Welcome to The Fintech Times Bi-weekly news roundup for Tuesday, July 16, 2024 bringing you the latest updates from around the world.
Appointment
CUBE, a British regtech backed by mercury, has welcomed new members to its board of directors. Chelsea FC CEO Chris Jurasek joins as non-executive chairman, while Emma Brown joined as CFO. Stephane Besson He joined the CUBE Board of Directors earlier this year and continues to serve as a non-executive director. The Founder and CEO of CUBE is also a member of the CUBE Board of Directors. Ben Richmondas well as Christopher Fielding And Thomas Martin from CUBE’s investment partner, Hg.
Allied Payment Networka provider of real-time, open network payment solutions for banks and credit unions, adds Hank Vanjaria as the new CFO. Most recently, Hank served as CFO at Apptegaa B2B SaaS provider of cybersecurity and compliance solutions.
Redwood Bank has a mission to become the UK’s leading specialist investment bank and has promoted Sam Taylor as Head of Business Development to support its growing business development offering across the East of England and East Midlands. Sam joined Redwood from the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2020 and has over eight years’ experience in secured lending and asset finance.
Capco, the global management and technology consulting firm, appoints Paul Riseborough as managing partner of Capco‘s business in the UK. He was previously a partner in Capco’s UK banking and payments practice, working with clients to deliver solutions to help them achieve their growth and transformation objectives. Based in London, Riseborough will also become a member of Capco’s global leadership team.
Stay paymentsa payment technology provider, has appointed Valentin Neiconi Neiconi has been appointed Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Neiconi brings more than 15 years of risk and fraud management experience to his new role. Most recently, Mr. Neiconi was responsible for North America Fraud and Risk for AdyenHe is also part of Visa’Executive Risk Council.
No more appointments
Cryptomatics welcomed Edmundo Diaz as the new Sales Director for Southern Europe, Africa and Latin America. Prior to joining Cryptomathic, Diaz was Sales Director for Europe, North Africa and Latin America for cybersecurity solutions provider Ascertia.
DLA Piper appointed Lorica Elferink As a new corporate director in South Africa, Elferink advises domestic and international clients on corporate, corporate and securities law and governance matters. These include buyouts, private acquisitions, mergers and demergers, joint ventures, restructurings, listings and capital increases. Her experience spans the consumer goods, food and retail, insurance and financial services sectors.
SMEBa financial services and payments company dedicated to supporting small businesses, has appointed Dickson Chu as Head of Payments. Having previously held product leadership positions at Dédoco, Lalamove And You are travelingDickson specializes in building and leading product teams, with a particular focus on global product development in startups.
BCB Groupa provider of professional accounts and trading services for the digital asset economy, has welcomed Tim Renew as Chief Revenue Officer. He is responsible for leading and driving the company’s commercial functions as well as executing the BCB Group’s expansion strategy. Prior to joining BCB Group, Renew spent over four years at Bank, where he served as APAC CEO and Group CRO.
Financing and investments
Merging companies, a venture capital firm that invests in high-growth technology companies, led the latest funding round A dataa German software company, in a Series B extension totaling €32 million. HV Capital And Vsquared Companies One Data also intends to use this additional capital to strengthen its position in data product management, as well as to expand into new international markets.
Elbow, a geo-distributed cloud storage provider, has closed its $12.5 million funding round. LocalGlobe And ETF Partners The new funding will enable Cubbit to scale up CAPEX-free in Europe, focusing on the DACH and French-speaking regions, as well as the UK. This round will also accelerate the adoption of Cubbit’s technology. A portion of the funding will also be used to further consolidate the application ecosystem around Cubbit’s enabling technology to support vertical projects across various industries.
fund crafts, a fintech specializing in digitally native fund operations, announces the successful initial closing of MiddleGame Enterprises” third Fintech fund. The fund, which targets €150 million, leverages Fundcraft’s innovative digital platform to streamline operations and improve efficiency. MiddleGame Ventures leveraged Fundcraft’s digital operations to achieve a seamless fundraising process.
AI is taking up an increasing share of UK venture capital according to new analysis by HSBC Innovation Banking United Kingdom And Trading roomIn the first half of 2024, UK AI startups raised $2.1 billion and are on track to break records this year, with the sector set to raise $4.4 billion by the end of the year. Since the start of the year, the value of UK AI has surpassed a quarter of a trillion dollars and now accounts for 22% of UK tech value, up from 12% in 2019.
More news on financing
OCN (formerly OneCarNow), a fintech company serving independent workers in the Americas, announces $86 million in Series A funding. Participating institutions include Capital of Caravela (Brazil); Collision Capital (United States); and Companies of the Great North (USA) with the debt element provided by the new investor i80 Group – a New York-based investment firm. The funds raised will be used for strategic international expansion.
Dopaye, Dopay, the fintech company that provides a digital payroll and payments platform for the unbanked and underbanked in emerging markets, has closed a strategic Series A funding round of $13.5 million. This funding round complements a previous Series A funding round of $18 million and marks a significant milestone in Dopay’s mission to transform cash-based economies by digitizing payments.
Partnerships
Tottenham Hotspur unveiled a global brand partnership with Kraken. Ahead of the 2024/25 season, Kraken will become the club’s first-ever official crypto and Web3 partner, as well as the official sleeve partner of its men’s and women’s teams. Both parties will work to educate Spurs’ global fanbase about crypto and provide fans with opportunities to deepen their connection with the team through crypto assets.
Fintech PAYSTRAX has entered into a new partnership and integration with a UK payment solutions provider Cardstream to provide its customers with seamless online and card transactions. With Cardstream’s global payment gateway, PAYSTRAX customers can now benefit from an additional way to connect to its acquiring services and accept cross-border payments seamlessly and securely. PAYSTRAX merchants can also integrate Cardstream’s payment gateway into their online platforms, websites or mobile applications.
Expedia Group, online travel platforms, has finalized a multi-year agreement with Wells Fargo And MasterCard to launch two new co-branded credit cards. Designed to complement Expedia Group’s One Key loyalty program, One Key and One Key+ will offer more flexibility, savings and benefits to U.S. travelers.
ChargeAfterthe integrated lending platform for point-of-sale financing, announces its partnership with Instant Fundinga provider of flexible, installment-payment financing options. This collaboration strengthens ChargeAfter’s subprime lender coverage, equipping merchants with additional options to better support customers who may be denied traditional financing or credit models.
Launching the company
Lemonadethe digital insurance company powered by AI and social impact, has launched buildings and contents insurance in the UK. Expanding the company’s home insurance offerings, homeowners across the UK can now purchase comprehensive cover for their home and contents. It launched the insurance in partnership with Aviva.
Good morning, a Canadian insurance comparison service provider, has launched an AI-powered Carte Bleue insurance comparator, a service exclusive to the Canadian market, developed to help Quebec consumers understand and maximize the insurance coverage included with their bank cards.
Xsolla, Xsolla Backend, a global gaming commerce company, introduced Xsolla Backend, a solution designed to help developers of all sizes, especially indie and mid-sized teams, work across multiple gaming platforms. Xsolla Backend makes games more accessible by allowing developers to unite their audience across platforms: PC, console, mobile, and web. This addresses the audience fragmentation common to most games and allows developers to reduce costs while creating deeper engagement as they grow their gaming business.
Bandhan Bank has launched its latest payment solution via Bharat QR code for its current and savings account customers. This will simplify the way these customers in the self-employed segment make their payments at any point of sale. An instant notification will also be received on every payment via a small speaker.