BlackFin Tech Weekly — April 21st, 2025
Every week, we publish a short digest which sums up last week’s Fintech activity.
Hello FinTech Friends,
Happy Easter and welcome to another week of fintech insights!
Over the last week, there were 10 fintech deals in Europe, raising a total of €93 million in equity, 4 deals in the UK, 2 deals in France and one deal in each of Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Ireland.
Congratulations to the top 3 fund-raising companies:
Marshmallow, an Insurtech focused on serving migrants and underserved communities, has raised a €39.9m Series C from Portage Ventures, Columbia Lake Partners and BlackRock.
BKN301, a Banking-as-a-Service platform designed to help financial institutions build and customize digital banking and payment solutions has raised a €21.4m Series B from new investors CDP Venture Capital, Azimut Libera Impresa, SIMEST, and Alisei Forinvestments.
Bitrade X, an online cryptocurrency broker, has raised a €14.0m Series A led by Bain Capital.
Let’s dive in
Marshmallow, an Insurtech company focused on serving migrants and underserved communities, has raised a €39.9m Series C ($45m) from Portage Ventures, Columbia Lake Partners and BlackRock. In addition to this, another €39.9m in debt financing was also raised, bringing the total raised in this round to €79.8m ($90m), and Marshmallow’s valuation to €1.7bn. The Series C round, led by Portage Ventures, with participation from BlackRock and Columbia Lake Partners, will help the company expand into additional financial services and insurance products. Marshmallow aims to support migrants by offering accessible car insurance and plans to introduce home insurance and lending products later this year.
BKN301, a global fintech specializing in Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), has raised €21.4m in a Series B funding round to support its growth and expand its operations. New investors include CDP Venture Capital, Azimut Libera Impresa, SIMEST, and Alisei Forinvestments. The funds will be used to boost the company’s BaaS Orchestrator platform, enhance its international expansion, and support its mission to create a world without financial barriers by providing scalable, inclusive financial services, particularly in emerging markets. BKN301’s platform helps businesses integrate financial features with ease through customizable APIs.
BitradeX, a UK-registered cryptocurrency exchange, has successfully raised €14m in its Series A funding round, led by Bain Capital. The raised funds will be used to further develop its AI models, expand into international markets, and enhance its trading ecosystem. With a strong commitment to a compliance-first approach, BitradeX aims to set a new benchmark for cryptocurrency exchanges, combining innovation with security and regulatory adherence.
In addition to this week’s fundraising activity, here is the European M&A activity of the week:
Banked, a UK-based open banking platform enabling Pay by Bank payments, has acquired VibePay, a consumer payments app offering real-time bank transfers and social payment features. VibePay connects directly to users’ bank accounts, allowing instant payments and messaging between peers. Through this acquisition, Banked enhances its consumer-facing capabilities and aims to drive broader adoption of Pay by Bank among everyday users. The integration of VibePay’s engagement tools and data insights will enable merchants to offer personalized rewards and improve user experience, positioning Banked to compete more directly with traditional card networks. VibePay’s technology and team will be integrated into Banked’s platform to support its next phase of growth.
Pliant, a Berlin-based fintech offering corporate card and spend management solutions, has acquired hi.health, an Austrian insurtech focused on streamlining healthcare payments for privately insured individuals. hi.health provides a digital platform that lets users submit medical expenses via a payment card linked to their insurance, eliminating the need for upfront payments and manual reimbursements. With this acquisition, Pliant expands into the healthcare and insurance sectors, applying its modular payment infrastructure to new use cases. The deal also brings industry-specific expertise into Pliant’s ecosystem and supports its broader ambition to digitize complex financial workflows. hi.health will continue to operate independently while leveraging Pliant’s infrastructure to scale its offering.
And finally, we bring you 4 news stories that caught our eye last week:
Bunq has filed for a US broker-dealer license, the first step before reapplying for a full banking license later in 2025. The move targets nearly 5 million digital nomads, expats, and remote professionals in the US and EU. Bunq users will soon be able to invest in stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs, with cash management and Mastercard debit card support. The bank recently launched bunq Points, a loyalty program, and upgraded its AI assistant Finn with real-time speech translation. Regulatory approval is pending as Bunq works to expand its US presence
Checkout.com has landed a strategic partnership to provide payment infrastructure for eBay, supporting eBay’s global marketplace and aiming to maximize payment acceptance and efficiency. The deal is a significant win for Checkout.com, which saw 40% net revenue growth in 2024 and 80% growth in the US. With over 2 billion live listings, eBay will give Checkout.com access to millions of merchants. The partnership is part of Checkout.com’s push for profitability in 2025, following staff cuts after ending ties with Binance.
NorthRow, a UK regtech platform, has begun a strategic review that could lead to a full sale as it seeks faster growth and international expansion. The review, managed by Lazarus Consulting, includes options such as growth investment or a complete sale, with talks underway with potential buyers. NorthRow is shifting to a product-led growth strategy to boost market share, moving away from its legacy sales-led model. Founded in 2010, NorthRow offers AML, KYC, and identity verification across 220 jurisdictions and 13,000 document types, and has raised over £17 million.
Standard Chartered and OKX have launched a collateral mirroring programme, letting institutional clients use crypto and tokenised money market funds as collateral for trading without transferring assets onto the exchange. Developed under Dubai’s VARA framework, the pilot aims to reduce counterparty risk and boost capital efficiency by keeping assets with a regulated custodian. Standard Chartered acts as custodian via its DIFC entity, while OKX manages trading infrastructure. Franklin Templeton and Brevan Howard Digital are early participants, and OKX is expanding its mirroring technology through partnerships with Komainu and Atitlan.
Have a great start into the week!
Sources of the fundraising reports