Welcome to The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Friday 12 January 2024, bringing you the latest updates from across the world.
Funding and investments
Carbon13, the venture builder for the climate emergency, has secured the first close of a target fund size of €30million fund, which will be deployed into six Germany-based climate tech startups. Combined with the rest of Carbon13’s portfolio, these startups collectively (64) have the potential to abate more than one per cent of global emissions (half a gigaton of CO2e).
33N Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Software Fund, F.C.R.E, the European specialised cybersecurity and infrastructure software venture capital fund, announces its successful first close, securing commitments of €50million towards its target size of €150million. 33N plans to continue its mission of identifying and investing in innovative cybersecurity and infrastructure software startups.
KlariVis, a data analytics solutions provider for community banks and credit unions, closed its Series B capital round led by Blueprint Equity. The $11million investment will fuel further advancements in engineering, product development, customer success, as well as sales and marketing. KlariVis also recently celebrated the onboarding of its 100th client.
hyperexponential, a pricing decision intelligence software company, has completed its $73million Series B funding round led by investment firm Battery Ventures, with participation also from a16z. Existing Series A investor Highland Europe also increased its holding. This financing supports its expansion into the US with a New York office. It will also enable increased investment in new product capabilities and team expansion.
More funding updates
Sinpex, a provider of compliance and AML solutions in the B2B environment, has closed an oversubscribed financing round of €4million. The round is co-led by TX Ventures and ACE Ventures, with participation also from existing investors EquityPitcher and AI Fund. The investment serves to strengthen growth and prepare for Sinpex’s international expansion in the area of compliance and AML solutions.
Rivero, a European Fintech specialising in digitalisation and automation of payment processes, has raised $7million in a Series A round. The round was led by 6 Degrees Capital and Inference Partners, with participation also from Kraken Ventures and Seed X Liechtenstein. The investment will help Rivero accelerate its growth across new markets and boost its product development and workforce.
Appointments
Firstrade, the online brokerage firm, appoints Don Montanaro as its new president. In his new role, Montanaro will support current as well as new Firstrade clients, formulating business line strategies and driving growth initiatives for the company.
Synpulse, the global professional services provider to banking and insurance institutions, has appointed Marouane Bakhtar as head of UK. Bakhtar joined Synpulse in 2020 as an associate partner with a focus on OpEx and intelligent automation. He then became head of UK banking in 2021.
Tobias Unger joins Sopra Banking Software (SBS), the global financial technology company, as chief operating officer. He will play a key role in the company’s global growth strategy. He previously worked at Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank and Falcon Private Bank, as well as core banking software provider Avaloq.
Bank of London and The Middle East plc (BLME) has appointed Khaled Alanani as the bank’s head of alternative investments. He returns to BLME, where he previously held the position of head of real estate investments, and now takes on the responsibility of creating and distributing new investment products.
InvestCloud, a global provider of wealth and asset management solutions, appoints Jeffery W. Yabuki as chairman and CEO. In this role, he leads InvestCloud’s strategy and operations, with a key focus on excellence of client delivery. Yabuki was previously the CEO of Fiserv.
More appointments
Provenir, the AI-powered risk decisioning software firm, names Lori Copeland as chief people officer. Copeland is responsible for developing and executing human resource strategy in support of the overall business plan and strategic direction of the organisation. She will also provide leadership and guidance to all HR functions and develop recruiting plans to bring new talent to expand Provenir’s workforce.
Policy Expert, the UK personal lines insurtech, has expanded its leadership team with the creation of seven new roles to help accelerate its growth plans as well as deliver innovations in products and customer service. They include:
- Linda Crichton as chief customer officer
- Alex Bearpark as chief insurance risk officer, who will be responsible for the team’s insurance risk and reserving functions.
- Antony Green as chief product & technology officer
- Christine Minetou as chief pricing officer
- Audrey McDade as chief compliance officer
- Millie Nash as chief people officer
- Gary Barker as MD of Trinity
Partnerships
10x Banking, the cloud-native SaaS core banking platform, and Mast, the cloud-native mortgage origination platform specialising in the UK market, announce a partnership, enabling real-time connectivity between the two systems. Alongside the partnership comes an API integration guide on 10x Docs, which provides the UK mortgage lenders with a quick and simple integration path.
Fintech Biz2X launches a new partner portal to expand its relationship with Owners Bank, a Middletown, Connecticut-based division of Liberty Bank that provides financial solutions uniquely designed to serve the needs of business owners. Biz2X introduced its lending platform with Owners Bank in July to accelerate
unsecured and secured lending decisions.
