The latest marker of Chinese interest in African fintech is a $120 million funding round for OPay
Chinese interest in African fintech has just stepped up another gear. OPay, the payments service operating in Nigeria, has raised $120 million in a Series B round led mainly by Chinese investors including familiar names like Sequoia China, IDG Capital and Source Code Capital. The round also included participation from Softbank Ventures Asia, Meituan-Dianping, DragonBall Capitak, GaoRong Capital and GSR Ventures. It’s the second major funding announcement by OPay this year and comes just five months after it raised $50 million back in July in a round also led by Chinese investors. OPay was incubated by Opera, the China-owned internet browser. OPay says the new funding will be deployed to […]
Indonesia study: P2P lenders create thousands of jobs, reduce poverty
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms have provided jobs for more than 362,000 Indonesians and reduced the poverty rate by 0.7 per cent – equal to 177,000 individuals – as they provide access to financing in cities and remote areas alike, a study said last week. The study was conducted by local think tank Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) and the Indonesian Fintech Lenders Association (Asosiasi Fintech Pendanaan Bersama Indonesia, AFPI). Speaking during the study’s launch in Jakarta, Indef researcher Izzudin al-Farras said: “P2P lending enables MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized enterprises] to boost production and thus can directly impact the country’s gross domestic product [GDP],” P2P platforms have […]
Singapore FinTech startup M-DAQ wins Samsung’s backing
Singapore fintech startup M-DAQ Pte won the backing of Samsung Group’s venture capital fund in a bid to expand in South Korea and beyond. With Samsung’s investment in its pre-series D round, the company’s valuation will exceed S$500 million ($368 million), up from S$250 million in November 2015, according to Chief Executive Officer Richard Koh. M-DAQ didn’t disclose the amount of Samsung’s investment. “Samsung is a key investor who will be facilitating our strategic expansion in Korea within the Samsung ecosystem and externally as well,” according to a release by M-DAQ. To read more, please click on the link below… Source: Singapore FinTech Startup M-DAQ Wins Samsung’s Backing – Bloomberg
Tokyo-based WealthNavi raises $37.6m in Series D round
Tokyo-based WealthNavi, provider of Japan’s biggest financial robo-adviser service, has secured 4.1 billion yen ($37.6 million) in its Series D funding round backed by a fund launched by Sony Financial Ventures and Global Brain, according to an announcement. Other investors including UTokyo Innovation Platform, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Bank, Opt Ventures, and Resona Capital also participated in the funding round that brings the total funding into WealthNavi to over $130 million, the company said. Established in 2015 by Kazuhisa Shibayama, WealthNavi offers a platform for asset managers to provide advice using risk management algorithm. The company has opened 240,000 accounts with assets under management of 180 billion yen ($1.6 billion). […]
FinTech startup troy successfully completes Series A financing round
FinTech startup troy, which specializes in customer-friendly debt collection, has successfully completed its second round of financing, raising a medium-sized seven-digit amount. troy completed the funding round with the help of four new investors: eCAPITAL, BORN2GROW, Avala Capital and Seed X Liechtenstein AG. Also, all existing investors have re-invested. The former lead investor, HTGF High-Tech-Gründerfonds, has even increased its previous investment. troy is changing the debt collection industry by optimizing the customer experience, using tools and methods from marketing and CRM combined with data and machine learning. troy was founded in 2017 by Philip Rürup and Till Völzke in Lippstadt and was officially launched in September 2018. Representing troy’s rapidly […]
London real estate fintech biz collects €11.5m
Immo Investment Technologies has raised €11.5 million from investors including Talis Capital and HV Holtzbrinck Ventures. The business sources and purchases homes on behalf of buy-to-let investors. In addition to the equity capital, the London-based company has secured €60 million from real estate investors to fund the acquisition of properties. To read more, please click on the link below… Source: London real estate fintech biz collects €11.5M | PitchBook
European Fintech investment surpassed Asia
Fintech is Europe’s largest venture capital (VC) investment category, receiving 20% of all VC investment in the region between 2017 and 2019 year-to-date (YTD), surpassing enterprise software (17%), health (13%) and transportation (8%), according to the State of European Fintech 2019 report by Dealroom, in partnership with Finch Capital. In Europe, fintech investment is gaining momentum, outperforming Asia for the first time since 2015 with US$5.1 billion raised by European fintechs in H1 2019, against US$2.2 billion for Asian fintechs. European challenger banks and payments companies have raised the largest chunk, with both categories raising EUR 2.4 billion in 2019 so far. Lending and mortgage and wealthtech are two other […]
Fintech leads the way as Irish VC deals hit $185m in Q3
A global survey of venture capital financing has found that the Irish fintech (financial technology) sector led the way, as Irish companies secured more than $185 million (€166 million) in VC funding in the third quarter of the year. KPMG’s Venture Pulse survey tracked more than 4,100 VC funding deals globally between July and September, totalling more than $55.7 billion. So far this year, at least $28.7 billion worth of VC deals were in Europe, which set a quarterly record in Q3 with almost $10 billion of deals. Globally, quarterly VC funding dropped by 14 per cent from almost $65 billion. In Ireland, the funding raised was spread over 22 […]
