It’s The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Tuesday 9 January 2023 brining you the latest funding news, appointments as well as partnership updates.
Funding and investments
anecdotes, an enterprise GRC (governance, risk and compliance) technology company, has closed $25million in a Series B round of funding, elevating the total capital raised to $55million. Vertex and DTCP have also joined as new investors.The funding will fuel expansion into markets across the US, EMEA, and APAC regions, as well as dmpower anecdotes to introduce data-driven innovations to the GRC landscape.
ZILOTM, the UK-based fintech specialising in global asset and wealth management software, bags a £25million Series A funding round. The fundraise was co-led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures (FISV) and Portage, with participation also from State Street and Citi. The Series A funds will accelerate product development as well as drive user acquisition. ZILOTM also plans to expand its reach into new markets and pursue strategic partnerships.
ProjectPay, a construction project payment platform, has received public funding to provide small businesses and contractors with access to affordable working capital. The business has been awarded over £700,000 in grants by Innovate UK to scale up its offering. The platform, which is backed by Lloyds Bank, targets cash flow shortages, a primary cause of delayed payments in the construction sector.
More funding updates
Solva, the Central Asian fintech business headquartered in Kazakhstan, announces the equity investment of $20million with Neo Crystal Holdings Limited, a company backed by the Sawiris family and ZCP. The Capital injection helps Solva to further scale its digital financial products for millions of micro, small and medium enterprises and boost job creation in the region.
Bumper, the fintech enabling flexible payments for car repairs, has completed a £40million Series B fundraise to accelerate its growth. Bumper helps drivers split repair bills into interest-free payments. The funding round was led by Autotech Ventures, with investment from Shell Ventures as well as JLR’s InMotion Ventures, Porsche Ventures and Revo Capital. Bumper plans to utilise the new funding to broaden its technological capabilities and extend its reach.
Appointments
Bristol-based invoice finance provider Optimum Finance has appointed Steve Chapman to manage and lead its risk and recoveries activity. He joins Optimum with more than 40 years’ experience within invoice finance and the financial services, including a long stint at Lloyds Banking Group. More recently he worked for Hitachi Capital PLC.
WP Communications, a global integrated communications agency, appoints Chris Skinner as non-executive director. Skinner will act as a key advisor optimising the implementation of strategic PR programmes for banking and financial services companies, to maximise brand awareness and business impact. Skinner is the author of more than 20 titles including Digital Bank and Digital Human.
John Lewis Finance makes two senior hires to support the growth of its insurance business. Gary Davess has joined John Lewis Finance as director of insurance. He will lead the insurance division which offers customers pet, home and motor insurance cover. David Telfer is also appointed head of commercial, insurance broking.
Chetwood Financial has unveiled Julian Hynd as its new chief operating officer. Most recently, Hynd led the operational and digital transformation at Shawbrook Bank, as well as commercial transformation at Redwood Bank. Hynd has responsibility for Chetwood Financial’s strategy through its technology, operations, and people. He will also help bring the ModaMortgages proposition to market later this year.
More appointments
FSCom, a governance, risk and compliance consulting firm for UK and Ireland financial services institutions, has named Nick Owen as an independent non-executive director. The company welcomes Owen’s ‘valuable insight and guidance’ for its board as it continues to expand the firm across both the UK and Ireland. Owen has held various roles at Deloitte, including UK chair and global board member.
Thunes, the global B2B cross-border payment company, appoints Floris de Kort as its new CEO, while Peter De Caluwe is promoted to deputy chairman. de Kort served as CEO of global e-commerce at Worldpay, as well as CEO of TSG, a software and integrated payments firm. De Caluwe will focus on strategy, M&A and further expansion into key markets, including China and the Gulf countries.
IFX Payments has named Sara Cass as chief compliance officer. She has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services sector, having previously worked as the head of group compliance at World First, and more recently at Heronbridge Investment Management LLP as well as REGIS-TR UK. Cass will lead the team in upholding high compliance standards set at IFX payments.
IFS, the global cloud enterprise software company, has promoted Mark Moffat to CEO. Moffat takes over from Darren Roos who is now chair of the board. Moffat, Roos and the IFS executive team have been working on the transition over the past six months as part of the board’s succession planning process.
Partnerships
Temenos and Deloitte forge a partnership agreement to provide technology solutions to help US financial institutions accelerate core banking and payments modernisation in the cloud. Through this agreement, the pair will help financial institutions to deliver modern digital experiences faster and at lower cost and take advantage of new business models and opportunities such as instant payments and banking-as-a-service.
GoCardless, the bank payment company, has extended its relationship with JustGiving to become the online donation platform’s exclusive open banking payment provider, replacing American Express. The move sees JustGiving use both the fintech’s Instant Bank Pay feature to collect instant, one-off gifts as well as its Direct Debit capabilities for recurring donations.
FintechOS, a fintech enablement platform for banking and insurance products, has partnered with Microsoft to offer FintechOS on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This collaboration brings innovative, agile and scalable fintech solutions to banking and insurance institutions worldwide, empowering them to accelerate their digital transformation journey.
Fintech Qashio, in partnership with MENA embedded finance platform CredibleX, has launched ‘Qashio Financing’. This new initiative aims to provide flexible and accessible financing to businesses of all sizes. Qashio Financing helps businesses accelerate growth, bridge cash flow gaps, and enhance operational efficiency with ease.
More partnerships
OVO Network, a specialist in high-end, self-catered chalets in the Alps, has selected Mangopay, a modular and flexible payment infrastructure provider for marketplaces and platforms, to streamline the end-to-end payment process for its holiday property rental services. Mangopay automates guest payments directly to the property owners’ accounts, including requesting funds from guests and managing the integration of third-party online travel agents for chalet bookings.
Fintech Andaria unveils a collaboration with Mastercard to empower its embedded finance proposition. This alliance with Mastercard forms part of Andaria’s mission to enhance the quality of its card and payment solutions under the Principal membership agreement. This complements Andaria’s existing dedicated IBANs, business accounts and suite of services.
There’s also a partnership for NTT DATA UK&I, the IT services provider, and Armstrong Wolfe, a global financial services advisory firm. The partnership will focus on knowledge sharing across both NTT DATA and Armstrong Wolfe communities, and expanding insights around key topics, including operational resilience, non-financial risk, emerging risk assessment and horizon scanning.
Meanwhile, Orange Finances Money Mali, an electronic money establishment and subsidiary of Orange Mali, has joined forces with TerraPay, a global cross-border payments network. The partnership aims to empower Malians with innovative and seamless financial services.
Company updates
The German Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz, KJM) has positively assessed IDCheck.io, the fully automated, AI-based age verification solution provided by IDnow, an identity verification platform provider in Europe.
