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 […]
UK pumps £10 million into the Kenyan Fintech scene as it aims to increase financial inclusion for low-income and underserved consumers through technology
The Lord Mayor of the City of London Peter Estlin, on Thursday announced £10 million (Sh1.154 billion) of UK Aid support towards the Catalyst Fund during a visit to Nairobi. His visit comes ahead of the first UK-Africa Investment Summit next year, which will bring together businesses, governments and international institutions to encourage investment in a range of sectors, including fintech. The Catalyst Fund supports business development and investor opportunities for early stage fintech companies in emerging markets. With support from the UK Department for International Development, the Catalyst Fund will help connect a further 30 local fintech companies with international investors and mentors, including Kenyan fintech companies. “Today’s announcement […]
Where are US fintech’s next billion-dollar startups?
As fintech investments soar to new heights, investors are looking at the bottom and top levels of the services stack to find the next billion-dollar startups. That’s the word from seasoned investors like Andreessen Horowitz’s managing director, Angela Strange, who has invested in a number of successful financial services technology companies. For Strange and Chris Britt, co-founder and chief executive of financial services startup Chime Bank, the best opportunities are in customer-facing financial services and specific infrastructure opportunities that can support those businesses. For many large companies, financial services are already entering a twilight period. Markets like consumer and student lending, banking and financial management and business lending are becoming […]
Scotland attracts £37m investment in fintech over the past decade
Fintech in Scotland has attracted nearly £37m in investment over the last 10 years with an emerging ‘ecosystem’ which brings together start-ups, large firms, universities and the public sector, said the Scottish Government. Scotland is now a key location for many international firms, such as J.P. Morgan, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, NCR, Ingenico and Avaloq. J.P. Morgan’s European Technology Centre in Glasgow is a key strategic technology hub with 1,300 employees.Deloitte’s 2017 Global FinTech Hubs Federation report highlighted Edinburgh’s high concentration of key elements, and outside London and the South East, Scotland has the most complete financial and business services industry cluster in the UK. Economy Secretary Keith Brown has been […]
Robo-adviser Wealthsimple raises $51 million to expand service
Wealthsimple, a Toronto-based online wealth management startup, has raised $51 million in funding from Power Financial Corp (PWF.TO), as it seeks to compete in the increasingly crowded digital investment advice market. Wealthsimple, which is among the group of digital investment managers known as robo-advisers, will use the round of funding to add features to its service and expand to offer other financial products, it said.The company last year became the first foreign robo-adviser startup to enter the U.S. market and later in 2017 opened in the UK. It currently manages $1.45 billion for more than 65,000 clients in the three markets it operates in. Wealthsimple and other robo-advisers are seeking […]
Fintech Raisin crosses the channel to offer services to UK Savers
Savings marketplace Raisin has launched in the UK. The Berlin based Fintech has been expanding across the European continent but today they have crossed the British Channel to offer their services to UK savers. Raisin provides an interesting service that leverages technology to help savers to save more. Users of their site can shop around for higher interest rates on their money – regardless of their geographic location. Working alongside its first partner bank BACB, Raisin.co.uk offers savers the convenience of a single registration process to apply for multiple savings products. Raisin reports that it is currently on-boarding additional UK banks to the platform and will build a marketplace with […]
