Google and Salesforce inject $75m into London’s Gocardless February 18, 2019 City fintech firm Gocardless has raised $75m (£58.1m) in a series E funding round, led by new investors Adam Street Partners and the venture capital arms of Google and Salesforce. The company aims to fix the way businesses collect invoices and make recurring payments by building debit technology on top of the world’s existing banking systems. Chief [...]
Business lender Iwoca rakes in £150m financing from Augmentum Fintech and NIBC February 18, 2019 Small business lending challenger Iwoca has closed a total fundraise of £150m, led by an earlier £7.5m investment from London-listed fund Augmentum Fintech. Morning Wire understands the raise was made up of a £20m series D equity funding round and £130m in debt capital. Existing investor Prime Ventures also participated, alongside NIBC Bank. A person [...]
Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial buys up UK currency exchange Worldfirst February 14, 2019 Ant Financial has agreed a deal to acquire UK currency exchange Worldfirst, solidifying the firm's presence outside of China. The deal comes after an attempt by Ant Financial to buy US remittances firm Moneygram was blocked by US regulators last year, citing national security concerns. Worldfirst was said to be valued at around $700m (£547.9m) and [...]
Starling banks £75m funding round from Merian Global Investors February 13, 2019 Starling Bank, one of fintech's Big Three digital banking stalwarts, has closed a £75m funding round led by Merian Global Investors. The challenger bank said £60m was provided by Merian, formerly known as Old Mutual, which included a £19m injection from Merian's equity investment firm Chrysalis. The round was closed out with £15m from Starling's sole existing investor [...]
The UK’s fintech sector hits record level of investment as startups turn into scale-ups February 12, 2019 Investment into the UK's blossoming fintech sector broke records last year, as the country's startups reached a new stage in their growth journey. Venture capital and private equity investment in British fintech rose to an all-time high of $3.3bn (£2.6bn), up 18 per cent compared to 2017's levels, according to data published today by Innovate Finance. [...]
Wisdom of crowds: startup brings crowd funding to litigation finance February 11, 2019 When Cormac Leech, chief executive of new crowd funding litigation platform Axiafunder, is questioned about the potential 20-30 per cent returns offered to investors on its website, he doubles down. “If anything I’d say its conservatively 20-30 per cent, we would aspire to do better than that actually,” he says. Any investment offering such stellar [...]
Monzo to roll out business bank accounts in revenue shake-up February 10, 2019 Digital bank Monzo will launch its first business accounts today, as the loss-making challenger attempts to find a more efficient way to generate revenue. The bank will open a waitlist, initially accepting only the first 100 applicants into beta testing. Monzo said it hopes to fully launch accounts for small businesses by the end of [...]
Fintech startup Revolut’s controversial Valentine’s Day advert faces financial watchdog scrutiny February 8, 2019 A fintech startup under fire for a Valentine’s Day ad that has been accused of mocking single people is now facing a potential probe from the UK’s financial watchdog. Revolut’s Tube advert led to complaints online after the ad addressed people who had apparently ordered a takeaway for one last Valentine’s Day. Read more: It's about time: [...]
UK fintech unicorn Oaknorth to nail $440m round led by Softbank February 7, 2019 Japanese mega investor Softbank has led a $440m funding round in savings challenger Oaknorth, investing in the company via its $100bn Vision Fund. Morning Wire understands the Clermont Group also participated in the round, which is expected to close tomorrow morning. The funding will be used to expand Oaknorth's SME loan origination and credit capabilities to banks and [...]
What do you want to know about big data & AI in investment management? February 7, 2019 | City Talk A technological advance can impact — even transform — the global economy let alone a particular sector. The steam engine in the first industrial revolution, electricity in the second, and internet technology in the third fundamentally changed human history. Today, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have the same transformative potential. When it comes to [...]