Happy Easter TWIF UK & Europe friends,

Please find another week of fintech news, financings and exits below. If you are reading this but haven’t already subscribed, you can click below 🙏

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Huge congrats this week to Nala Money founder Benjamin Fernandes as their team completed their first test transaction!

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Funding 💸

Highlights below of deals since the last post in the fintech space across the UK & Europe.

🇪🇺 Expense management provider Zevoy has raised a €15m Series A led by Blossom Capital.

🇪🇺 Montonio raised a €11m Series A led by Index Ventures.

🇪🇺 Marketplace payment solution Payaut has raised a €8m seed round led by Gradient Ventures and included LocalGlobe and Entree Capital.

🇪🇺 Crypto custody provider Dfns raised a $13.5m seed round led by White Star Capital and included Coinbase, Ryan Selkis and others.

🇪🇺 Rental investment fintech Beanstock raised a €12m Series A led by 360 Capital.

🇪🇺 Revenue-based finance lender re:cap raised a $15m Seed led by Mubadala.

🇬🇧 SMB lender Stenn raised a $50m round at a $900m valuation from Centerbridge Partners

🇬🇧 Wagestream raised a $175m Series C, $60m equity and $115m debt, from Smash Capital and Silicon Valley Bank

🇬🇧 Remittance fintech Leatherback raised a $10m pre-seed round led by ZedCrest Capital.

🇬🇧 Property lender OnLadder raised a £275,000 angel round led by Monzo co-founder Paul Rippon.

🇬🇧 Digital asset gateway Fasset raised a $22m Series A led by Liberty City Ventures and Fatima Gobi Ventures.

🌍 Binance.US raised $200m at a $4.5bn valuation.

🌍 Circle raised $400m at a $9bn valuation from BlackRock, Fidelity, Marshall Wallace and Fin Capital.

Challenger Banking 🚀

🇬🇧 Australian property exchange PEXA has partnered with ClearBank to launch a remortgage product in the UK later this year.

Digital Assets ₿

🇪🇺 Crypto lender Nexo has partnered with Mastercard to launch a card linked to a crypto-backed line of credit.

🇪🇺 EU Commission received 10,000 comments on its digital euro consultation.

🇬🇧 Bank of England fintech hub leader Varun Paul has left his post to join crypto firm Fireblocks.

🇬🇧 UK fintech firms were left confused trying to marry the government’s push for the UK to be a crypto hub with the tough approach of the FCA towards crypto firms.

🇬🇧 Blackfridge has secured an Isle of Man licence for its GBP stablecoin.

🌍  Despite successful tests recently, the ETH merge looks to be delayed again.  An official date has not been announced.

🌍  Mastercard has filed filed for 15 metaverse trademarks.

🌍 Worldpay is offering merchants the ability to directly receive settlement in USDC through a partnership with Circle, with Crypto.com a pilot customer.

🌍 Gemini’s crypto credit card has launched across the US through partnerships with WebBank and Mastercard.

🌍 Robinhood looks to be adding Shiba Inu, Solana, Polygon and Compound to its platform.

🌍 Beanstalk Farms was exploited for $182m.

Fintech Infrastructure 🚧

🇪🇺 Plaid hired former Booking.com exec Ripsy Bandourian to head up Europe.

🇬🇧 Minna Technologies announced through its partnership with Lloyds Bank that it has cancelled over 1m subscriptions since last summer.

🇬🇧 Nova Credit is expanding to the UK to help borrowers carry their credit history with them when they move abroad.

🇬🇧 Truelayer has launched its “closed loop payments” product in Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Lithuania and the Netherlands which provides pay-ins and pay-outs from a dedicated merchant account.

🌍 US clearing house DTCC is exploring the use of CBDCs as a settlement mechanism.

Payments 💰

🇪🇺 Adyen is set to roll out Apple’s new Tap to Pay by the end of the year.

🇬🇧 StonePay has launched to give reputation scores to companies based on their previous payment timeliness to help SMBs who face late payments from other businesses.

🇬🇧 Barclaycard Payments announced UK retailers have lost out on £130m in sales due to a lack of SCA compliance, which requires all online payments over £25 be subject to 2FA.

🌍 Square released a new Square Stand, an iPad based POS across its eight markets.

🌍 Credit card as a service platform Deserve is offering businesses a white label commercial card issuing platform.

Regulatory Corner 🔎

🇪🇺 The European Commission launched the EU Digital Finance Platform which is designed to facilitate partnerships and contact between fintechs and regulators.

🇬🇧 The FCA is prioritising its resources to “prevent serious harm, set higher standards and promote competition”.

🌍 New York Department of Financial Services is developing a new “assessment” for crypto firms as it seeks to bring the industry under its regulation.

🌍 The CFPB has described TransUnion as an “out of control repeat offender that believes it is above the law”

Longer reads 📜

• Crypto payments: learn what's in store - Checkout.com
• The Scoop: Inside Fast’s Rapid Collapse - Gergely Orosz
• What is Apple’s. endgame in payments? Part 2 - Michael Jenkins
• Multicoin Capital: The Outsiders - Mario Gabriele
• How Bitcoin Tracers Took Down the Web’s Biggest Child Abuse Site - Andy Greenberg, Wired
• How Checkout.com is helping businesses navigate the shift from Web2 to Web3 - Protocol
• Barb MacLean’s Fintech Playlist

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