BlackFin Tech weekly — October 9th 2023
Every Monday, we publish a short digest which sums up last week’s Fintech activity
Good afternoon, fintech friends! As always, we hope you had a super weekend.
Let’s kickstart our week by diving into the latest news and trends from the world of fintech:
In the past week, we saw 13 deals announced in Europe for a total amount of €117.6m, with four deals in Germany, three deals in France, two deals in the UK, one deal in Switzerland, one deal in Denmark, one deal in Sweden and one deal in Spain.
Congratulations to Brite Payments, the Swedish A2A payments specialist, on its $60m venture round led by Dawn Capital with participation from Headline and Incore. Well done as well to Sparta Commodities and its real-time commodity market intelligence and forecasts that raised a $17.5m Series A round led by Firstmark and existing shareholder Singular.
Finally, Paris-based Qobra, operating a platform simplifies and automates commission calculations, improving accuracy and motivation for sales teams, raised a €10m Series A round led by Singular, with participation from Revenue Syndicate and existing investor Breega.
Let’s dive in
Swedish fintech Brite Payments has raised $60 million in a funding round led by Dawn Capital, with participation from Headline and Incore.
Brite specializes in instant account-to-account (A2A) payments.
A2A payments exceeded $525 billion in global transaction value in 2022, reducing merchant payment costs and providing instant fund settlement.
The funding is meant to drive geographic expansion, enhance product development, and strengthen market presence.
Brite aims to lead in the open banking 2.0 era, with a focus on real-time A2A payments and potential mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Read more
Sparta Commodities, a commodity market intelligence firm, has successfully raised $17.5 million in a Series A funding round.
The round was led by venture capital firm FirstMark, with participation from existing shareholder Singular, which previously invested $6 million in Sparta in March 2022.
Sparta specializes in providing real-time commodity market intelligence and forecasts to clients within the commodity trading sector.
Sparta aims to modernize the commodities trading industry by providing real-time data, predictive analytics, and AI-driven insights to enable organizations to make informed decisions and capture opportunities, ultimately increasing industry margins.
With this funding, Sparta plans to enhance customization, including the development of artificial intelligence tools.
While currently covering gasoline, naphtha, and middle distillates, Sparta intends to expand into other commodities, starting with a crude oil service in Q1 of the next year, followed by fuel oil, liquefied natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas.
Geographical expansion, particularly in the Mideast Gulf, is also on Sparta's agenda, in addition to its existing offices in Geneva, London, Houston, Singapore, and Madrid.
Founded in 2020 by former oil traders Miles Moseley and CEO Felipe Elink Schuurman, Sparta addresses a common problem in commodities trading: fragmented data.
Paris-based startup Qobra, specializing in sales compensation software has raised $10.5 million (€10 million) in a Series A funding round led by Singular, with participation from Revenue Syndicate and existing investor Breega.
Founded in July 2020 by Antoine Fort, Tanguy Moullec, and Axel Poitral, Qobra has developed an intuitive digital sales compensation platform for businesses.
Their platform simplifies and automates commission calculations, improving accuracy and motivation for sales teams.
Companies of all sizes and industries can use Qobra by connecting it to their CRM and defining commission rules in the formula editor.
In just one year, Qobra has processed over €100 million in commissions from clients, including Doctolib, Spendesk, our very own Agicap, and LaForêt Immobilier
In addition to this week’s fundraising activity, M&A activities in Europe where relatively quiet, but one is worth mentioning:
Kraken, a San Francisco-based company specializing in crypto platforms, has acquired BitCoin Meester B.V. (BCM), a registered crypto broker in the Netherlands. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This acquisition is expected to strengthen Kraken's presence in the Netherlands and offer BCM's clients access to Kraken's extensive product range, liquidity, security standards, and 24/7 live client support. BCM, founded in 2017 and led by CEO Mitchell Zandwijken, provides services for buying, selling, and staking cryptocurrencies, including access to over 170 cryptocurrencies and local funding options.
Financial wellbeing app Wagestream has acquired challenger credit card startup Keebo, although the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wagestream, launched in 2018, collaborates with major employers such as Asda, Next, Pizza Express, and the NHS, serving approximately three million people. It empowers users to manage their budgets, select their pay cycle, build up savings, engage with money coaches, and reduce their bills. The acquisition of Keebo expands Wagestream's services to include credit access. Keebo utilizes Open Banking data to approve customers based on their broader financial behavior rather than just their credit scores.
And finally, here is the news that caught our eye last week:
TikTok is launching "TikTok Balance," an in-app wallet that enables users to track their in-app transactions, including TikTok Coins. However, concerns have emerged, particularly in Indonesia, about the potential impact on local economies and predatory pricing. TikTok remains committed to expanding its payment and shopping features while addressing regulatory scrutiny.
Scalapay, a Buy Now, Pay Later operator based in Italy, has joined forces with RegTech provider Fourthline to enhance regulatory compliance efforts across its European operations. Fourthline's AI-driven solutions, incorporating computer vision and biometric data analysis, enable Scalapay to meet evolving European regulations and maintain compliance throughout its growth in the payment industry. The partnership signifies Scalapay's commitment to innovation and regulatory adherence.
Visa, through its corporate investment arm Visa Ventures, is allocating $100 million to invest in companies focused on utilizing Generative AI for advancements in payments and commerce. Generative AI, driven by large language models, has the potential to revolutionize various industries, with projections indicating it could become a $1.3 trillion industry by 2032. Visa aims to support innovative startups applying Gen AI to address real challenges while ensuring responsible AI use.
Lydia, the mobile banking app, has teamed up with insurtech Qover to introduce user-centric travel insurance exclusively for its premium cardholders across several European countries. This innovative offering integrates Qover's embedded insurance platform, offering features such as in-app claims submission and automated travel certification generation. Additionally, family members of cardholders can access this comprehensive coverage, ensuring a unified and secure travel experience.
Have a great week & see you soon!