BlackFin Tech weekly — September 25th, 2023
Every Monday, we publish a short digest which sums up last week’s Fintech activity
Hello again, Fintech friends! We hope you had a wonderful 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 11 deals in Europe for a total amount of €127.1m raised officially with three deals in the UK, two deals in Germany, two deals in Switzerland, one in France, one in Sweden, one in Estonia and one in Ireland.
Congratulations to Curve, the financial super-app, on its £58m Series C extension round with Britannia, IDC Ventures, Cercano Management, Cohen Circle and Outward VC. Well done to Plan A and its carbon accounting and ESG reporting platform for corporations that raised a $27m Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Finally, Zürich-based Instimatch, providing a web-based cash management trading platform for institutions worldwide, raised a CHF11.5m Seed round led by existing shareholders, current management members, business partners and undisclosed private investors.
Let’s dive in
Curve, a financial super-app, has secured an additional £58 million in an extension of its Series C funding round.
The round saw participation by Britannia, IDC Ventures, Cercano Management, Cohen Circle, Outward VC, and other existing shareholders, bringing the total Series C funding to over £133 million. so To date, Curve has raised £208 million in equity investment.
With the new funds, Curve plans to enhance its customer experience, expand its lending business, Curve Flex, and establish new partnerships. The company also aims to reach profitability by early 2024.
Launched in 2018 and headquartered in London, Curve combines all of a customer's existing bank accounts and payment cards into one smart card, accessible through its app.
It serves 4.5 million customers globally across 31 markets.
Read more
Plan A, a carbon accounting and ESG reporting platform for corporations, has raised $27 million in a Series A funding round led by U.S. VC giant Lightspeed Venture Partners.
This funding represents an extension of a $10 million Series A round announced nearly two years ago, bringing the total Series A funding to $37 million, and the total funds raised across six years to $42 million.
Notable corporate investors in this round include Visa, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas’ VC arm Opera Tech Ventures, along with various BAs.
Plan A, founded in Berlin in 2017, focuses on helping companies measure and reduce their carbon footprint, particularly in addressing "scope 3 emissions" that occur throughout the supply chain.
The company's SaaS-based sustainability platform allows companies to self-manage their net-zero efforts, including data collection, emissions calculation, target setting, and decarbonization planning across all scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
Plan A currently serves over 1,500 clients, including notable companies like BMW, Deutsche Bank, KFC, and Visa.
Zurich-based Instimatch Global AG, a company providing a web-based cash management trading platform for institutions worldwide, has successfully closed its Pre-Series A funding round.
The company plans to use the newly raised capital to: Expand its market reach, Accelerate product development, Launch new products to strengthen its position as a leader in the digital trading platform space.
The financing round was led by a diverse group of investors, including:
Existing shareholders.
Current management team members
Business partners.
New (undisclosed) institutional and private investors.
Adrian Edelmann, the CEO of Instimatch Global AG, expressed confidence in the company's vision and future success, stating, "This strong show of support from both existing and new investors underscores the confidence in our vision and future success and secures us enough time to prepare our Series A in 2024."
In 2023, Instimatch Global AG achieved significant milestones, including:
63% customer growth.
Successful market entrance in four new countries.
The launch of a repo trading platform, the company's latest self-developed product.
In addition to this week’s fundraising activity, M&A activities in Europe where relatively quiet, but one is worth mentioning:
FE fundinfo, a UK-based fund services company, has acquired French asset management software firm Adjuto to bolster its fee and distribution channel management solutions. This move aligns with FE fundinfo's strategy to streamline asset managers' middle and back-office operations through digitalization, standardization, and automation.
And finally, here are the news that caught our eye last week:
Revolut has secured a three-month extension for filing its 2022 annual accounts due to concerns over revenue verification, adding to ongoing delays. This delay poses challenges in obtaining a UK banking license, with regulators scrutinizing the company's financial reporting and processes.
Apple and Goldman Sachs had plans to introduce a stock-trading feature for iPhones in 2022, but the project was postponed due to concerns about market volatility, shifting the focus to savings accounts. The fate of the stock-trading initiative remains uncertain, while both companies had previously collaborated on financial products like the Apple Card and high-yield savings accounts.
Cashplus Bank has reported a remarkable turnaround, achieving a £5.5 million post-tax profit in 2023, a significant milestone since obtaining its banking license in 2021. Strong growth in revenues, customer accounts, and innovative product launches have contributed to this success, reinforcing Cashplus as a leading UK digital bank.
Finastra, in partnership with Fincom and ThetaRay, introduces pre-packaged compliance screening via Microsoft Azure for instant payments, catering to the US' FedNow Service and Europe's TIPS. This initiative seeks to enhance compliance efficiency and reduce risks associated with launching instant payment services, offering greater security and flexibility to customers.
Have a great week & see you soon!