The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup takes a look at the latest international fintech stories on Tuesday 20 October. The DIFC Authority unveils its new board, while Stripe acquires Paystack.
Funding and investments
Ecommerce funding platform Wayflyer secures $10.2million in seed funding in order to support the company’s global growth ambitions. In addition, it will also further develop its proprietary technology.
While, Archax successfully closes overfunded seed raise in preparation for exchange launch. The first FCA-regulated digital securities exchange initially targeted $5million but has secured $8million to date. The most recent VC firms to invest include, Alameda Research, Amnis Ventures, Bridgetower Capital, CoinFund, Edge196, Hudson Capital, QBN Capital and 7percent Ventures.
Full-stack financial solutions company Razorpay has raised $100million in its Series D round of funding. Razorpay plans to use the new funding to further strengthen and accelerate its two new product lines, as well as invest in new initiatives to empower SMEs.
Currency exchange Ripple has contributed $10million to Mercy Corps as part of a commitment to achieving global financial inclusion, and increasing economic empowerment. The contribution will also support the launch of the FinX system by the humanitarian aid non-profit, aimed at the un- and underbanked populations.
On the move
B2B payment network Veem has expanded its leadership team with Travis Green and Jeff Revoy. As vice president of product management, Green will lead the development of domestic and cross-border payment and financial tools. As chief business officer, Revoy will drive revenue and network value, in addition to boosting Veem’s growth as it expands to new markets.
Personio, the HR platform for SMEs, hires Ross Seychell as chief people officer in order to continue its rapid growth. Seychell joins from fintech Transferwise and follows the appointment of Geraldine MacCarthy as CRO and Birgit Haderer as CFO.
Airwallex hires tech veteran and venture capitalist Jed Rose as new EMEA general manager. Rose, who also joins the fintech’s global leadership team, will hire more than 50 new talent in Europe by 2021.
Financial services firm Kneip has appointed Nick Yeates as chief financial officer, replacing Ken Sommer. Prior to his new role at Kneip, Nick was the group CFO at Akinova, the electronic marketplace for insurance risk.
Cross-border payments network Thunes has hired Tamer El-Emary as its new chief operating officer. El-Emary will lead the sales, marketing, global network partnerships from Thunes’ London office, as well as it customer success functions.
Payment app BharatPe has promoted Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl to chief operating officer with immediate effect. Duruv joined the company in January 2020 as head of operations. Prior to this, Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl was chief business officer at automotive insurtech Roadzen.
Finally, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai International Financial Centre, has appointed the authority’s board of directors for a two-year term. Essa Kazim continues as chair and is joined by six new members.
Collaborations and acquisitions
Stripe has acquired the Lagos-founded, African payments platform Paystack. The acquisition, says Stripe, will give Paystack resources to develop new products, support more businesses and consolidate the hyper-fragmented African payments market. The purchase – rumoured to be at more than $200million – is subject to standard closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Jumbo Electronics, the UAE consumer electronics retailer, has hooked up with fintech PayBy to meet the ‘growing consumer demand’ for contactless payments. , PayBy point of sale solutions are now available at all Jumbo Electronics stores across the region.
UK payments fintech Ordo has unveiled a strategic distribution partnership with e-money platform Contis. As well as bringing instant remittances and automatic reconciliation to businesses and account holders, Ordo says it will make Contis accounts quicker and simpler.
With this partnership, we have the potential to enhance payments capabilities for over 800,000 accounts and counting!
Insurtech Zego partners with taxi app FREE NOW as it looks to disrupt Ireland’s taxi insurance market. Zego’s taxi policy will be available to 14,000 taxi drivers using FREE NOW in Ireland, including its annual and 30-day policies.
Neobroker BUX and enterprise connectivity platform Yapily have joined forces to ‘deliver seamless, real-time funding options for all German BUX users’. Following the partnership, BUX Zero customers can make deposits to their accounts from within their mobile banking app.
Announcements and launches
Crypto platform Luno has unveiled the Bitcoin Savings Wallet that lets users earn up to four per cent interest while using Bitcoin as a day-to-day payment method. According to Lunco, 95 per cent of its customers have said they want to earn interest on their Bitcoins.
Moneyhub launches API to help fintech innovators simplify tax returns for landlords. The open finance platform says the API will help landlords easily categorise transactions on the platform that relate to their property. Moneyhub also recently launched ‘Transaction Attachment’ for easy upload, and storage of transactions.
Word processing project platform SMASHDOCs has a new solution for contract drafting projects. Draft contracts are stored online and every action is automatically logged and audit-proof. Negotiations with other stakeholders can also be conducted online via the platform.
Invoice financing and transaction company Crowdz has partnered with Trade Finance Market to introduce a fraud-detection application for SMEs. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Crowdz has experienced 5,000 per cent growth in business users. CEO and co-founder of Crowdz, Payson Johnston, said the rapid increase in demand for financing meant the company would also need to bolster its ability to reduce the risk for funders.
