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The Front Page of Global Fintech

The the largest fintech community in the world. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest in news opinions, and all things financial technology.

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This Week in Fintech UK & Europe (07/02)

This Week in Fintech UK & Europe (07/02)

Hello TWIF UK & Europe friends,

Please find another week of fintech news, financings and exits below.


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Tweet of the week 🦉🏆


💼 Open Role Spotlight

Come find your place on the team at the most inspiring fintech startups! Browse open roles on This Week in Fintech’s job board.


Funding 💸

There were 19 deals in the fintech space across the UK and Europe since the last post, with a total investment of $549m. Some highlights are below.

🇪🇺 Expense management platform Circula raised a €12m Series A led by Alstin Capital and included Peak Ventures and Storm Ventures.

🇪🇺 Revenue financing platform Wayflyer raised a $150m Series B co-led by QED Investors and DST Global.

🇪🇺 Crypto analytics platform Dune raised a $70m Series B led by Coatue.

🇬🇧 Sustainable investment app Etcho raised a £280,000 pre-seed round from angel investors and via Crowdcube.

🇬🇧 Cross-border payments fintech NALA raised a $10m seed round led by Amplo and included Accel, Bessemer and angel investors.

🌍 FTX raised a $400m Series C funding at a $32bn valuation.

🌍 Solana crypto wallet Phantom raised a $109m Series B

🌍 Plaid announced their second FinRise accelerator cohort which includes Dollarito, Kaoshi, Perch, Portabl and Pyroscope

Challenger Banking 🚀

🇪🇺 Neobank Northmill has acquired Moreflo as it looks to move into B2B payments.

🇪🇺 Neobank Bunq has partnered with Birdee to let users invest their cash.

🇬🇧 Revolut announced free P2P transactions between US customers and Mexico and launched in Ireland.  The neobank also started to offer pet insurance.

🇬🇧 Founders of fintechs Checkout.com, Bought by Many and Oaknorth met with the government regarding listing reforms to encourage more tech firms to list in London.

🇬🇧 Mortgage platform Kensington is being fought over by Starling Bank and Barclays.

🇬🇧 The National Literacy Trust is starting a campaign of financial literacy for young people in the UK with the support of Experian.

🇬🇧 UK lender Shawbrook Bank has built an in-house pricing tool using AI which is 5x quicker.

🇬🇧 Monzo has publicly launched in the US after running a private beta.  It was also reprimanded by the CMA for failing to disclose credit limit charges and announced three-month paid sabbaticals for staff.

🌍 Shares in Robinhood fell over 15% after it missed estimates for its Q4 results.

Digital Assets ₿

🌍  Google Cloud has launched a Digital Assets Team to explore blockchain platforms.

🌍 DeFi protocol Wonderland voted its treasury manager out after it was revealed to be Michael Patryn, a co-founder of exchange QuadrigaCX who was convicted of financial crimes.

🌍 Solana Pay, a collaboration between Solana, Circle (USDC) and Phantom wallet, has been announced to enable merchants to accept and settle USDC for payments online and offline.

🌍 Crypto lending platform Genesis is to offer loans using NFTs as collateral.

Traditional Banking 🏦

🇬🇧 Lloyds has signed JCT600, a car dealership, as its first retailer for its new PayFrom Bank A2A product for customers who want to buy a vehicle online.

🇬🇧 HSBC is investing $100m in green technology projects.

🇬🇧 Barclays is partnering with Rainmaking to launch Rise Start-Up Academy, an accelerator targeting early-stage fintech founders.

Fintech Infrastructure 🚧

🇪🇺 Solarisbank and Contis have completed their partnership, creating a entity with a combined €100m in revenue.

🇬🇧 Tink released its “Income Check” product in the UK which enables lenders to verify an applicants income using open banking technology.

🇬🇧 Modulr has partnered with Ripple to offer RippleNet customers an alternative to correspondent banking in the UK and Europe.

🇬🇧 Bud is working with TotallyMoney to incorporate open banking technology into credit scoring.

🇬🇧 OneBanks Hub, the shared bank branch hub is partnering with Answer Pay to offer Request to Pay solutions to low-income customers to benefit from direct debit discounts that were previously out of reach.

Payments 💰

🇪🇺 Worldline is hiring 5,000 new staff as it accelerates its geographical expansion.

🇪🇺 PayPal is launching its BNPL “Pay in 30” service in Germany.

🇬🇧 Pell Capital has launched a contactless card project, Oratio Project, for the homeless so they can take donations.

🌍 Square announced that purchases are 20% larger for Square merchants when shoppers use Afterpay, the BNPL provider it acquired. It has also hired a manager for its European expansion and is hiring in Berlin.

🌍 Bolt CEO has stepped back into a new role of executive chairman.

🌍 During its Q4 earnings call, PayPal mentioned 4.5m accounts were closed due to being “illegitimate”, with shares falling 25% as a result of that and earnings missing expectations.

🌍  Zelle announced 49% increase in transaction volumes in 2021, with business payments seeing a 162% increase.

Regulatory Corner 🔎

In collaboration with Kat Cloud

🇬🇧 FCA staff have voted to take industrial action over pending pay cuts.


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