This week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 06/04

welcome to Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup Thursday, April 6.

Jobs

Law firm TLT has further expanded its national structured finance practice with the appointment of Steve Downey as a partner. It follows the recent appointment of co-partner Mark Thomas. The appointments are part of the firm’s strategic plans to continue to expand TLT’s banking and structured finance offering across the UK.

MENA Fintech Association appoints Bryan Zhangco-founder of Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, to its advisory board. He will share insights on emerging market trends, global opportunities and risks, regulatory changes and supervisory innovation, policymaking as well as digital financial inclusion.

VikingCloud, a provider of cyber security and compliance solutions, is hiring Jim Burke as managing director. Robert McCullen will continue as chairman and play an active role in the company. Most recently, Burke served as CEO of Workforce Logiq.

airwallex, a global payment and finance platform, unveils Stacey Zolt Hara as head of corporate affairs, America and EMEA. She will be responsible for leading Airwallex’s integrated communication strategy and implementation in the regions. Prior to Airwallex, Stacey was SVP and Head of Global Corporate Communications at Udemy.

Clearwater Analytics, a provider of SaaS-based investment management and analysis solutions, appoints Scott Ericksonas its first chief revenue officer. He oversees Clearwater’s sales efforts in Europe, Asia and the Americas. With an 18-year track record of driving Clearwater’s growth, including roles in services, product strategy and sales, Erickson will continue to lead the company’s market share expansion in all regions.

Ness the credit card company, unveils hairdresser and personal care lawyer Jonathan Van Ness as self-care manager. This announcement follows last month’s public beta launch of the company’s first product, the Ness Card – a premium health and wellness credit card.

More employment

MENA’s open banking platform Tarabut Gateway name Chun Ong as the new operations manager. He will lead the company’s operations as it continues to expand across multiple jurisdictions. The appointment also follows the recent appointments of two new vice presidents in customer success and engineering.

Dr. Lea Maria Siering is the new CEO of Token GmbH,a European open banking platform. Siering will be responsible for driving Token GmbH’s growth strategy, leading the Berlin operations and expanding its presence in the region. Previously, she was risk manager at finleap connect.

Opensee which supplies analyzes to financial institutions, has appointed Emmanuel Richard as growth manager. He joins Opensee from Rimini Street, your company’s software support company. In his new role, he will help accelerate Opensee’s go-to-market strategy and its execution.

drawbridge, a provider of cybersecurity software and solutions to the alternative investment industry, hires Chris Aronis as its Chief Revenue Officer. Aronis leads the Drawbridge sales, account management and business development teams to accelerate the company’s global growth, improve customer service and develop its go-to-market strategy.

Jennifer Kerber have joined Socure as senior director of government affairs. Kerber will work with legislators, decision makers and government stakeholders to address digital identity challenges. Prior to joining Socure, Kerber served as Director of Public Policy for Grant Thornton, LLP.

Remote control hires Michiel Boere as finance manager. Boere will be responsible for the global financial strategy and operations of the company as it enters its next phase of growth. He joins Remote from Uber. Remote builds, manages and supports globally distributed workforce.

Financing and investments

Fintech Soft space has raised $31.5 million in its latest funding round. Southern Capital Group led the financing round, with participation also from transcosmos, JCB and Hibiscus fund.The funds raised will be used to drive the company’s continued growth and expansion.

Paymenow an earned wage access platform in South Africa, has secured a R250 million debt facility through Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). It will use the funds for growth plans. Paymenow is the first EWA provider to launch in Namibia and Zambia, and it also intends to scale across several strategic jurisdictions, including Lesotho, Ghana and Kenya.

Malaysian health tech startup Qwith Asia has raised RM5,101,298 through a crowdfunding campaign for shares of Leet Capital. It attracted support from 110 investors, including angel investors Malaysia Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF) and 1337 Enterprise.

Acquisition

Navan Travel, expense and corporate card management platform, has taken up India’s travel and expense management company Tripod clock. The acquisition marks Navan Group’s fifth acquisition in two years, following purchases in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Spain.

Tandem Bank has strengthened its strategy to build the UK’s greener, digital bank with the acquisition of loop, the socially conscious money sharing app. Loop will continue to operate as a standalone app and brand, with plans to embed Tandem products and features into the Loop app, offering users access to a wider range of savings and lending services.

Partnership

Software company The rock working together with Routes to help businesses automate and streamline their accounting workflows and integrations. The partnership gives companies an opportunity to build products in areas such as expense management, accounts payable automation and accounts receivable automation.

CardX, one Stax the company and a platform for compliance with surcharges, has launched MasterCard Click to pay on Lightbox, CardX’s online payment form, to extend your product’s reach. With this partnership, Click to Pay is now available to all existing and new card-not-present merchants on CardX’s platform.

Nefta, Web3 platform, has announced the expansion of its partnership with blockchain game studio GIVE AWAY. Nefta’s technology will enable VIKER to easily onboard gaming guilds, and support the growth of the player base by providing gaming guilds with a dedicated rental and leasing platform, along with tools for commission management and payouts.

DataBP has entered into cooperation with Thailand Stock Exchange (SET) to launch an online platform to streamline the administration process for market data. DataBP is a provider of software and managed services for handling market data and index commercialization.

ClearScore also announces a new collaboration with StepChange,the UK debt advice charity. Users can now access budgeting tips and debt advice early in the repayment process before debt becomes a problem. ClearScore will also direct people to the charity’s ‘Money Health Check’.