This week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 11/17
Fintech Times The Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Thursday, November 17 brings news on partnerships, hiring and industry updates.
Funding Updates
Advanced navigationa developer of AI robotics and navigation technology, has raised a AU$108 million Series B funding round. KKR, a global investment firm, is leading the round with other investors including main sequence, In-Q-Tel and Our innovation fund. It will use the funding to accelerate R&D programs, enhance global sales and marketing capabilities as well as assess inorganic growth opportunities.
WeGifta digital payments company, has closed a £26million Series B. New investors included Element Ventures, Clocktower Ventures and Volusion joined existing investors CommerzVentures, AlbionVC and SAP. These funds will be used to expand the digital currency network, support growth in new geographies – with a focus on North America – make key hires, plus add new features and functionality.
Dubai-based fintech company baraka has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Valar Ventures. Investment company Knollwood also invested in the Series A round. baraka aims to give investors across the region access to commission-free investing and access to over 6,000 US stocks and ETFs.
Venture fund Fiat Ventures has launched its first venture capital fund with $25 million in AUM and co-investment vehicles. Fiat Ventures is dedicated to companies that build technology at the intersection of financial technology, financial access and inclusion.
Launcher
Built Technology, the US construction finance platform, has unveiled new inspection technology and service solutions designed to streamline tedious inspection workflows, increase project visibility, reduce risk and proactively accelerate construction drawings.
WTW, a global advisory, brokerage and solutions company, has partnered with insurance companies Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) and Mark, is launching the pilot phase of a digital commercial insurance platform. ThThe platform is designed to enable multiple insurance companies and brokers trade complex specialty risks in real time.
Orange Botswana is the first Orange affiliate in Africa to launch 5G commercially. The 5G network is available in greater Gaborone and Francistown, covering 30 percent of the population. It also follows the launch of Botswana’s first Orange Digital Centre.
Mergers and acquisitions
Computer Services (CSI) has closed a merger agreement of 1.6 billion dollars with Centerbridge Partners and Bridgeport Partners. CSI has delisted from the OTCQX market and become a private company. The capital injection will also support CSI in becoming a leading provider of regtech and fintech resources through expanded investment in research and development, complementary product partnerships and strategic acquisitions.
Climate First Bancorp – the holding company for Climate First Bank – has acquired a climate and social justice fintech platform developed by the startup Accounting. The platform indexes data on over 10,000 companies, analyzing their environmental, social and governance performance to help customers track how their brand purchases align with their personal values.
Company updates
Insurtech Brush requirements have celebrated the 30th anniversary of their disastrous claims, while also launching a new corporate brand identity. Included in the new branding is a redesigned company logo, as well as an updated company website. Brush is poised for rapid growth over the next few years, aiming to grow its roster of adjustments and add innovative features to its suite of insurtech solutions.
Temenos is celebrating after it passed 850 customers with Temenos Infinity digital banking platform. Banks that have gone live with Temenos Infinity include Credem, Suez Canal Bank, Arab Tunisian Bank and BCP Peru. Temenos said it is seeing tremendous growth in the use of its digital banking platform, particularly in SaaS customers.
Meanwhile, fintech StellarFi has exceeded $1 million in annual recurring revenue. The company came out of stealth in June and also closed an oversubscribed $7 million seed funding round in March. StellarFi allows members to increase their credit scores using daily payments, including rent and utilities.
LHV UK, a provider of banking services, has joined TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) system to improve access to real-time euro payments in countries where the scheme is not yet widely accepted. TIPS is a market infrastructure service launched by the Eurosystem in November 2018, enabling real-time Euro money transfers 24/7.
The job is moving
Global processing servicesa payment technology platform, has appointed Sharyn Wilson as people’s leader. Wilson is responsible for leading GPS’s global HR organization, including talent strategy, recruiting, culture, learning and development, compensation and benefits. Prior to GPS, Sharyn was a self-employed consultant advising beauty group Orveon.
Open banking platform Think makes four strategic hires to strengthen its expanding London-based payments team. Andrew Boyajian takes over as head of variable periodic payments (VRP), while Ian Morrin is the new VP for payment sales. Kevin Ward has been appointed VP strategic account management and Reece Shannon-Sinclair takes over as head of delivery and solution architecture.
SmartSearch, a provider of digital compliance solutions, has promoted Tom Dockerty to sales director for professional services. SmartSearch’s digital AML solution now provides electronic verification, sanctions screening and real-time monitoring to more than 5,500 customers and 50,000 users across the UK, Europe and the US. Dockerty will work closely with Zowie Lees-Howellits new VP of corporate sales.
Free trade name Shahid Naveed as CTO. He joins from Auction Technology Group. Prior to that, Naveed was the technical lead for the Amazon Video Digital Store team. His appointment follows recent senior hires in Freetrade’s engineering team.
Stephen Lathrop has joined insurtech Insly as an advisor. He will help Insly maximize the potential of its no-code sales and policy management software to support product innovation, operational efficiency and growth among insurance providers and MGAs.
Partnership
American Express and The square has expanded its relationship with plans to launch a new credit card built specifically for Square merchants on the American Express network. The new card will be the first credit card Square offers to the small business owner community in the United States. It will integrate directly with Square’s ecosystem of solutions, empowering merchants to organize their finances and manage cash flow.
World line expands cooperation with BR-DGE to further improve the sellers’ ability to pay. It has joined BR-DGE’s partnership program, building on a successful partnership agreement in 2020. The latest strategic partnership commits to exploring future product partnership opportunities globally.
Brightwellan Atlanta-based global payments technology company, has teamed up with MasterCard to integrate cross-border money transfers. Powered by Mastercard rails, clients can access near-real-time or same-day payments to over 120 countries and 280,000 cash withdrawal locations.
Power Trade, a crypto derivatives exchange, has entered into a partnership with Copper.co, a provider of institutional digital asset custody and trading solutions, to provide custody and settlement services for its institutional clients. PowerTrade will leverage Copper.co’s ClearLoop technology that enables institutions to deploy capital on the exchange and trade while maintaining their off-exchange assets in independent custody.
More partnerships
Network Internationalan enabler of digital commerce in the Middle East and Africa, has signed a strategic collaboration with Reward, a customer engagement company, to enhance its service offering to more than 150,000 merchants and 200+ issuers across the UAE, GCC and Africa. The agreement will also see Reward and Network develop and provide a range of comprehensive data insights to merchants and issuers.
Meanwhile, Plato Partnership has unveiled three new foundation members. Kepler Cheuvreux on the sales side as well UBS Asset Management and Pictet Asset Management on the purchase side. As members of Plato, all three companies will participate in setting the partnership’s agenda to deliver creative solutions and efficiency to the stock market.
save money, the UK payment provider partners with small business lender iwoca to expand their business loans. Berg Money’s embedded finance partnership with iwoca will provide a digital, seamless and fast application process via the Flexi loan product.
EthSwitch, Ethiopia’s national payment switchOromia Bank and MasterCard has announced a landmark partnership that will see all of the bank’s ATMs accept Mastercard debit, credit and prepaid cards. Tourists and local citizens carrying Mastercard payment cards can withdraw local currency from Oromia Bank ATMs processed by the EthSwitch network.
