Welcome to your daily FinTech news!
- Starling Bank bags £130.5m from existing investors to build a "war chest" for acquisitions. The £130.5m fundraise, announced today, gives Starling a pre-money valuation of more than £2.5bn, the challenger bank said. "This will enable us to continue our growth and to build a war chest for acquisitions. We are looking at a number of potential targets," a spokesperson said. Read the full AltFi article here.
- Atlantic Money, founded by Patrick Kavanagh and Neeraj Baid in 2020, has attracted wealth from top tier investors including Coinbase-backer Ribbit, Kleiner Perkins, 20VC founder Harry Stebbings and Robinhood creators Vladimir Tenev and Baiju B. The startup, which emerged from stealth mode earlier this year, offers money transfer services for a flat £3 ($3.90) fee, which it claims is cheaper and easier for users to access than existing offerings. Link here.
- Chinese eCommerce giant Tencent has led a funding round into London-based fintech Previse. According to Sky News, the series B investment round is expected to raise $10.4 million, which would value the startup at around $90 million. Link here.
- Koshex (YC-S21), an India-based fintech startup, has raised US$2.1 million in a seed round led by Y Combinator, the former told Tech in Asia. Link here.
- Kinara Capital, India’s fast-growing MSME fintech, closed a fresh equity round of USD $50 million led by Nuveen, a TIAA company, a leading global investment manager with over $1.3 trillion of assets under management, with participation from Triple Jump, a Dutch impact-focused investment manager advising the ASN Microkredietfonds. Link here.
- Wave Mobile Money, a Senegal-based fintech unicorn, has been granted an e-money license by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), a central bank serving the 8 francophone West African countries—Benin, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo—that form the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). Link here.
- African Financial Technology Company, changes name to Nomba as it transitions into an omni-channel payment platform providing tools to enable businesses grow. Link here.
- Ride-hailing company Careem has expanded its presence in the UAE's FinTech sector, rolling out a digital wallet for its Careem Pay service that stores real money for customers as part of its plans to become a digital financial services provider. Link here.
- Businesses using Stripe in Singapore can now accept Paynow as a payment method, the Business Times reported. Link here.
- Tajikistan-based Alif Bank is looking to tap Pakistan’s fintech space to cater Pakistan’s large ‘unbanked’ population, said Mahmood Shamsher Ali, Country Representative Alif Capital Holdings, during an exclusive interview with The News International. Link here.
- Opinion: PayPal’s Blockchain Chief, Senior Vice President Jose Fernandez da Ponte, on the Future of Crypto in Payments. "Blockchains offer unique advantages, but these must be combined with a user experience that feels similar to the one consumers know today". Read the CoinDesk article here.
- Fidelity Investments, the USA's largest provider of 401(k) plans, said on Tuesday that it would enable its participants to put a slice of their retirement money into Bitcoin — if their employers are willing to allow it. Link here.
- Cosmos Asset Management could launch its bitcoin ETF as early as April 27, according to the report. Australia’s first bitcoin ETF would not invest in BTC directly, but rather in shares of Purpose Investment’s bitcoin ETF – North America’s first bitcoin spot ETF that began trading in early 2021. Link here.
- Retail brokerage firm Robinhood is cutting back staffing levels, citing “duplicate roles and job functions” after rapid expansion last year. CEO Vlad Tenev made the announcement in a blog post on Tuesday afternoon. Shares fell more than 5% in extended trading. Link here.
- Apple Cash, formerly known as Apple Pay Cash, may be transitioning from the Discover payments network to Visa, a new report from MacRumors.com suggests. Visa has a much larger global network than Discover, which might account for the move. Link here.
- WhatsApp, one of Brazil’s most popular messaging apps, saw the opportunity to integrate safe and simple real-time payments with its encrypted messaging service — powered by Mastercard Send™. Link here.
- Amazon Payment Services, a payment service provider operating across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has announced the appointment of Mona Alsemayen as the Country Head, Strategy and Growth for Amazon Payment Services in Saudi Arabia. Link here.
- BUX, one of Europe’s fastest-growing neobrokers, announced the appointment of Dan Zbijowski as its CMO. Link here.
- Digital Banking's ongoing rise, as well as that of Open banking, is dissolving Banks’ Monopoly on consumer Financial data, democratizing and improving financial services for people around the world. As the popularity of Digital Banking increases, so does the competition. Companies must continually work to differentiate themselves in their market by establishing a clear Unique Selling Point (USP), but must also know how to duly adopt this USP to new markets. Read the full C-Innovation article by Isabel Richardson here.
- Gimi – Financial Superskills for Life announces that it has partnered with ABN AMRO Bank N.V., one of the biggest banks in the Netherlands, to help educate young customers about personal finance and provide them with a safe platform to handle their bank accounts. Link here.
- Germany's Commerzbank AG (CBK) applied for a crypto license earlier this year, a spokesperson for the bank said. This makes it the first major bank in Germany to move towards crypto adoption. Link here.
- Indian neobank Fi is in advanced stages of talks to raise about $100 million at a $700 million valuation, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Alpha Wave Global, LP, formerly known as Falcon Edge Capital, is leading the round, sources said. Singapore’s Temasek is also in talks to invest in the new round, one of the sources said. Link here.
- Copper Banking, a digital banking service aimed at teens, has raised $29 million in Series A funding in a “preemptive” round led by Fiat Ventures. The investment comes just over seven months after the startup revealed it had raised $9 million in a seed round. Link here.
- Ellis raises $5.6M to pave the way for international students planning to study in the U.S. Before they arrive, they can open a debit account with Ellis’ neobank and sign up for a 5G cellphone plan, too. The startup is also working on a product to be a co-signer on leases. Link here.
This ends Your Daily Fintech News. Let me know if there are any questions or comments. Until the next!
