BlackFin Tech weekly — September 18th, 2023
Every Monday, we publish a short digest which sums up last week’s Fintech activity
Hello again, Fintech aficionados! We trust you had a great weekend.
Let’s kickstart our Monday ritual by diving into the latest news and trends from the world of fintech:
In the past week, we saw 13 deals in Europe for a total amount of €102.7m raised officially with five deals in the UK, four deals in France, two deals in Germany, one in Italy and one in Switzerland.
Congratulations Swan that is specialized in embedded banking solutions on its €37m Series B round with new investor Lakestar and existing investors Accel, Creandum and BPI France. Well done to HyperJar and its digital payments and wealth management app that raised a $24m Series A round with Susquehanna Private Equity Investments and the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
Finally, Paris-based Fipto, which will soon launch a platform that allows users to manage digital assets and corporate treasuries, raised a €15m Seed round led by Serena Ventures, Motier Ventures and a group of Business Angels.
Let’s dive deeper
Swan, a French company specializing in embedded banking solutions, has successfully raised €37 million in a Series B funding round. This funding round comes two years after Swan's €16 million Series A led by Accel in 2021.
The funding round was led by Lakestar and saw participation from existing investors, including Accel, Creandum, and Bpifrance.
Swan's embedded finance platform enables businesses to integrate financial services such as payments, lending, and more into their existing software platforms without the need to build these services themselves. They also offer local IBAN accounts, enabling debit card payments and account transfers across 30 European countries under its e-money license.
Swan has so far processed over €7 billion worth of transactions for its 100 clients.
Read more
Hyperjar, a London-based fintech specializing in digital payments, planning, and personalized rewards, has successfully secured $24 million in a Series A funding round.
The funds will be primarily allocated to a recruitment drive aimed at strengthening the company's business development and B2B sales teams in both the UK and international markets.
Founded in 2016 and launched in 2020 by Mat Megens and Paul Rolles, Hyperjar offers a digital wallet, which assists users in managing their financial journey from depositing to spending money while offering digitized rewards.
Hyperjar targets a younger demographic, aiding them in understanding financial management at an earlier age.
Paris-based fintech Fipto, founded last year by former executives of iBanFirst, has raised €15 million in seed funding.
The funding round included investments from Serena Ventures, Motier Ventures, and a team of business angels.
The platform allows users to manage digital assets and corporate treasuries, offering compliance with French DASP and forthcoming European MiCA regulatory requirements, ensuring security and asset permissions.
Fipto supports various digital currencies such as USDC, USDT, ETH, and BTC, enabling payments in both digital and traditional currencies, while complying with compliance and financial regulations.
The platform's V1 release is expected to launch within a month.
In addition to this week’s fundraising activity, M&A activities in Europe where relatively quiet, but one is worth mentioning:
Amsterdam-based Recharge.com has acquired Startselect, a European digital gift and gaming card company. This move is expected to help Recharge reach €750 million in annual sales by 2024. Startselect specializes in digital gift cards and gaming credits and will bring its expertise to the US and Canada market. This acquisition is part of Recharge's strategy to dominate the digital prepaid payments market.
And finally, here are the news that caught our eye last week:
London Fintech Owner Accused of Laundering Millions for Criminals Through Bitcoin. Belgian authorities are seeking the extradition of 38-year-old Caio Marchesani, a London fintech owner, for allegedly laundering hundreds of millions of euros for international criminals, including a Belgian drug lord known as the "finger cutter" and a Brazilian drug kingpin akin to Pablo Escobar.
Morgan Stanley Introduces AI Chatbot to Assist Financial Advisers. Morgan Stanley is set to launch a generative AI chatbot, developed in partnership with OpenAI, to assist its financial advisers. The AI bot, designed to streamline tasks and enhance productivity, has undergone successful testing with 1,000 financial advisers.
JP Morgan Explores Blockchain-Based Deposit Token for Faster Cross-Border Settlements. JP Morgan emphasizes that this deposit token is not meant to replace stablecoins or facilitate cryptocurrency purchases; rather, it complements traditional financial systems by streamlining settlements.
Goldman Sachs Plans Further Job Cuts for Underperformers, Reports Financial Times. The plan aims to trim between 1% and 5% of the company's workforce, with a focus on the lower end of that range, primarily within core investment banking and trading divisions. In September 2022, the bank had already cut 500 employees, as reported by Reuters.
Have a great week & see you soon!