On Tuesday 3 November, the Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup takes a look at the latest global fintech stories. Charm, Clarity AI and Clim8 toast fundraising success, while Paymentology bolsters its Middle East operations with a slew of appointments.
Latest placements
Spend management firm JAGGAER has appointed Thomas Dieringer as president for the Middle East and Africa. Dieringer will be responsible for developing JAGGAER’s strategy and growth in the region. Prior to joining JAGGAER, Dieringer was the founder of software provider POOL4TOOL.
Theresa Cantwell is the new director of HR and engagement management at software and data engineering consultancy Digiterre. In addition, the company has appointed Helen Chilton as senior technical recruiter.
Reitigh Software has unveiled a trio of new hires as the Dublin-based company continues to invest and grow during lockdown. Giuseppe Schiavo will manage Reitigh’s digital transformation projects in the insurance sector. While Michelle Aw and Paddy Murphy join as junior consultants to boost the digital transformation company’s software implementation team.
I’m delighted to be joining the Reitigh team to help this growing company reach new heights as a leader in the Dublin regtech scene.
Paymentology has boosted its Middle East operations with a slew of appointments. The UK fintech has hired Nauman Hassan as director for client services as well as Himanshu Mishra as head of project management. In addition, Faizan Qureshi is named information technology manager, while Bilal Hashmi is implementation manager. Paymentology says it has already kicked off multiple banking projects in the region to remove legacy issuer/card processor with more innovative cloud native banking.
Partnerships
Truata, the data analytics solutions provider, has partnered with Mastercard in order to launch a new customer self-service portal. The Privacy Enhanced Analytics Platform lets Mastercard customers in Europe conduct analysis on their payment card transaction data within a fully anonymised solution.
Financial advisory firm deVere Group has picked Moorwand to power deVere Vault, a mobile app paired with a multi-currency Mastercard. Moorwand, a BIN sponsor and issuer, will also provide deVere with a single compliant connection to the Mastercard payment scheme.
Sokin is also partnering with Mastercard as it prepares for the roll-out of its UK and European fixed-price subscription service. Sokin will offer international money transfers and payments with no mark-up on transactions. The service will launch in the UK and select European countries in early 2021, with all 27 EEA countries launched by end of 2021.
Fintech Demica says digital bank BBVA has white labelled its supply chain finance platform. Their collaboration will focus on buyer-led payables financing, with coverage also extended to BBVA’s corporate customers across Europe, North America and South America.
Swedish open investment platform StockRepublic and fintech Enfuce have joined forces to provide a ‘trailblazing fund and stock solution for established financial institutions’. The open investment platform is available for banks and financial institutions in Europe.
Online accounting provider Xendoo has picked Biller Genie to be its preferred provider to support the A/R automation segment of its business. The cloud-based accounts receivable automation and e-invoicing solution will ‘improve cash flow and reduce administrative work’ for Xendoo’s clients.
Starling Bank has introduced a new marketplace integration for business customers with BrightHR. This helps customers manage staff holidays and absence, rotas and shifts, expenses and staff hours, all in one secure and easy-to-use digital platform. Through BrightHR business owners also have access to a team of experts that can answer their questions on employment law, furlough and redundancies. They can also provide them with HR document templates to set up policies that work for them.
Finally, fintech Skyhook Capital is collaborating with digital asset liquidity network Digital Asset Shared Ledger. Skyhook says the partnership will ‘significantly enhance’ its Skyhook DAWN white-labelled SaaS platform by facilitating the tokenisation of any type of underlying asset.
Funding and investments
Digital investment platform Clim8 Invest is celebrating its latest Crowdcube campaign after it hits £1.5million – almost four times its original target. Clim8 says the success of its crowdfunding campaign is further proof of the momentum in sustainable investing. Investors include a venture capital fund backed by the British Business Bank.
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Charm, the peer to peer impact investment platform, has raised £273,520 from 547 investors in an equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. The platform says it has broken its initial target by 273 per cent. Charm says it plans to expand its team, develop its platform, raise brand awareness as well as become an FCA certified entity.
Startup Clarity AI has just completed a $15million funding round led by Deutsche Börse. It also announced a partnership with Allfunds – the world’s largest fund distribution network. Clarity AI lets investors evaluate the social impact of companies and portfolios.
Sugar, which aims to revolutionise finance for the games world, has announced a £1.5million pre-seed financing round. The financing round was led by Passion Capital and included participation from Velo Partners as well as strategic angel investors, including Victoria van Lennep of Lendable.
European P2P lending platform Robo.cash says it has attracted 11,841 investors who have funded over €185million loans since 2017. In 2020 alone, investors of the platform have earned €429,000. In the third quarter of this year, the volume of loans funded through the platform grew by 60 per cent, and the amount of deposits gained 86 per cent compared to Q2.
Cartlow, the UAE-based ‘recommerce’ solutions provider, has closed a $2million pre-series A investment round from investors. Arzan Ventures and Vision Ventures are among those backing the platform.
Launches and announcements
A new payroll app called PayCaptain aims to put employees in control of their pay, including tools and guidance for financial wellness. PayCaptain, piloted since the summer, also provides an automated payroll process and outsourced payroll bureau service.
Open Banking Excellence has extended the deadline for Open Finance Appathon submissions to Sunday 13 December. Fintechs are challenged to integrate with APIs from Finastra, Railsbank and Yolt Technology Services. A shortlist of 12 will be announced in January.
SSW Group has launched a private cryptocurrency fund. The global liquidity provider for shares and ETFs says it has also expanded its trading business to crypto tokens and derivative products based on these tokens. SSW Group was advised by Gibraltar law firm and fintech experts ISOLAS LLP.
Huawei has launched First Abu Dhabi Bank’s (FAB) mobile banking app on HUAWEI AppGallery. Huawei says the FAB mobile app is part of a growing portfolio of financial apps that have joined the Huawei Mobile Service ecosystem.
Nigeria Fintech Week is taking place online this week. The week-long event will feature 20 product pitches/launches, 10 keynotes and 15 panels/presentations. Plus, more than 70 speakers and 2000 attendees will be involved. You can register, download agenda and learn more about the event here. Istanbul Fintech Week kicks off next week online.
Finally, money transfer service Azimo says it will halve the cost of sending money abroad from Australia. Its new service, aimed at Australia’s large Chinese expat population, lets people in the country send money to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
