance secures £1.5m within minutes on Crowdcube
ID Finance, the fintech company operating in Europe and Latin America, has raised over £1.5m crowdfunding target within minutes of its campaign going live on Crowdcube amid strong demand from investors. The data science, credit scoring and digital finance company has a crowdfunding target of £2m and is inviting interested parties to invest at https://www.crowdcube.com/idfinance. ID Finance’s proprietary risk management system uses machine learning and advanced data science techniques to provide competitive financial services to the underbanked and help customers build their credit profile. Anyone with a smartphone in Spain, Brazil and Mexico can apply online for a loan via its Moneyman and Plazo brands, regardless of their credit history. […]
Softbank pumps £510m into finance firm Greensill that could kill off payday lenders
Japanese conglomerate Softbank is set to inject another £510million into British online finance firm Greensill as part of plan to launch a new service that aims to wipe out controversial payday loans. City sources said Greensill, set up by former Morgan Stanley banker Lex Greensill, is in advanced talks to buy FreeUp, a technology company that should enable the firm to offer ordinary workers early payment of their wages. SoftBank’s Vision Fund, led by maverick entrepreneur Masayoshi Son, is pouring in more than half a billion pounds to support the expansion strategy. Sources said the deals could be announced as soon as this week. To read more, please click on […]
Two more robo-advisors to enter Malaysia in 2020
Malaysia is expected to house two more robo-advisors in the country’s emerging financial technology (fintech) market next year, after the Australian-based firm Raiz Invest Ltd and Thai’s Robowealth Mutual Fund Brokerage Securities obtained the Securities Commission Malaysia’s (SC) approval for operation. SC executive chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Syed Jaffar Albar (picture) said the companies which were granted approval-in-principle, would join the three fully operational robo- advisors in the country. The approval, Syed Zaid said, would further facilitate the growth of local fintech landscape. “Today, Malaysia has three licensed and fully operational robo-advisors — namely StashAway, MyTHEO and Wahed Inc. We continue to see strong interest in this space and will […]
US FinTech West Creek nabs $150 mn from Pollen Street Capital
West Creek, a Virginia-based FinTech firm has raised $150 million from Pollen Street Capital, bringing the company’s total raised capital to $250 million. The company claims a revenue growth of over 4,400% since 2015 and expects to surpass $200 million by the end of 2019. West Creek plans to expand its point-of-sale (PoS) financing offering with the new funds, according to a statement Rajesh Rao, chief financial officer, and chief risk officer at West Creek stated that the company plans to deliver an improved financing experience to its retail partners and customers through a combination of customer support, technology, and data-science-driven credit decisions. Founded in 2014, West Creek helps consumers make […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
