The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Tuesday sees Moneyhub partner with Samsung and Bazaar raise $70million in funding.
Product news
SmartStream Technologies, the financial solutions provider, has revealed its AI-enabled technology solution provides comprehensive disclosure capabilities for MiFID II. It said the new solution will add an invaluable control for investment firms, allowing them to spot both data and reporting decision irregularities in one control framework.
Moneyhub, the open data and payments platform, is partnering with Samsung to facilitate an open banking payments on a retail self-service point-of-sale (POS) kiosk. Samsung Kiosk will be used by quick-service restaurants, retail stores, stadiums and other hospitality venues. Payments are received instantly, at lower cost compared to cards.
AstroPay, the online payment solution, has expanded its Payment Links across Latin America, now launching in Peru, Chile, Mexico and Colombia. This is part of the company’s plans to introduce its services worldwide following the first launch in Brazil in December 2021.
Scandinavian-owned multi-asset fintech and trading platform Skilling is launching 10 new US and Norwegian stock CFDs this week, including Roblox and Europris. Skilling offers CFD trading on a wide range of world markets such as top stocks, indices, ETFs, commodities and renown cryptocurrencies.
Curve, the financial super app, has launched in the US. Curve is already live in 31 markets around the world, supporting over three million customers. US customers can also access Curve’s latest feature, Curve Credit – an alternative to buy now, pay later. Meanwhile, Curve Instalments will be added to Curve US in the coming months.
Job moves
Payment orchestration provider BR-DGE has unveiled Kenny Scott as chief technology officer while Sean Murray is named senior product manager. It says the appointments reflects BR-DGE’s continued investment in its mission to simplify payment infrastructure and revolutionise the payment process for online merchants and their customers. The company has also signaled plans to enter the US market later this year.
Meanwhile, Rokstone announces Gavin Dollings as chief digital underwriting officer and James Keating as chief marketing officer. Dollings will lead the growing digital underwriting team as part of the Group’s multi-million pound investment in its digital transformation that was announced last year.
BMLL, a provider of data and analytics, appoints Tim Baker as senior adviser. Baker is responsible for growing BMLL’s US client base – developing and implementing the company’s growth strategy in the region. BMLL offers more than 6.5 years of US order book data via the BMLL Data Lab and BMLL Data Feed.
Finally, Copper.co, a provider of digital asset custody and trading solutions, appoints Carly Nuzbach Lowery as chief legal officer. She will lead Copper’s global legal and compliance teams, as they build and formalise standards and structure for Copper’s continued innovation and international expansion. She joins Copper from Coinbase where she was associate general counsel in London.
Funding and investments
Novel Capital, a fintech company helping businesses accelerate growth, is out of stealth following $115million in initial equity and debt funding. Novel Capital offers two revenue-based financing products which give entrepreneurs on-demand access to the type of capital they need.
Fintech Gretel has raised $1million in pre-seed funding led by Insurtech Gateway and RLC Ventures, along with a number of angel investors. Gretel is currently engaged with a number of leading banks and insurers across the financial services industry ahead of its imminent launch to the market.
Playter, a London-based growth platform, has bagged $1.7million in seed funding. The round was co-led by global investment firm Fin Capital and 1818 Ventures, with participation also from RLC Ventures. Playter has grown more than 1,000 per cent in size and revenue in recent months. It says the injection in capital will help sustain growth in the coming months.
KYC firm Encompass Corporation has completed a successful capital raise of £25million. Perennial Partners served as the lead investor, alongside Serendipity Capital, Seven Seat Capital and Microequities Asset Management. The raise will accelerate its growth globally, including office openings and extensive recruitment in New York and Amsterdam. The raise will also facilitate ongoing product innovation and development.
Meanwhile, Roofstock, the end-to-end online platform for single-family rental investing, secures a $240million Series E equity financing round. It brings the company’s valuation to $1.94billion. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the financing with participation from existing and new investors including Khosla Ventures.
More funding news
Moove, the mobility fintech, has raised $105million in an oversubscribed Series A2 round consisting of equity and debt. The round is led by existing investors Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital and new investors including AfricInvest. Moove has plans to scale its revenue-based vehicle financing model to mobility entrepreneurs across Asia, MENA and Europe. It also plans to expand its partnerships and vehicle classes to include cars, trucks, bikes, three-wheelers, and buses.
Bazaar, Pakistan’s B2B e-commerce and fintech platform, has raised $70million in a Series B financing led by Dragoneer Investment Group and Tiger Global Management. The investment comes six months after its Series A, taking Bazaar’s total institutional funding to over $100million. Bazaar plans to expand into more cities across Pakistan and launch new marketplace categories. It will also scale its lending offerings and accelerate new product development.
Egypt-based fintech Nexta enjoys a $2.2million pre-seed funding round led by Disruptech alongside other international backers. The funds helps Nexta launch its digital banking solutions, as well as support its effort in expanding its market and continuing its strategic partnerships.
Edtech platform Perlego raises $50million Series B from Mediahuis Ventures, Raine Ventures and Evli Growth Partners. With this funding, Perlego will accelerate its growth globally and especially in the US, where students are struggling with the rising costs of education, remote learning and course completion.
Partnerships
BidFX and Finastra partner to offer automated trading workflow. BidFX has unveiled its to Finastra’s Fusion Confirmation Matching Service (CMS), ensuring capabilities right through from execution to settlement for mutual clients. The company is now also increasing its automation for treasuries including VARO.
Phos teams up with AZUL to introduce SoftPoS in the Dominican Republic. This partnership will enable AZUL merchants to accept contactless payments via a new mobile app. This new collaboration with AZUL is the latest in a string of partnerships for phos globally. It also secured collaborations with Dutch neo bank bunq, conversational commerce platform CM.com and JCC Payment Systems.
Bank AlJazira has partnered with JCB International Co Ltd to launch JCB acceptance throughout its POS and ATM network in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The partnership complements the role of Saudi Payments to enhance the financial landscape in the kingdom and enable international payment schemes to operate in the KSA market.
KogoPAY, a UK-based socially conscious mobile payments fintech startup, announces its strategic partnership with The Private Office of H.E. Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Duaij bin Khalifa al Khalifa, the GCC region’s growth enablers for independent business development, consultancy and advisory. This partnership aims to generate new regional business opportunities while fostering sustainable business and innovation.
FinGo, a UK fintech behind the world’s first biometric identity authentication and payments platform, has struck a partnership with cashless solution experts VMC. It will see the companies create a retail vending technology, where users can pay and prove their age through a simple scan of their finger.
