Volt raises $60 million Series B at a $350M+ valuation
Terrific Thursday fellow FinTech Fanatic,
London-based Volt , a FinTech building the infrastructure for real-time payments, announced that it has raised a $60 million Series B round led by Silicon Valley investor IVP .
The investment will be used to fund expansion into new markets across Europe, the UK and Brazil.
Following London Tech Week, this investment from IVP , one of Silicon Valley’s leading investors, signals another vote of confidence in the UK’s FinTech sector.
However Volt’s CEO and co-founder Tom Greenwood denied to give any information on the company's valuation, a strong source close to the deal told TechCrunch’ Ingrid Lunden that it should be just over $350 million .
Apple’s FinTech strategy?
From high-yield savings accounts and credit cards to installment loans and contactless payments, tech giant Apple is growing its footprint in financial services.
CB Insights mined Apple's acquisitions and partnerships to discern its strategic priorities. I highly recommend the full analysis, which you can find over here .
Crypto payments firm is winding down operations
Meanwhile, San Francisco-based crypto payments firm Wyre has said it is winding down operations “in order to protect the best interests” of its users and stakeholders.
The payments firm insisted that the move was not forced on Wyre by some regulatory agency.
However, in the statement announcing the payment platform’s shutdown, Wyre cited market conditions as one of the reasons why it was winding down. The statement also urged users with assets on its platform “to continue to withdraw them via Wyre’s dashboard until Friday, July 14th”, according to information gathered by Bitcoin.com News.
Wyre’s decision to wind down comes more than six months after the CEO Ioannis Giannaros denied reports the payments platform had shut down. At the time, Giannaros instead claimed that Wyre was scaling back.
Onwards to the other FinTech news:
SPONSORED CONTENT
Five Degrees & Topicus: Future of Banking Networking Event??
Embark on a journey into the Future of Banking at an Exclusive Networking Event hosted by Five Degrees and Topicus on Tuesday, June 27th. Immerse yourself as they celebrate their new partnership and venture into the captivating domain of shaping the banking landscape. The event will take place at the Five Degrees HQ in Amsterdam, where attendees will have the privilege of gaining insights from Sabyasachi Sengupta, a distinguished Innovation Expert at ABN AMRO. Sabyasachi will offer invaluable perspectives on the human dimension of core banking transformation.?
Register now to secure your spot and be prepared for an engaging experience:?
The third edition of The Banking Battleground presents the findings of CCG Catalyst’s 2023 US Banking Study and explores how the industry is thinking about what comes next. Download the complete report through this link
INSIGHTS
Moving beyond alternative data — cash flow underwriting becomes industry standard. Lenders can more easily embed Plaid Link into their user journey so that they can start using cash flow data in underwriting — creating more insightful credit decisioning processes, and more chances for those with thin credit files access to credit.
Last week we saw 12 FinTech Funding deals in Europe for a total of €60m raised with 3 deals in France, 3 in the UK, 1 in Germany, Spain, Austria, Estonia, Belgium, and Czech Republic. Check out the complete BlackFin Tech overview article here
FINTECH NEWS
Zepto slashes workforce. Zepto confirmed that it has made 20% of its workforce redundant following a strategic review of its operations. 19 roles had been cut this week, including positions in the technology and commercial teams. Read more
Modulr launches in Spain and France, unlocking opportunities for businesses with embedded payments. Regulatory and branch registration approvals with France and Spain central banks allows the embedded payments leader to add a layer of specific localisation in these markets, increasing the competitiveness of regional firms both in-country and across the UK and EEA .
Flow , the Chilean online payment platform, is set to expand into Ecuador during the second half of this year. This move is stimulated by the significant boom in e-commerce in Ecuador , which grew by 150% in 2022, according to the Ecuadorian Chamber of E-commerce.
Tattoo BNPL platform INKPAY collapses, claiming new credit regulations will cut too deep. “The INKPAY commercial model (and our smaller size) means we are unable to absorb the costs incurred in conforming to these regulatory requirements, and we feel it unfair and unrealistic to attempt to pass them on to merchants or customers,” the company said.?
领英推荐
Uruguayan fintech firm Prex , renowned for issuing cards and offering financial services via an app, plans to expand into Chile. With over a million card users in Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru operating under Mastercard, Prex seeks to emulate this success . A significant supporter, Itaú Unibanco, acquired 30% of the company last year.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
Nubank completes all mandatory steps for the payment initiator status. The company has become the 21st institution to fulfil all stages of the payment initiator onboarding process. Nubank can now perform the initiation of Pix payment transactions within the framework of Open Finance Brasil.
Just 30 seconds - Nine25 launches the fastest transaction account opening in Australia. The Nine25 App is on a mission to enable Australians to spend, manage and invest their money as quickly and easily as possible, starting with setting up a usable transaction account akin to traditional banking in under a minute .
Revolut said it was launching a streamlined version of its app in Sri Lanka, Chile, Ecuador, Azerbaijan and Oman, allowing customers to transfer money to over 50 countries using more than 30 currencies, with no fees for transfers to other Revolut customers.?
Santander México is adapting to the digital onboarding model of neo-banks such as Nubank and Rappi, with the goal of increasing credit lines on their LikeU and Samsung cards. Read more
Cloud banking vendor nCino explores sale.The firm is exploring its options, including a potential sale, after attracting takeover interest from private equity firms, according to people familiar with the matter, who cautioned that no deal is certain and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
BLOCKCHAIN
Cuscal imposes new restrictions on crypto; industry body criticizes move. "The new requirements appear to only be targeted to digital currency exchanges ," a statement read. "Blockchain Australia supports efforts to enhance and promote secure digital transactions while still preserving users’ freedom to decide how to spend their own money and use their own assets."
Finance giants expanding their crypto horizons with exchange launch. EDX Markets , a crypto exchange aimed at institutional investors, launched June 19th after a litany of finance behemoths announced its creation back in September 2022. Link here
M&As
KKR to buy €40bn of PayPal European BNPL loans. KKR will acquire substantially all the French, German, Italian, Spanish and UK BNPL loan portfolio held on PayPal's balance sheet as well as future loan originations. PayPal will remain responsible for all customer-facing activities.
PARTNERSHIPS
Flink partners with Rappi to promote a culture of investing among Mexicans. The partnership aims to encourage young people to explore new ways of growing their money, demonstrating that investing is as simple as ordering food from a smartphone. Read more
Backbase partners with Entrust to enable Apple Pay and Google Pay for Financial Institutions. The "add card to wallet" feature simplifies provisioning and activating cards for digital wallets with a push of a button . Authentication takes place within the banking app, where the customer is already verified.
SCBX , KakaoBank gears up to apply for virtual bank license from Bank of Thailand . This partnership involves the formation of a consortium, with SCBX holding a majority stake and KakaoBank holding a stake of at least 20%. Read more
IrisGuard and Arifpay partner to boost financial inclusion for Ethiopians. IrisGuard and Arifpay are paving the way for a future where digital payments empower beneficiaries to navigate the digital financial landscape confidently using the iris, overcoming connectivity, location, or literacy hurdles.
Adyen and Shopify partner to power new payment capabilities for enterprise merchants. The partnership will enable robust payments features for ecommerce enterprise merchants, along with expanded capabilities to be added in the future. Read more
Treasury Prime partners with Checkout.com to enhance enterprise payment solutions and user experiences. Together, the companies plan to launch several innovative initiatives in the coming months , the first being a new product that allows end-users to fund their accounts using their debit card credentials.?
Capital markets fintech TreasurySpring raises ￡15m Series B. The latest funding round brings the total raised to date by TreasurySpring to around $30m. It last raised $10m in a June 2021 Series A. Read more
FinMaq raises $23.5M investment round. The company plans to use the capital to grow its presence in Colombia and expand operations to Chile, Peru, and Mexico; and aims to generate positive social impact through inclusion .
Volt Money raises $1.5 mn in pre-seed round. The funding will be strategically used to recruit key personnel for product development and to establish beneficial partnerships. Link here
Looking to work with me in any of the following areas?
Cheers,
Marcel van Oost