BlackFin Tech weekly — January 15th, 2024
Every Monday, we publish a short digest which sums up last week’s Fintech activity
Hey Fintech Enthusiasts!
Rise and shine on this marvelous Tuesday! We hope your weekend was as epic as the fintech news we're about to unravel.
Brace yourselves for the usual whirlwind tour. Last week, Europe witnessed a financial fiesta with a whopping €182.5 million raised across 9 deals. Germany led the charge with five, while the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, and Sweden each added their unique fintech flavor to the mix. Let's get the week started with a “fantastic” update! 🚀💰
Congratulations to FINN, the German fintech specializing in short & mid-term car leasing, who has successfully raised €100 million in a Series C funding round led by Planet First Partners. Well done also to UK-based ZILO, offering a global asset and wealth management software for having secured €29m led by FISV. Finally, we want to congratulate Finoa, the German institutional custody and brokerage provider for digital assets, for successfully raising €13.7m from Maven 11 Capital and others.
Let’s dive in
FINN, a Munich, Germany-based car subscription provider, raised €100m in Series C funding. The round was led by Planet First Partners, with participation from HV Capital, Korelya Capital, UVC Partners, White Star Capital, and Picus Capital. The round increased FINN’s valuation to more than USD600m. Nathan Medlock, Managing Partner at Planet First Partners, will join FINN’s Board. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth in the electric car sector, with the goal to more than double the share of low-emission vehicles in its fleet from 40% to over 80% by 2028. FINN provides a car subscription model that is contributing to the adoption of electric mobility by offering customers the opportunity to use electric cars flexibly in their everyday lives – without risks such as technological obsolescence or the development of residual values associated with ownership. Since 2019, customers have been able to subscribe to a car from over 30 brands and models. The car is delivered directly to their doorstep in just a few days and comes with an end-to-end carefree package, including insurance, financing, registration, taxes, and maintenance. FINN expanded to the East Coast of the USA in 2022.
ZILO™, the UK-based FinTech specializing in global asset and wealth management software, has announced a £25 million Series A funding round. The fundraise, which was oversubscribed, was co-led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures (FISV) and Portage, with participation from State Street and Citi. ZILO™’s innovative software solutions enable firms to replace legacy transfer agency technology and end-of-life systems, many of which were developed more than 20 years ago, improving client outcomes by delivering a fully digital platform and user experience. The Series A funds will be utilized to further accelerate product development and drive user acquisition. The significant capital infusion marks the second milestone this year for the business, following the successful go-live of its first client on its global digital transfer agency platform at the end of July.
German crypto firm Finoa raised $15 million in a round co-led by Maven 11 and Balderton. The funds were raised at the same $100 million valuation as Finoa’s Series A in 2021. Other investors in the round included Blue Bay Ventures, Signature Ventures, Coparion, and Venture Stars. The equity round began in June last year and closed in December. Finoa was initially looking to raise $5 to $6 million in the round from existing investors but ended up raising more, given the interest from external investors as the firm recently returned to profitability. Finoa is a regulated custodian for crypto assets, servicing professional investors with custody and staking. The company is licensed as a financial institution for crypto custody, investment brokerage, and proprietary trading of crypto. The platform enables its users to securely store and manage their crypto assets, while providing a directly accessible, intuitive user experience, enabling seamless access to the ecosystem of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).
In addition to this week’s fundraising activity, here is the European M&A activity of the week:
Global market infrastructure provider Deutsche Börse Group announced the acquisition completion of FundsDLT, following regulatory approval from Luxembourg financial regulator Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). Deutsche Börse Group now owns 100 percent of FundsDLT, a leading Luxembourg-based decentralized platform based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) for end-to-end fund issuance and commercialization. The company will operate within the Clearstream Fund Services business segment but will operate independently from Clearstream, Deutsche Börse Group’s post-trading infrastructure provider in Luxembourg. It will retain its legal identity and license under the CSSF. Former shareholders Credit Suisse Asset Management together with UBS Asset Management as well as Natixis Investment Managers remain committed clients, helping Clearstream drive the use case development further. As an international exchange organization and innovative market infrastructure provider, Deutsche Börse Group ensures capital markets that are transparent, reliable, and stable. With its wide range of products, services, and technologies, the Group organizes safe and efficient markets for sustainable economies. FundsDLT enables all actors of the investment fund distribution chain (asset managers, asset services, distributors, and advisors) to sell funds through a new generation and decentralized platform, significantly reducing administration costs and the time to process transactions.
And finally, here are the news that caught our eye last week:
Carta, formerly known as eShares, is accused of misusing sensitive information. The accusation was made by Linear’s CEO, one of Carta’s most prominent customers offering project management software. He stated that, without his consent or knowledge, a representative from Carta reached out to an angel investor in Linear telling the individual that Carta had a “firm buy order” without disclosing additional details. The reality, however, is that Linear is satisfied with its current shareholders, and that the angel investor is related to the CEO. He was immediately alerted to the email outreach, strongly damaging Carta’s reputation and causing them to exit the startup secondary trading business until further notice.
PSD2-compliant payments provider Ryft, announces that it has obtained a grant from Innovate UK under the ‘Innovation within Professional and Financial Services’ tender. Competing for a portion of the £5 million funding pot, the grant aims to promote innovation across the UK. The competition was especially fierce within this category, as only 8% of applicants received funding - a real success for Ryft!
After numerous denials over the years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved all 11 applications from spot bitcoin ETF issuers. This approval will make it easier for institutional investors and consumers alike to invest in the biggest digital asset Issuers include BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust. The ETFs will be listed on the CBOE, NYSE and Nasdaq. After the SEC approval, Bitcoin’s price slightly increased to $45,700, and is up 161.7% from the year-ago date.
Open banking payments company TrueLayer was authorized to be the first to take part in the SEPA Payment Account Access Scheme. The initiative is designed to further advance the open banking ecosystem beyond compliance with the EU’s PSD2 regulatory framework and offer banks an opportunity to develop open banking APIs. SPAA was established in 2021, and the objective of the program is to further the adoption of an open banking ecosystem.
Have a great week & see you soon!