REPORT
Look at this latest report from Finland by Helsinki Fintech Farm 👇
The Helsinki Fintech Guide is an annual publication about the Finnish fintech industry. It is an industry handbook containing data, insights, and stories from the financial technology industry in Finland.
👉 Download the full Helsinki Fintech Guide by Helsinki Fintech Farm here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Accel's first Fintech 100 list.
Of the 5,000+ fintechs across 40+ countries in the region, they have selected a shortlist of 100 companies (founded since 2015, $10M+ funding, valued at less than $1B).
Based on momentum, market, product and team, they believe many of these will be among the next generation of category leaders.
👉 Read the full report by Luca Bocchio, Henry Jefferies, Cecilia Wang from the summit here.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
As a responsible BNPL lender, Klarna has always used traditional credit information to perform eligibility and creditworthiness checks at the point of every transaction.
This works for the more ‘traditional’ consumer set who may have got a credit card when they were 18 years old, repaid it, and built up a healthy credit file. But what about the consumers with thin or no credit files?
See how open banking is critical in creating a fairer market for both consumers and market participants in our latest Klarna Kosma blog post.
💡INSIGHTS
Revolut is now Europe's most valued Startup.
But how the hell do startup valuations work anyway? And what even is a 'down round'?
👉 Read the full explanation in this Sifted article by Amy O'Brien here.
💬 INTERVIEW
“We looked like idiots when entities like FTX were growing parabolically. We were asked if we [wanted] to set up a crypto exchange. We never turned” said Simon Sypniewicz in an interview.
“The idea of centralised exchanges is contrary to what we do,” co-founder Przemek Kowalczyk adds.
“We work with wallets that allow for self-sovereignty… Centralised institutions, such as FTX and Celsius, are not the Web3 or crypto that we believe in and that we dream of.”
👉 Read this amazing Sifted article by Zosia Wanat here.
📰 ARTICLE
Crypto.com CEO has a history of red flags including bankruptcy and quick exits.
Before founding Crypto.com, Kris Marszalek was involved in multiple ventures that ended in collapse, including one where suppliers claimed they were unable to access their earnings.
Over a decade ago, Marszalek and his business partner were paid millions of dollars by their manufacturing company, months before it entered bankruptcy.
👉 Read the full article by Rohan Goswami and MacKenzie Sigalos here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ The Financial Conduct Authority outlined stricter rules to regulate the financial promotions of products, including BNPL. Link here.
⭐️ KYP announces strategic partnership with Mastercard’s RiskRecon. Link here.
⭐️ Tapline raised a pre-seed funding round totaling €31.7m. Link here.
⭐️ Novicap raised €200 million debt facility for its credit platform. Link here.
PAYMENTS
Shieldpay announced a new partnership with payment service provider Mollie. Link here.
Dintero raises 30 million NOK, Bring Ventures steps in as a new investor and Schibsted Ventures participates again. Link here.
Checkout.com slashed its internal valuation to about $11bn, becoming the latest high-flying start-up forced to respond to the rout in tech stocks. Link here.
WLPayments partnered with Fiserv to enable merchants to improve operations in existing markets and expand to new ones. Link here.
BNPL
Klarna teamed up with climate tech start-up Vaayu in a bid to provide consumers with carbon emissions data for more than 50 million fashion products. Link here.
DIGITAL BANKING
Younited bagged €60 million in a new funding round at a valuation of €1.1 billion. The fresh capital was raised from its main shareholders Eurazeo, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, Goldman Sachs, and Bpifrance. Link here.
11Onze is offering gold coins as gifts to its members and users. They believe investing in gold is the right decision. Link here.
CRYPTO
Membrane Finance has been granted an Electronic Money Licence and picked up €2 million in seed funding. Link here.
The Bank of England is seeking a proof of concept for a wallet that will be able to hold a central bank digital currency. Link here.
INVESTMENT
Tide announced the launch of the Tide app in India. Link here.
Tendy is teaming up with WealthKernel to power its investing services. Link here.
London has edged ahead of San Francisco and New York to become the world’s biggest center for fintech investment. Link here.
INSURTECH
FintechOS announced its insurance revenue has increased by 300% YoY. Link here.
FRAUD PREVENTION
Hawk AI won the coveted Fintech Germany Award in the “Early Stage” category. Link here.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Zumo hired Vicky Byrom as its first chief data and analytics officer in order to overhaul its data strategy. Link here.
Stripe adds Louise Smith to UK board of directors as chair. Link here.
FINTECH MAPS
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.