The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup this Tuesday sees funding success for Moneybox and a new chief legal officer for Mondu.
Job appointments
Quant names Andrew Carrier as chief marketing officer. He joins the blockchain for finance specialist after previous roles at Deutsche Bank and SWIFT. His remit at Quant includes the company’s branding, communications and marketing worldwide.
Apex Group, the financial services provider, has announced the appointment of Dr. Ryan Lemand as a non-executive director of FundRock Investment Management Services. FundRock Middle East is based in the ADGM and is also regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority as a Category 3C licensed asset management company.
Mondu, the buy now, pay later provider for online B2B checkouts, appoints Miyu Lee as chief legal officer and general counsel. Lee joins the German fintech from Klarna where she was most recently legal director. In her new position at Mondu, Lee will oversee legal and compliance. Last year, Mondu raised one of the largest seed rounds in Germany, with $14million from investors including FinTech Collective and Cherry Ventures.
Mashreq Bank has unveiled Alexander Raiff as its new group head of technology, transformation and information. Raiff previously held the role of chief information officer in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank from 2012 to 2020. He is also an advisor and angel investor for digital banking, fintech and crypto asset platforms.
More appointments
Meanwhile, John Burega has joined Zesty.ai as chief revenue officer. Prior to joining Zesty.ai, he served as executive VP of global sales at Symbility Solutions. Burega will be responsible for executing Zesty.ai’s sales strategy while building upon ‘the company’s tremendous customer momentum’. Prior to Symbility, Burega co-founded WOBILO Inc.
Brian Hills is named the new CEO of The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI. Hills was most recently interim CEO following the departure of Gillian Docherty OBE in January this year. He is responsible for leading the innovation centre’s team, as well as driving the growth of AI and data science skills across the academic and business community in Scotland.
African private equity fund manager CardinalStone Capital Advisers Home (CCA) has appointed Shirley Somuah as a partner, as it strengthens its presence in Ghana with a new office opening in Accra in Q2. Somuah joins current partners Yomi Jemibewon and Femi Ogunjimi as the company takes an important additional step towards institutionalisation by strengthening its leadership bench.
TRM Labs, a provider of cryptocurrency anti-money laundering software, has a new head of global investigations. Chris Janczewski is a former IRS-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Special Agent. He will help the company assist public and private entities worldwide to drive the sector forward using the best blockchain forensics tools.
Funding news
European blockchain startup Nous Systems has launched a seven-figure seed fund raise based on a €30million valuation. Access to Nous’ platform and services requires a minimum investment of $100. The funds will be used to ‘drive forward its vision of democratising asset management and breaking down barriers that have facilitated inequality within the sector’.
Moneybox, the digital wealth manager, has secured £35million in a Series D funding round. The round was led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures as well as new investor Polar Capital. The investment brings the total amount of funds raised to date to £95.1million. The funds will help build the Moneybox brand, grow its customer base, introduce financial planning services as well as launch an enhanced investing proposition focused on long-term wealth generation.
EnKash, the India-based, all-in-one spends management platform, has raised $20million as a part of its Series B round. The round was led by Ascent Capital and joined by Baring India and White Ventures. The round also saw participation from existing investors Mayfield India and Axilor Ventures.
Meanwhile, Zvilo signs terms to a €50million debt facility with a London-based fintech fund. The new facility will enable Zvilo to ‘transform the region’s traditional banking sector and revolutionise how SMEs access working capital’. It will turbocharge business lending in Kosovo, followed by the rest of the region.
Global gamefi platform and play-to-earn guild Polemos has closed a $14million seed round at a $100million fully-diluted valuation. Notable investors in the round include Delphi, QCP, Framework, Golden Tree, IOSG, LD Capital, the founders of COTI, Tokemak, Sushiswap and Altered State Machine. Funds will go to further developing its proprietary tech platforms.
Partnerships
Saudi Arabian fintech Geidea signs strategic partnership as a payment service provider with Magnati in the UAE. Geidea will leverage its wide range of ‘payment as a platform’ API’s and value-added services for merchants in UAE’s wider market. Geidea’s recent expansion into the UAE follows its launch into the Egyptian market in June 2021 and forms a part of its vision to make payments and commerce technology accessible, affordable and intuitive for everyone.
Mollie, a payment service provider, has launched Mollie Payments for WooCommerce in the UK. The plug-in offers UK SMEs with a WooCommerce webshop a seamless way to support both domestic and European payments. Mollie and WooCommerce already work closely together in other European countries and are now engaging in a long term partnership to grow their global footprint together.
Rewire, the digital financial services platform for migrant workers worldwide, has signed a partnership agreement with SIM provider Lebara. The collaboration gives Rewire access to Lebara’s UK customer base. It also provides the opportunity to fasttrack its growth in the UK and into the EU.
Meanwhile, CoinMENA, a digital assets exchange based in Bahrain, has partnered with Beyon Money, a financial service super app powered by Batelco Financial Services to give users across the Kingdom the chance to earn up to five per cent cashback when depositing money into their CoinMENA crypto assets wallets, a first of its kind service in the region.
Launches
The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has announced the launch of a new global initiative, the CISI Future Foundation. The not-for-profit professional body is allocating £2.5million of its reserves to the Future Foundation. It offers funding to partner with existing organisations, both in the UK and internationally, to work with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Codebase Technolog launches a white-label BNPL solution for banks, fintechs, lenders and merchants. It has introduced the solution to the market after months of design, development and robust testing. Codebase Technologies DigibancTM BNPL component is ready-made and can be fully customised to allow anyone to launch a BNPL offering in just a few months.
Paysafe, a specialised payments platform, is live and supporting private igaming operators with payments in the Canadian province of Ontario. Paysafe has processed online payments for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s online gaming brand OLG.ca. The firm is also scheduled to unveil new igaming payments products and operator partnerships for the Ontarian market in the coming weeks.
Swiss Re’s digital B2B2C insurer iptiQ and Independer, a Netherlands financial aggregator, have unveiled a new consumer insurance brand – Mintley. iptiQ and Independer previously introduced cyber insurance to the Dutch market together in 2020.
