Weekly Fintech Newsletter | 2021 #7
‘From the moment I wake up, I can’t wait to find out what’s happening’:
A day in the life of Marcel Van Oost. When you’re an investor, advisor, and fintech commentator, networking becomes a full-time career. From cycling on his bike to cycling through investing, advising, and a whole lot of posting here’s a day in Marcel Van Oost’s life.
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FINTECH MAPS
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S FINTECH SPACE
FINTECH SPOTLIGHT
🇸🇪Klarna chief executive and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski told the 🇬🇧BBC News it upsets him when his company is compared to defunct payday loans firm 🇬🇧Wonga.
Buy now, pay later services were used by five million people in the UK last year. The 🇬🇧Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to be given powers to regulate the sector.
Speaking to 🇬🇧BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake Up To Money program, Mr. Siemiatkowski said:
"To me it's slightly surprising to see the concern with buy now, pay later... I'm emotionally upset when I hear comparisons to 🇬🇧Wonga. 🇸🇪Klarna is very different. We've been fighting the bank establishment for years. I'm surprised to see that there's not a more positive response."
🇬🇧Wonga, which collapsed in 2018, was once the UK's biggest payday lender but its practices attracted intense scrutiny.
👉 Read more here.
FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
In 2020, the UK saw more than double the loans made to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) than the previous year, at more than £54 billion. Link here.
🇸🇬Grab is reportedly considering a merger with a SPAC, but a U.S. listing via a traditional IPO is not off the table. Link here.
The proliferation of fintech services across Africa remains in full swing as investors remain bullish about the opportunities that abound in the sector. Link here.
Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are all the rage on 🇺🇸Wall Street. And analysts seem to be split as to whether it’s all froth or an innovative financing vehicle. Link here.
🇧🇷Mercado Pago, the Fintech arm of LATAM E-Commerce giant Mercado Libre will launch its credit card this month with 🇺🇸Visa. Link here.
OPEN BANKING
Leading Open Banking payments platform, 🇬🇧Token, and 🇫🇷BNP Paribas, announced the launch of the first online payments service to combine the power of SEPA Instant and PSD2 APIs, two major initiatives from the European Payments Council. Link here.
PAYMENTS
🇺🇸Payoneer Inc. announced a multifaceted relationship with 🇺🇸Mastercard. Beginning with the Payoneer Digital Purchasing Mastercard, tailor-made for SMBs, eCommerce sellers, and freelancers worldwide, 🇺🇸Payoneer and 🇺🇸Mastercard will work closely to better meet the needs of the B2B market. Link here.
🇩🇪pockid, which is targeting GenZ, announced a partnership with Mastercard. Link here.
🇬🇧Symatrix announced it has signed a partnership agreement with 🇬🇧Wagestream, a market-leading Earned Wage Access platform. Link here.
Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell announced that the 🇺🇸New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has approved the application of 🇺🇸Bakkt Marketplace, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 🇺🇸Bakkt Holdings, LLC, for virtual currency and money transmitter licenses. Link here.
On the heels of reports that 🇺🇸Stripe was raising yet more money, the payments giant has now confirmed the details. The company has closed in on another $600 million, at a valuation of $95 billion. Link here.
Financial services firm 🇺🇸Brex has expanded its instant payouts feature to sellers on 🇨🇦Shopify Link here.
🇫🇷Lydia, one of the fastest-growing financial services super-app in Europe, chooses 🇫🇷🇫🇷PayLead, the leader in payment marketing in France. Link here.
🇬🇧WorldRemit, an international money transfer service based out of London, is considering taking its $1.5 billion listings to the US. Link here.
🇷🇺Yandex has launched 🇷🇺Yandex.Pay, a payment service that can store its customers’ card details for e-commerce payments. Link here.
🇬🇧Payhawk announced the launch of one-click bill payments and reimbursements powered by a partnership with Railsbank. Link here.
🇺🇸Deel is introducing Deel Card to help remote workers get one step closer to accessible global purchasing power. Link here.
BNPL
🇦🇺Afterpay launched its European service, Clearpay, to merchants across Spain and France."In the last year, global e-commerce grew faster than it had in the last ten years," said Nick Molnar, Co-founder, and Co-CEO of Clearpay. Link here.
INVESTMENTS
🇩🇪The NAGA Group AG, a social trading-focused FX and CFDs broker, has signed an agreement with 🇺🇸Yorkville Advisors for securing capital financing of up to $30 million over the next three years. Link here.
🇦🇪baraka, a fintech start-up on a mission to educate, enable and empower millennials, introduced its proprietary commission-free mobile trading platform by launching its waitlist and free stock giveaway. Link here.
CRYPTO
🇦🇹Bitpanda has picked up $170 million, a Series B that catapults the company’s valuation to $1.2 billion. Link here.
🇺🇸BlockFi has hit a $3 billion valuation off the back of a $350 million Series D funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures, partners of DST Global, Pomp Investments, and Tiger Global Management. Link here.
🇬🇧Komainu - Next Generation Custodian, a crypto custodian joint venture between Nomura, CoinShares, and Ledger, has closed a $25 million Series A fundraise. Link here.
INSURTECH
🇬🇧Zego has bagged a $150m Series C funding round, valuing the fintech at $1.1bn. Link here.
FUNDING
🇲🇽Clara, a corporate spend-management startup focused on the Latin American market, announced its product launch and a $3.5 million pre-seed round led by General Catalyst. Link here.
🇬🇧Lumio, has raised £1.15m in a target-smashing crowdfunding campaign. Link here.
🇩🇪Elucidate, the Berlin-based financial crime risk quantification agency has raised €2.5 million in a pre-Series-A funding round led by Frontline Ventures. Link here.
FOUNDERS & INVESTORS
Venture capital deals in Mexico saw a spike during the third quarter of 2020 compared to April to June, both in the number of rounds and amount invested, as the country hit 31 deals (106.7% growth) and US$184 million invested, 220% more than in the previous quarter.
👉 Read more here.
🇬🇧Wise Ltd. co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport co-founder Sten Tamkiviare to merge their solo investment funds into a new funding unit focused on the red hot tech scene. Link here.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS:
MoonPay, the global payments solution for cryptocurrency, has announced the appointment of Zeeshan F. as its new Chief Growth Officer as it continues to expand worldwide. Link here.
Sustainable investing app 🇺🇸tickr will welcome one of Monzo’s founders to its board. Founders Latham and McGillyCuddy approached Gary Dolman on LinkedIn about two years ago when the banking veteran left Monzo. Link here.
🇺🇸Mode announced the appointment of Jonathan Conway as Chief Technology Officer. Jonathan brings a combination of experience across fintech, payments, as well as Open Banking. Link here.
🇺🇸Provenir, a global leader in risk decisioning and data analytics software, welcomes Frode Berg as the new General Manager for EMEA. Link here.
This ends my weekly digital fintech newsletter. Thank you for reading to the end! If you liked it, I invite you to like, share and/or leave a comment below. You may find more information regarding my newsletter here.
If there is anything else you think I’m missing, please don’t hesitate to reach out by email at bonjour@marcelvanoost.nl.
If you are looking for my weekly digital banking newsletter (the one divided by regions), you may find it here.
Let me know if there are any questions or news/insights worth mentioning in next week's newsletter. Until the next!
Regards,
Marcel van Oost