Flutterwave Raises $35M in Series B, Brazilian FinTech Nubank Now Has 20 Million Customers, Qonto Raises $115M, Revolut Enters UK Savings Market

This week (20-24 January) was super interesting and really exciting one in the world of FinTech. Amazon is attempting to turn your hand into a credit card, San Francisco and Lagos-based FinTech startup Flutterwave has raised a $35 million Series B round and announced a partnership with Worldpay FIS for payments in Africa, Nubank now has 20,000,000 customers, and much more.

Without further ado, let us dive into what has happened in the financial technology sector this week.

Australian Neobank Volt Moves from Series C to Series D Ahead of Planned IPO

With its sights set on an IPO later this year, Australian neobank Volt has closed a $70 million Series C round and is now opening up a $50 million Series D on a $285 million valuation.

The latest round lifts Volt’s total funding to $100 million in equity, and brings the challenger a step closer to a planned listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in late 2020.

The neobanking startup, which recently launched its first deposit product, says the move to an immediate Series D is to meet regulatory capital demands and provide funding for the rollout of additional products.

Steve Weston, CEO & co-founder of Volt Bank, said:

Our first deposit product clearly differentiates Volt from incumbent banks. It is an account that helps customers save and provides a very competitive interest rate without the limited time bonus period restrictions or the need to meet other bonus conditions like most savings accounts in Australia. 

Key to our ultimate global scale is the development of our platform strategy. We are now raising more capital to invest in the development, integration and onboarding of partners that will open up new customer bases with both Volt-branded and white-labeled banking products.

Open Banking Platform Tink Raises €90M

Swedish open banking platform Tink has closed a €90 million investment round at a post-money valuation of €415 million to support its continued expansion across Europe. The latest funding follows a €56 million investment round in February 2019, as the firm strives for pan-European coverage.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Stockholm, Tink is currently live in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

Through one API, Tink's technology is designed to give bank customers personalised advice based on their transaction history. The Tink app connects to more than 2500 banks that reach over 250 million bank customers across Europe. The firm's technology has been integrated by leading European players including NatWest, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas Fortis, SEB, Nordea, PayPal and Klarna.

The latest funding round was co-led by two new investors — London-based B2B software venture capital firm Dawn Capital and San Francisco-based investment management firm HMI Capital — together with existing investor Insight Partners. Other participants include Italy’s largest financial services network Poste Italiane as a new investor, as well as existing backers Heartcore Capital, ABN Amro Ventures and BNP Paribas’ venture arm, Opera Tech Ventures.

Daniel Kjellén, co-founder and CEO, Tink, commented:

The investment round will facilitate our ambitious growth plans over the next year and beyond. During 2020 we are committed to building out our platform with more bank connections and, on top of that, expanding our product offering. Our aim is to become the preferred pan-European provider of digital banking services and to offer the technology needed for banks, FinTechs and startups to leverage the opportunities of open banking and enable them to successfully develop financial services of the future.

Amazon is Working to Connect Credit Card Information to your Hand

Amazon is attempting to turn your hand into a credit card, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company plans to enable customers to connect their credit card information to their palms, so they can complete purchases with a tap of their hand rather than their card.

Amazon has filed a patent for a "non-contact biometric identification system", featuring a scanner that produces an image of a person's palm. Similar technology is already in use in financial services, with biometic authentication provider, iProov, launching a palm verification service in February 2019, allowing customers of banks to verify themselves remotely by hovering their palm over their mobile device. 

The WSJ has reported that Amazon is working with Visa on this project, with Mastercard, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo also involved in preliminary discussions. It is likely Amazon will have been addressing potential concerns that are sure to be posed over the ability of terminals to detect fraud, as well as broader questions relating to privacy.

The WSJ reports that data collected from the terminals would be used to study spending habits and stored on Amazon's cloud. The plans would continue the online giant's attempts to revolutionise the way bricks-and-mortar stores operate.

This comes as Amazon plans to expand its chain of Amazon Go stores across the USA, which allow consumers to shop without cashiers or checkouts.

Rabobank Invests in Digital Mortgage Broker Trussle

Rabo Frontier Ventures (RFV), the strategic investment fund of Rabobank, has contributed to a ￡7.5 million funding round in online UK mortgage broker Trussle.

The Dutch bank was joined by existing investors Goldman Sachs Growth, Finch Capital and BBVA-backed Propel Venture in backing the firm, which last raised ￡13.6 million in Series B financing in May 2018.

Trussle is one of a new breed of FinTech startups that uses proprietary automation and a mortgage monitoring service to compare and track thousands of mortgage products from more than 90 lenders.

Harrie Vollaard managing Director of RFV, commented:

We’re looking forward to working closely with Trussle on the next phase of their journey to redesign the mortgage application process, as well as additional services to better support their customers through the home ownership journey.

Trussle Chairman, Simon Williams, says the five-yeard old business has reached a pivotal stage in its growth trajectory. "There’s ample work to be done in revolutionizing this archaic industry," he says. "This new funding will enable us to accelerate our progress, especially through investment in our technology, to make the mortgage process quicker, easier and more transparent. The funding from our investors not only exemplifies the progress we’ve made so far, but also the scale of the opportunity that lies ahead.”

New Digital Bank Vive Receives Banking Licence

New UK digital bank Vive has received a banking licence with restriction from the Bank of England. The new bank will be offering personal loans and a fixed-rate savings account and launching with with an Open Banking-based money management app.

Vive is aiming to capture the underserved market of customers who struggle to access affordable credit. Receiving a banking licence with restriction - also known as 'mobilisation' - is the first step towards a new bank becoming fully operational, in which it can start to do business but with certain limitations such as the amount taken in deposits. 

Vive will be expected to be in mobilisation for no more than 12 months before it proceeds to full authorisation. 

CEO Nick Anthony describes the awarding of its licence as "a significant milestone" to the challenger's ambitions to "provide simple, straightforward products, built for a digital world."

“Vive is designed for people who want greater choice than that offered by their current bank," Anthony adds.

Our prospective customers value service, speed and transparency but also want the best rates available to them.

It was announced in September 2019 that Vive is using Starling Bank partner Bottomline Technologies for its faster payment processing. Vive is targeting a full launch during Q2 of 2020 and is at present inviting people to beta test its product.

Flutterwave Raises $35M Series B from VISA & Worldpay

San Francisco and Lagos-based FinTech startup Flutterwave has raised a $35 million Series B round and announced a partnership with Worldpay FIS for payments in Africa.

With the funding, Flutterwave  will invest in technology and business development to grow market share in existing operating countries, CEO Olugbenga Agboola — aka GB — commented. The company will also expand capabilities to offer more services around its payment products.

The Nigerian-founded startup’s main business is providing B2B payments services for companies operating in Africa to pay other companies on the continent and abroad. Launched in 2016, Flutterwave allows clients to tap its APIs and work with Flutterwave developers to customize payments applications. Existing customers include Uber, Booking.com and e-commerce company Jumia.

In 2019, Flutterwave processed 107 million transactions worth $5.4 billion, according to company data.

The new round makes Flutterwave the payment provider for Worldpay in Africa. “With this partnership, any Worldpay merchant in Europe or the U.S. can accept any African payment. If someone goes to pay Netflix with an African card, it just works,” GB said.

Flutterwave’s latest funding brings the company’s total investment to $55 million and follows a year in which the FinTech venture announced a series of weighty partnerships.

In July 2019, the startup joined forces with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba’s Alipay to offer digital payments between Africa and China. The Alipay collaboration followed one between Flutterwave and Visa to launch a consumer payment product for Africa, called GetBarter.

Working Capital FinTech Demica Raises $30M

London-based working capital outfit Demica has closed a $30 million Series C funding round led by Simcah Management. Demica has built a SaaS platform to manage working capital for over 500 large corporate multinationals financed by 50 global financial institutions.

The new funding will be used to build new platform features and functionality, such as invoice discounting and distribution finance products.

The firm also plans to beef up its North American team as it looks to build deeper relationships with banks and institutional credit investors.

Matt Wreford, CEO, Demica, commented:

The trend for working capital finance transactions to be managed on independent third party platforms has accelerated during 2019. 

All parties are looking for flexible financial structures that can be automated with best in class risk mitigation for funders. This investment round takes us another step closer to delivering this vision and transforming how working capital is financed globally.

SME Finance Provider Liberis Goes for Global Growth with $42M Funding Round

UK-based alternative finance provider Liberis has raised $42 million in equity financing and appointed PayPal's former head of credit operations Howard Kramen as its US general manager. The new funding was led by FTV Capital with participation from long-time investor Blenheim Chalcot.

The company, which has so far provided over 15,000 small businesses with more than ￡400 million in funding both directly and through partnerships with merchant acquirers, is currently present in UK, US, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovak and Finland.

The firm says the new funding will be used to grow it US footprint, enter two new European markets and increase headcount by 30% over the coming year. In the US, Liberis has formed a partnership with Worldpay and has appointed industry veteran Kramen to spearhead its efforts across the States.

Rob Straathof, CEO, Liberis, commented:

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the global economy, yet they continue to be turned away by banks and traditional lenders or faced with unhelpful repayment terms and complex processes. 2020 is set to be an exciting year for Liberis as this financial investment will help to accelerate our plans to support millions of small businesses around the world with fast, flexible and fair funding.

FinTech Nubank Has 20 Million Customers

For Brazilian FinTeh Nubank announced a new milestone: it has 20 million customers. This number is divided between customers that have a NuConta (the startup’s digital bank account) under their name and people registered for its annuity-free credit card.

This customer base size makes Nubank the sixth-largest financial institution in Brazil.

It’s reported that around 50,000 customers sign up for one of Nubank’s products every day. And the fintech hopes to close this year with 30 million customers (that’s a 50 percent jump!).

As for future plans, the unicorn will further develop its “Empréstimo Nubank,” a personal loan product. In addition, it wants to work on its PJ Account, a digital bank account aimed at small businesses which was still under prototyping as of last October.

It will prove interesting to see if PJ account is hot the way NuConta is.

Revolut Enters UK Savings Market

Revolut has entered the UK savings market, in partnership with Flagstone, offering premium account customers an easy-access savings account with a limited market-leading interest rate of 1.35% AER.

Revolut is aiming to tackle the consumer loyalty trap, where over a third (33%) of UK consumer cash is sitting in easy access savings accounts opened over five years ago receive interest rates 0.82% lower than accounts opened more recently.

The new account is an extension of Revolut's popular Vaults feature, which allows customers to round-up their card payments to the nearest whole number and instantly save their spare change. Launched in April 2018, over 2.5 million Vaults have been opened - with an average of 6,000 new Vaults created every day. To date, Revolut customers have put aside over ￡1 billion into their Vaults. 

Revolut premium customers - who currently pay ￡150 per annum for the privilege - can now convert their existing Vault into a Savings Vault and make regular and one-off payments into the account. Funds are deposited with Paragon Bank and protected by the FSCS up to a value of ￡85,000.

Nik Storonsky, Founder & CEO of Revolut says:

Interest rates have been minuscule in recent years, and this has directly impacted the options that people have when it comes to saving money. With the introduction of Savings Vaults, we can now offer our UK customers one of the most competitive rates in the country, with complete flexibility and protection.

Savings Vaults are currently only available in GBP to Revolut Metal customers whose sole tax residency is in the UK. Revolut Premium and Standard customers in the UK will be able to access Savings Vaults at a lower rate in the coming months. 

Revolut has set an unspecified limit on deposits earning the headline 1.35% AER rate. After this ceiling is reached, any new deposits will receive a lesser rate.

Challenger Business Bank Qonto Raises $115M

French startup Qonto has raised a $115 million Series C funding round led by Tencent and DST Global. Today’s news comes a few days after another French fintech startup, Lydia, raised some money from Tencent. Existing investors Valar and Alven are also participating in today’s funding round. TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Adyen CFO Ingo Uytdehaage are also joining the round. Qonto says it represents the largest funding round for a French FinTech company.

Qonto is a challenger bank, or a neobank, but for B2B use cases. Instead of attracting millions of customers like N26 or Monzo, Qonto is serving small and medium companies as well as freelancers in Europe. According to the startup, business banking in Europe is broken. The company thinks it can provide a much better user experience with an online and mobile-first product.

The company has managed to attract 65,000 companies over the past two years and a half. The product is currently live in France, Italy, Spain and Germany. In 2019 alone, Qonto managed €10 billion in transaction volume.

With today’s funding round, the company plans to double down on its existing markets, develop new features that make the platform work better in each country based on local needs and hire more people. The team should grow from 200 to 300 employees within a year.

Qonto obtained a payment institution license in June 2018 and has developed its own core banking infrastructure. Around 50% of the company’s user base is currently using Qonto’s own core banking system. Others are still relying on a third-party partner.

Moving from one back end to another requires some input from customers, which explains why there are still some customers using the legacy infrastructure. Over the coming months, Qonto plans to launch new payment features that should convince more users to switch to Qonto’s back end.

Even more important, Qonto plans to obtain a credit institution license, which could open up a ton of possibilities when it comes to features and revenue streams. The company says that it should have its new license by the end of the year.

For instance, you could imagine being able to get a credit card, apply for an overdraft and get a small loan with Qonto.

Compared to traditional banks, Qonto lets you open a bank account more easily. After signing up, Qonto offers a modern interface with your activity. You can export your transactions in no time, manage your expenses and get real-time notifications. Qonto also integrates with popular accounting tools.

When it comes to payment methods, Qonto gives you a French IBAN as well as debit cards. You can order physical or virtual cards whenever you want, customize limits and freeze a card. Qonto also supports direct debit and checks. Like many software-as-a-service products, you can also manage multiple user accounts and customize permission levels.

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About: I am a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading company's expansion into Europe , I'm an active member of FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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