The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Tuesday 6 February 2024 brings you the latest updates from the global fintech industry.
Appointments
Team8, a global company-building and venture group, adds a new member to its fintech advisory board – Judd Caplain, the former global head of financial services at KPMG. Caplain will provide a specialised toolkit for Team8’s portfolio companies and foundry leadership, in addition to working closely and mentoring Team8’s early-stage founders as they build and scale their companies.
BlueFlame, the generative AI platform for alternative investment managers, has appointed Eric Levinson as head of sales as well as Scott Barnes as director of client success. The new hires will play a pivotal role in the company’s business development and client success operations. Levinson has previously worked at DealCloud, Markit, S&P Capital IQ and Dealogic, while Barnes has held various positions at SS&C Eze.
Global wealth intelligence solutions provider 1fs Wealth hires Mark Minevich as strategic advisor. Minevich is the principal founder of Going Global Ventures, as well as the co-founder and co-chair of AI for Planet Alliance with UN Agencies. He will help shape the development of 1fs Wealth’s platform and its capabilities.
PPRO, the digital payment platform, has welcomed Eelco Dettingmeijer as chief commercial officer and Mariette Ferreira as chief marketing officer. Ferreira has worked at payments platform FairFX and most recently served as CMO at fintech consultancy 11:FS. Dettingmeijer has spent seven years in commercial leadership roles at global payments processor Worldpay, served on the board of Icepay, and then spent three years at Nuvei.
Funding and investments
finally, the fintech startup helping businesses automate their accounting and finance functions, has raised $10million in new capital to continue hiring and expand its suite of solutions to SMBs. The round was led by PeakSpan Capital with participation also from Active Capital.
Rain, the financial wellness platform that helps companies give employees greater control over their finances, has secured $300million in financing from Clear Haven Capital Management for a new credit facility. With this new funding, Rain now has more capital to service its growing customer base, allowing it to provide employees an easy way to access their earned wages in real-time.
Kriya, the B2B payments fintech, has secured a new £50million funding facility from a long-standing debt and equity partner, Viola Group. This will enable the fintech to power over £1billion of B2B payments over the next 24 months.The facility will also help Kriya to support exporters who do business in 45 supported markets in multiple different currencies.
Partnerships
The EY organisation announces an alliance between MoneyLion Inc, an enterprise and consumer fintech company, and Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), to help drive innovation and growth within the banking sector. The Alliance leverages MoneyLion’s embedded finance platform to help enhance the technological capabilities of traditional banking institutions.
Careem, a multi-service app, announces a strategic partnership with the UAE Restaurants Group (UAERG), a federal entity acting on a national level as a voice for the restaurant industry. Careem Food will provide a 50 per cent discount on onboarding fees and offer AED3,600 of complimentary advertising to UAERG member restaurants breaking exclusivity to join Careem Food.
Coinbase and LHV Bank celebrate decade-long partnership – it is 10 years since the cryptocurrency exchange selected LHV Bank as its European banking partner. The partnership has evolved significantly to now allow Coinbase customers to instantly top up or withdraw from their wallets to bank accounts all over Europe.
Super app Beem has announced a strategic collaboration with insurance company TruStage. TruStage Payment Guard, now integrated into Beem’s offerings, could provide financial assistance in the case of unforeseen job losses or disability, aligning with Beem’s vision to be a trusted partner in its users’ financial journeys.
