Funding Circle close further funding round, valued at $1 billion
Investor interest in the peer-to-peer lending industry shows no sign of slowing; British site Funding Circle have just closed another round of funding, taking their total raise to $380 million. Funding Circle recently closed another round of venture capital funding to the tune of $100 million, valuing the company at $1 billion. The new round was led by DST Global, BlackRock, and Temasek, a fund backed by the Singaporean government. Since its conception in 2010, Funding Circle have become ones of the world’s leading marketplaces exclusively focused on small businesses. The platform has raised approximately £300 million in equity capital, lending more than £2.5 billion to 25,000 businesses in the […]
RBS plans to roll-out robo-advice
The Royal Bank of Scotland expects to be in a position to make a decision on the roll-out of robo-advice for mortgages by the end of the third quarter of 2017. RBS is currently engaged in a trial of the technology, which could help it to cut costs as it strives to regain profitability amid the ongoing fall-out from the financial crisis. Automation is seen by the Financial Conduct Authority as a means of bridging the ‘advice gap’ – providing assistance for people unable to afford the services of an IFA – but there are fears it could lead to job losses in the sector as human advisers are gradually […]
Schwab adds a human side to its robo-advice services
The robo-advice wars heated up again last week, as T. Rowe Price began marketing its first digital-investment offering, and Charles Schwab released Intelligent Advisory, a human-assisted version of its original robo service called Intelligent Portfolios. Robo advice is evolving rapidly, but the basic product is a low-cost, semi-customized portfolio meant for “mass affluent” investors with $100,000 to $1 million in assets. Clients typically go online, answer a handful of questions about their age, assets, income and risk tolerance and get a highly diversified portfolio of regular or exchange-traded mutual funds. Thanks to technology, this self-driving portfolio is automatically rebalanced to maintain the client’s desired mix of stocks, bonds and other […]
Vista to acquire D+H for fintech merger with Misys
The US buyout firm wants to create a ‘global fintech powerhouse’ by merging an existing portfolio company with its new acquisition Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has struck a deal to acquire D+H, a Canadian financial technology provider, with an eye to merging it with UK-based Misys to create a financial software company with $2.2 billion in revenues. US-based Vista said in a statement today that it will pay C$25.50 per share in cash for D+H, including the assumption of debt, in a deal that values the Toronto-listed firm at 4.8 billion Canadian dollars. The buyout firm acquired software provider Misys in 2012. The combined company will be privately […]
South Korea’s Viva Republica taps PayPal to fund Fintech
South Korea-based financial technology services company Viva Republica announced last week that it had closed a KRW 55 billion ($47 million) Series C round of funding. Among the investors in this latest round were venture capital firm Goodwater Capital and US-based payment service PayPal. Viva Republica has found success in its home market with its peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payment app Toss, which claims to have 6 million users in South Korea. The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Toss users transfer money via the app an average of 6.7 times per month—almost triple the average for similar services. According to data from Wiseapp, Toss was the second most used mobile payment […]
The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards – entries closing soon
The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards May 11, 2017 in New York, is the premier event in Fintech, celebrating financial innovation from around the world. The Benzinga Awards is a competition to showcase the companies with the most impressive technology, who are paving the future in financial services and capital markets! Applications are still open, so apply now before the March 17 deadline. At the event, you’ll get a first look at groundbreaking technology, innovative platforms, and the chance to network freely with top industry professionals. Over 550 FinTech CEOs, C-suite executives of financial institutions, VCs, press, and others attended the 2016 Benzinga Fintech Awards. 45 exclusive exhibitor spots on the show floor […]
London FinTech startup Oinky raises $1m
Tech City News can exclusively reveal that Oinky, a London-based savings app, has raised approximately $1m (£765,000) in Seed funding from a group of high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs from the finance and tech sectors. Originally backed by Seedcamp, the startup, which will use the money to expand its team (it recently hired Azimo’s former head of growth Francisco Lema), launch its product and build additional product features, has also received regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Founded in 2015, Oinky’s mission is simple yet ambitious. Co-founders Ivan Soto-Wright and Conrad Holmboe, who met at Redington, decided to set up the company in an attempt to address […]
Law firms cosy up to UK fintech community
Top law firm Slaughter and May is to give five fintech startups free legal services worth tens of thousands of pounds. Meanwhile, another law firm, Simmons & Simmons, is launching a fintech and regtech student support programme with London’s Queen Mary University. Simmons & Simmons and Slaughter and May are both keen to woo members of London’s vibrant fintech scene, building relationships that could one day yield valuable business. Late last year Slaughter and May opened the doors to its first Fintech Fast Forward programme, inviting applications from startups in areas such as insurtech, regtech, datatech and distributed ledger technology. Over 25 firms applied, seeking £30,000 of value add services […]
