Weekly Fintech Newsletter | 2021 #9
You might have noticed an increase in news from Latin America on my newsletters and LinkedIn coverage.
There definitely has been an increase in interest from investors and VCs on what the region has to offer.
LATAM is the fastest-growing region in the world. Because of this, I have decided to launch my own specific weekly newsletter covering Latin America.
✨ I invite you to read my first article, here.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any news that’s worth mentioning. I’m always looking for the latest news!
FINTECH MAPS
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S FINTECH SPACE
FINTECH SPOTLIGHT
🇺🇸 PayPal Holdings Inc will announce that it has started allowing U.S. consumers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay at millions of its online merchants globally, a move that could significantly boost the use of digital assets in everyday commerce.
👉 Link here.
FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
🇬🇧 Wise Ltd. has accused its former banking partner in Brazil of a “smear campaign” after allegations of fraud — claims that Wise says are “false and unfounded.” Link here.
The next big thing in neobroking: social networks. Neobrokers are adding even more social elements to their trading platforms in the wake of the 🇺🇸Gamestop saga and the rise of 'meme stocks'. Link here.
Slovakia is a burgeoning fintech region and home to the best IT-ranked developers in the world. To promote and nurture the rising innovation, three industry leaders have come together to create the official FinTech Hub Slovakia. Link here.
The year 2020 will go down in history as the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the way it affected the Argentine economy. Link here.
CRYPTO
🇸🇪 Safello continues its growth journey and announces that it has acquired Rational Money AB, the company behind Bitcoin.se, Sweden’s leading educational portal on cryptocurrencies. Link here.
🇮🇲Paysafe Group, a leading specialized payments platform, announced that it’s Skrill digital wallet has expanded its cryptocurrency offering to the U.S. in partnership with Coinbase, the digital currency platform provider. Link here.
🇺🇸Visa has become the first major payments network to settle transactions in USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin backed by the US dollar. Link here.
🇬🇧Curve is tapping the NFT craze by auctioning five pieces of digital art for charity. A series of animated Curve branded figures will go under the virtual hammer as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), with online bids invited from all over the world. All proceeds will go to the Theatre Support Fund+, to support the struggling theatre community in London, which was devastated by the impact of Covid. Link here.
OPEN BANKING
Check out this great Open Banking Report from 🇺🇸 FT Partners featuring the full landscape in Europe and the US. Link here.
PAYMENTS
🇧🇷EBANX has expansion plans for its payments operation across Central America and is kicking off operations in Costa Rica, with plans to launch in El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic in the first half of 2021. Link here.
Payments infrastructure provider 🇬🇧PPRO has topped up its latest $180 million funding round with an additional $90 million investment from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Eldridge. Link here.
🇺🇸Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pineapple Payments and will continue to provide payment processing services to Pineapple Payments merchants while enhancing its seamless delivery of an array of customer-focused, innovative solutions. Link here.
BNPL
Payments firm 🇲🇾GHL Systems Berhad announced that they will be piloting a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service for its merchants in Malaysia through a partnership with Split, a homegrown BNPL firm that has processed RM 10 million in transactions. Link here.
🇸🇪Zaver, a Swedish fintech that enables merchants to accept cardless payments and offer buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) as an option, has raised $5 million in new funding. Link here.
INVESTMENTS
Commission-free share trading platform 🇬🇧Freetrade has closed a £50m series B funding round, coming less than a year after a huge crowdfunding round. Link here.
The collapse of 🇬🇧Greensill, the hyped trade finance company backed by Japanese investor Softbank, has been a disaster for companies around the world. But there’s been a silver lining for 🇬🇧Wagestream, a rising UK fintech, which has bagged one of Greensill’s key subsidiaries from its administrators, Sifted has learned. Link here.
🇬🇧Chip, the award-winning savings app, has selected the custodian and investment technology provider, Seccl, to power its soon-to-launch Investment Platform. Link here.
🇺🇸Stripe announced that fundraising platform 🇺🇸GoFundMe has deployed its technology to ensure those in need are able to receive donations from those able to support quickly and efficiently. Link here.
Yanmo Omorogbe is 🇳🇬 Bamboo’s Chief Operating Officer. On TechCabal Live, she explained that the startup’s mission was focused on giving Nigerians a means for growing and earning returns on their investments. Link here.
The Spanish neobroker, 🇪🇸Ninety Nine, has launched its new feature "Invest 24 hours a day", which allows its clients to invest at any time, regardless of whether the stock exchange is open or not. Link here.
FUNDING
Overseas education platform 🇮🇳 Leap Finance has raised $17 million in Series B funding that it will use to expand its geographical footprint and ramp up its tech and business teams. Link here.
🇱🇻Jeff App, the Latvian fintech startup providing a data-enabled loan brokerage platform for unbanked customers in Asia, has closed a $1 million financing round led by the Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN) syndicate. Link here.
🇬🇧Osu, a new instant payments app aimed at helping the UK’s four million self-employed has raised £2.25m seed round. Link here.
🇨🇦Mogo Inc., a digital payments and financial technology company, announced it has entered into a binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Moka Financial Technologies Inc. Link here.
🇳🇬Bankly, a fintech startup digitizing cash for the unbanked, announced that it has closed a $2 million seed round. Link here.
🇦🇺Airwallex has increased its valuation to US$2.6 billion with a capital raising of $100 million in a further Series D extension. Link here.
🇺🇸Feedzai announced a Series D of $200 million. It said that the new financing is being made at a valuation of over $1 billion. Link here.
Fintech vendor 🇬🇧Meniga has closed a €10 million investment round to meet surging demand for its new range of green financial products. Link here.
🇬🇧 swapi, allows people to swap their loyalty points between popular brands and has raised £350,000 in seed funding before the official launch in Autumn 2021. Link here.
FOUNDERS & INVESTORS
A group, Gen Z VCs, has been formed to support aspiring venture capitalists, early-career VCs, and other young investors and founders. The group has grown to more than 6,000 members since it was formed in November 2020. Link here.
🇬🇧Seedrs' co-founder and chairman Jeff Lynn: "Following on our message about the CMA’s provisional findings yesterday, I wanted to share with you that we have agreed to terminate our merger with 🇬🇧Crowdcube. Link here.
What skills do you need to invest in pre-seed and pre-revenue startups that are run by founders in their early 20s? Well, you need to be an investor team also made up of early 20-somethings. Link here.
A fintech-focused special purpose acquisition company (Spac) led by 🇩🇪 Commerzbank AG’s former CEO, Martin Blessing, has begun trading on Amsterdam’s Euronext stock exchange. 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