From: FinTech Global
From InsurTech startups to cybersecurity ventures, the past week has seen several FinTech firms find funding to help them grow despite the global pandemic.
No one knows how society is going to look after the coronavirus crisis is over. As nations around the globe are easing their lockdowns, many pundits have started to speculate how the post-pandemic world will be like. Will we go back to our offices? Will all meetings be made via Zoom from now on? Is it okay to go to a restaurant? When will gyms open? How deep will the recession be?
While all those questions are relevant, no one can say with a 100% certainty what coming out the health crisis entails. At best we can make educated guesses based on the data we have on hand. One way to look at it is through what companies people are investing in at the moment.
To get some indications about how the FinTech industry will look like, we do a weekly roundup of the FinTech deals that caught our eyes over the past seven days. This week is no different.
For starters, we saw the trend of InsurTech companies bagging big bucks in their funding rounds continue last week with Duck Creek Technologies raising a massive $230m funding round, which was the biggest raise we noted in the past seven days. Moreover, both Planck and Jooycar also secured new capital to keep growing past the Covid-19 crisis. With InsurTech companies like these and the ones we’ve noted in the past few months, it seems like the idea that the industry could be one of the big winners of the pandemic could hold water. These speculations are based around the idea that the crisis has highlighted the limitations of insurers legacy systems, demonstrating the need for them to innovate.
Another trend that we have noticed over the past few weeks is that privacy, fraud-prevention and cybersecurity companies continue to convince investors to bet on them. Again, this is something we saw this week too. Like we’ve mentioned in the past, the focus on digital defences is understandable given that cyber criminals have interpreted the Covid-19 crisis as an invitation to up the scale of their attacks. Some experts speculate that the coronavirus will make remote working more common in the future, which could expand the attack surface bad actors have to launch hack attacks and get access to businesses’ networks. We therefore think that these rounds could indicate that cybersecurity will continue to be important in the months to come.
Wahed Invest, the Sharia-compliant ethical investing platform, also raised another important round that demonstrates a trend worth taking note of. It reportedly secured $25m in a new investment as it eyes global expansion. As we have highlighted in the past, the Islamic FinTech sector is on the rise and Wahed Invest is just the latest example of this.
With that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the rounds that we have reported on over the past seven days.
Duck Creek Technologies closes $230m less than a year after former round
InsurTech company Duck Creek Technologies has bagged a $230m of new capital less than a year since closing a $120m round.
The software developer for P&C insurance raised the funds from Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management and Whale Rock Capital Management.
With the close of the round, the InsurTech company will look to boost its business growth, with a focus on increasing its SaaS capabilities. It will also look to accelerate product development and international expansion. Duck Creek is looking to repurchase equity from certain existing investors.
The InsurTech company closed a $120m funding round in 2019 from Dragoneer Investment Group, funds advised by Neuberger Berman, Insight Partners, and Temasek.
NS8 closes $123m funding round as it looks to continue its rapid growth
Fraud prevention company NS8 has netted a whooping $123m in a new funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and AXA Venture Partners.
With the close of the deal, NS8 hopes to accelerate the development of its product and increase its global reach, including the expansion of its partner network.
“Online fraud prevention has grown rapidly due to the acceleration of e-commerce adoption by merchants and, with it, an increased threat of those seeking to attack online stores,” said Bradley Twohig, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “Merchants of all sizes need to invest in security products to ensure a safe and secure online experience.
“NS8’s platform allows its partners and their merchants to stand up a full-service fraud prevention hub, in a matter of a day, across almost every e-commerce platform. The time to value is simply best in class.”
Last year, NS8 closed its former funding round on $28m, with Edison Partners leading the round.
M1 Finance nets $33m in new round
Automated money management platform M1 Finance has bagged $33m in a Series B funding round led by Left Lane Capital, a growth equity firm. Jump Capital and Clocktower Technology Ventures also participated in the round alongside existing M1 investors.
The news comes after M1 Finance reached $1bn in customer assets in February this year. It has also added more than $650m in customer deposits in 2020.
UK-headquartered H4 closes $27m funding round
H4, the company creating and analysing documents, has closed a $27m funding round from J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Linklaters.
With the fresh capital, the company hopes to improve the grow the platform and reach more customers.
Headquartered in London, H4 is helping to reduce the time and effort in creating and understanding documentation. Its technology enables those within financial services or capital markets to create, capture and analyse information on documents.
Wahed Invest reportedly secures $25m investment as it eyes global expansion
Wahed Invest, a Sharia-compliant ethical investing platform, has reportedly raised $25m in a funding round led by Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures.
Previous Wahed backers BECO and CueBall Capital joined Dubai Cultiv8 and Rasameel in the investment round, according to a report from TechCrunch.
With the burst of funding, the company will expand internationally, as well as develop it subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, it said.
Transcend nets $25m in its Series A round as the coronavirus highlights the need for privacy solutions
Data privacy platform Transcend has closed its Series A round on $25m to continue its growth rate just as the global pandemic has raised awareness of how important protecting data is.
Index Ventures led the investment alongside Accel, with additional commitments coming from South Park Commons, Goldman Sachs board member and former CISO Phil Venables, and Figma CEO Dylan Field.
Index Ventures partner Mark Goldberg said, “In the wake of dozens of stories about privacy issues on video-conferencing sites, data breaches at retail companies and targeted election ads on Facebook, consumers are increasingly aware and concerned about how their personal data is used, which is pushing government regulators to step up.
iBanFirst bags €21m round despite lead investor reportedly dropping out
French FinTech iBanFirst has successfully raised €21m ($23.8m) in a Series C round, despite reports that its first lead investor dropped out in the last minute.
iBanFirst managed to find two new investors in Elaia and Bpifrance, which supported the raise through its growth capital fund Large Venture. The two investors injected cash into the startup alongside previous backers Serena and Breega. Both of them had previously supported iBanFirst’s 2018 €15m investment round. The new investors will also find themselves alongside French billionaire Xavier Niel, who acquired stakes in the company in October 2016
BRYTER scores $16m in its Series A round as it looks to grow internationally
Automation software designer BRYTER has scored $16m in its Series A round to strengthen its international footprint and it is eyeing the US market in particular. The round was led by Dawn Capital and Accel, who both also led BRYTER’s seed round. Notion Capital and Chalfen Ventures also contributed to the Series A round.
InsurTech100 company Planck secured $16m in new funding round
Planck has raised $16m in a funding round led by Team8, with additional support coming from Nationwide Ventures and HDI Group. It was also backed by previous investors Arbor Ventures, Viola Fintech, and Eight Roads. Planck entered the fundraising market in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Neptune Networks closes $15m in funding from host of corporate investors
Neptune Networks, a data platform for the bond market, has scored $15m in a funding round which was raised from a number of institutional investors. The round was supported by Bank of America, Barclays, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, ING, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS.
Data protection company Ethyca has raised $13.5m
RegTech startup Ethyca has bagged $13.5m in a new investment round as it continues to develop its product that automates data privacy compliance. For instance, the company helps businesses stay abreast of their California Consumer Privacy (CCPA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) obligations.
The long list of backers behind the new raise includes IA Venture, Abstract Ventures SciFi VC, CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz, Warby Parker co-founders Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, shaving company Harry’s co-founder Jeff Raider, Allbird’s co-founder Joey Zwillinge, and Behance co-founder Scott Belsky.
Origin bags $12m in Series A
Last week we reported that San Francisco-based Origin had raised $12m in a Series A round Led by Felicis Ventures. The round also saw participation from General Catalyst, Founders Fund and angel investor Lachy Groom, who was one of Stripe’s early employees. Origin is set up to enable employers to offer their staff bespoke financial management tools to ensure them piece of mind regarding their financial health.
NYMBUS scores $12m in new funding round as it looks to strengthen market presence
Financial software developer NYMBUS has closed its latest funding round on $12m, with the aim of increasing its market penetration. Insight Partners and Vensure Enterprises led the investment round.
With the fresh capital, the FinTech is looking to boost the adoption of its NYMBUS SmartEcosystem.
E-wallet company Fincy tops up its account with $11m power boost
Blockchain-powered FinTech Fincy has strengthened its financial muscles with a $11m capital injection from parent company GBCI Ventures, the Asian venture capital fund and venture builder. The startup will put the money towards opening a new office in Singapore and to hire 50 more employees, adding to its curret 500 staff members.
Edgescan secures €10.5m round and now eyes international expansion
Irish cybersecurity platform Edgescan has scored €10.5m in an investment from growth capital investor BGF. The digital defence company will use the new money expand internationally and to bolster its product development.
Codat eyes US expansion after bagging $10m and looks to help banks process coronavirus related loans
London-based Codat has raised $10m in new funding from Robinhood backer Index Ventures, an investment that it says could benefit banks busy bashing out Covid-19 related loans.
The technology company has developed a solution to connect the internal systems of small businesses to banks, FinTechs and other financial institutions. This enables business data to flow back and forth in real time.
Teylor raises $8.3m in new funding round
Switzerland-based SME lending platform Teylor has closed a $8.3m funding round as it looks to expand across Europe. The capital was supplied by VC WENVEST Capital and Steinbeis, as well as angel investors including EFGAM Global co-head and CEO Patrick Zbinden. Contributions also came from unnamed family offices and institutional investors in Switzerland, Germany and Israel.
APEXX Global reportedly secures $8m in its Series A
Payments service provider APEXX Global has reportedly closed an $8m Series A round which brings the company’s total equity raised to $12m. Previous APEXX backers Forward Partners, MMC Ventures and Alliance Ventures all came back to increase their investment in the FinTech.
Buy now pay later platform Tabby closes $7m round
UAE-based Tabby, a buy now pay later service provider, has reportedly raised $7m in its seed funding round. The close of the round will support the growth and launch of its product in Saudi Arabia. Raed Ventures led the investment, with additional support coming from MSA Capital and Arbor Ventures, the article said.
US-based TaxProper nets $2m in funding round
US-based TaxProper helps people stop overpaying on their property tax. Last week it reportedly raised $2m in a new funding round. Khosla Ventures led the round, with additional support coming from Global Founders Capital, Clocktower Ventures and a number of angel investors, according to a report from TechCrunch.
Chargeback raises $6.6m in Series A1 round let by FINTOP Capital and Next Frontier Capital
Chargeback, the real-time dispute management provider, has closed a $6.6m funding round to accelerate its capacity to help merchants decrease disputes, achieve higher win rates, optimise acceptance rates, and retain more revenue. The Series A1 round was led by FINTOP Capital and Next Frontier Capital with participation from existing investors including Next Coast Ventures and Kickstart Fund.
Likvido bags €2.5m in a seed funding round led by BlackFin Tech
Danish accounting solution startup Likvido has raised €2.5m in a new seed round with European investor BlackFin Tech as its lead investor.
EstateGuru has closed a €880,000 seed round
Short-term property-backed loan provider EstateGurup has closed an impressive crowdfunding campaign. Having originally set out to raise €350,000 on Seedrs, it ended up smashing its original target by 252% and close the seed round on €880,000.
Jooycar said to close $750,000 round as it positions itself for US launch
Jooycar, an InsurTech platform based in Chile, has reportedly secured $750,000 in funding to help it move into the US market, despite the current pandemic. The InsurTech platform is hoping to enter the US market by September 2020, according to a report from Contxto. HSC Capital Partners led the investment round, the report states.
Buy now pay later platform Split secures its seed funding round
Split, a FinTech helping those in Singapore and Malaysia to split payments into monthly instalments, has reportedly closed its seed funding round on an undisclosed amount. The investment was led by 500 Startups and was joined by a number of angel backers, according to a report from Business Times.
Trustly closes investment from BlackRock
Sweden-based open banking payments platform Trustly has secured an investment from BlackRock Private Equity Partners. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
TruID said to close seed funding round to support growth of customer base
South Africa-based TruID has reportedly closed a funding round which will help it to expand it customer base and product. The investment was supplied by Crossfin Ventures, according to a report from Disrupt Africa.
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