Startup

Israel’s Fintech Industry Received One-Fourth of Tech Sector Funding

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Record-breaking funding, massive IPOs and unprecedented valuations are all now a part of what may be described as the Fintech Gold Rush.

From September of last year until January 2021, the Fintech industry in Israel acquired around $1.4 billion in funding, which makes up nearly on-fourth of all tech-focused investments during that period.

The fintech industry in Israel has grown considerably in recent months. This development is evident when we look at the overall size of recent investment rounds, the number of IPOs, and the dramatic rise in the valuations of many firms.

Recently, global private equity company Warburg Pincus LLC led a $75 million round in Israel-based Fintech firm Personetics. Fintech is firmly establishing its place and position as a major contributor to Israel’s technology sector. While cybersecurity has established a strong market, the Fintech sector is experiencing a “gold rush stage,” with firms competing aggressively. The sector has grown even more following the COVID outbreak because many more consumers are using all-digital platforms.

This year started with an overall record in total funding in local technology firms, with businesses acquiring investments worth around $1.44 billion during the month of January. While some of these huge rounds were finalized in 2020, they were officially announced just last month. Based on these developments, it is abundantly clear that the Fintech space is set to experience even more growth this year.

BharatPe Pulls $108 Million in Series D Led by Coatue Management

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BharatPe, a Delhi-based financial services company, announced that it has raised $108 million in a Series D funding round led by the firm’s existing investor, Coatue Management. BharatPe has reached a total valuation of $900 million.

According to the official announcement, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Steadview Capital, Beenext, Amplo and Sequoia Capital also participated in the latest funding round. The Indian fintech company secured $90 million in its primary funding round and allocated $18 million to ensure a secondary exit for its angel investors and employees.

BharatPe has raised a total of $268 million in equity and debt to date. The company enables merchants to accept payments through any payment app. The company is also offering loans and interest-based services.

Commenting on the latest funding round, Ashneer Grover, Co-founder and CEO of BharatPe, said: “2020 has been an unprecedented year for all. However, we at BharatPe have grown exponentially, our payments business has grown 5x and our lending business has grown 10x in the last 12 months. This growth reiterates the trust that the small merchants and Kirana store owners have showed in us. This is just the beginning of our journey, and we are committed to building India’s largest B2B financial services company that can serve as the one-stop destination for small merchants. For BharatPe, merchants will always be at the core of everything we build.”

Mesh Payments raises $13mn in funding round

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Mesh Payments, the US-based fintech that manages corporate, cardless payment processing, raised $13m in its latest funding round. The round included participation from Meron Capital, R-Squared Ventures (an angel fund) Ventures and was led by TLV Partners.

Mesh gives services that increase the efficiency and speed of payments so that important decisions can be made based on real-time data. This cuts out bottlenecks, lack of visibility and oversight. It also eliminates dependency that adversely impacts companies and causes significant organisational downtime if cards are missed, misused or simply expire.

With the growth of SaaS and cloud services, SME’s are using an standard of 40-plus SaaS tools a year to handle their businesses, many of which are mission-critical. This makes unforeseen downtime particularly detrimental.

Mesh also offers a wide range of solutions, including PO’s for vendors, monthly AWS subscriptions and employee travel expenditures. Customers set policies, limits, automatically manage their receipts and receive real-time reports, giving them full visibility and control over their corporate payments. Mesh issues virtual cards with a configuration for both online and offline payments, leveraging the growing acceptance of mobile wallets including Apple Pay, Google Wallet and more.

Oded Zehavi, CEO and Co-Founder of Mesh Payments, explained, “Since the onset of Covid-19 and the overnight explosion in remote work, there has been exponential growth of financial executives searching for a more effective way to orchestrate their corporate spending.”

He continued, “Over the last few months, we have seen a 20x spike in our business. Unlike other services which position themselves as a next-gen corporate credit card, we view the challenge as a corporate payment problem and not a corporate card problem. This has impacted how we built our solution and we believe that the simplicity and security our solution offers perfectly positions Mesh to continue capturing larger pieces of the corporate payments market.”

Brand Capital International Leads Multimillion Dollar Strategic Funding in FINTECH.TV

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FINTECH.TV, the leading financial technology, influence investing and Digital Asset media network for broadcast, over-the-top (OTT) and digital circulation around the globe, today announced that it closed a multimillion dollar strategic funding round led by Brand Capital International, the strategic investment arm for India-based Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, or The Times of India Group, India’s largest media corporation and leaders in English and regional print, TV, radio and digital media, followed by global strategic investors like Ibrahim Al Husseini, Kris Roil and Brace Young.

The raise is designed to support FINTECH.TV’s international expansion across Africa, Middle East, the Nordics and especially India. FINTECH.TV is currently broadcasting from NYSE, NASDAQ and London Stock Exchange with Bloomberg as the broadcasting affiliate. This raise expands their broadcasting partners to CNBC Africa and CNBC Arabia. Along with The Times group, FINTECH.TV will be launching their prime show, The Digital Asset Report, on ET Now, which will be the first ever committed Blockchain show on any financial news network in India. Additionally, FINTECH.TV will be introducing their sustainable business show, The IMPACT, on Times Now.

Launched in 2019, FINTECH.TV has surfaced as the leader in deep cutting-edge technology and impact investment news, forming a unique niche with its viewership across millennials to hedge fund managers. Its shows, hosts, guests and editorial content focuses on emerging topics and technologies, spanning environmental sustainability, digital securities, social impact and more. Renowned shows and programs include The IMPACT, showcasing leaders in sustainable investing, climate change and social impact; and The Digital Asset Report, a show focusing on the complex global ecosystem of Blockchain technology, digital assets and related legislation and regulations. With the development to Africa, Middle East and India, FINTECH.TV will now reach 850 million households across the world.

“India is one of the fastest growing economies supported by one of the most skilled youth populations with deep impact and sustainability values, providing global leadership to the tech, impact and financial communities,” said Kavita Gupta, co-founder and CSO at FINTECH.TV. “With CSR, India has changed the way philanthropy and impact investment is viewed. Earlier this year with the change in the Supreme Court’s regulation on crypto, Indian youth are becoming one of the largest growing crypto holders in the world. With Brand Capital International’s investment and our partnership with The Times of India group, I am very excited to take both our flagship shows, Digital Asset Report and The IMPACT, to mainstream broadcast with ET Now and Times Now respectively to foster the local ecosystem in India.”

“The continuation of global validation of our core belief at FINTECH.TV to amplify voices of next generation from sustainability to digital infrastructure while helping capital markets to create and engineer the value aligned product has been very humbling, especially this early in our journey,” said Vince Molinari, CEO of FINTECH.TV. “We are thrilled by this partnership and capital infusion from The Times of India Group, and believe this will spur distribution, thus expanding our viewership and corporate footprint.”

“We are incredibly pleased to welcome FINTECH.TV to the Brand Capital International portfolio,” said Neville Taraporewalla, President of BCCL Worldwide Inc & Brand Capital International. “Their in-depth coverage of blockchain, alternative technologies transitioning to public markets, digital assets, new regulatory policies on alternative and digital products will allow more Indians to gain access to the latest information and ultimately be better informed about investment opportunities. We look forward to helping support their mission through our vast media networks.”

About FINTECH.TV

FINTECH.TV is a global media platform bringing you the latest in finance, blockchain, technology, sustainability, impact investing, SDGs and ESG, with a studio presence at leading international exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and the London Stock Exchange, as well as distribution on Bloomberg Television, CNBC Africa and CNBC Arabia.

About Brand Capital International

Brand Capital International, is the strategic investment arm of The Times of India Group, that leverages brand-led growth and value creation via unique and pioneering investment models and programs.

The Times of India Group is the largest media conglomerate in India with a global reach. The Group engages with over 550 million Indians every month via print, TV, radio, websites & apps and OOH sites. The Times Group’s key brands include The Times of India, the world’s largest broadsheet English daily; The Economic Times, India’s largest (and the world’s second largest) financial daily; Radio Mirchi, India’s largest FM radio network; Times Now and ET Now, India’s leading English news and business news channels and Zoom, a leading general entertainment channel.

Indonesia based fintech GajiGesa closes $2.5 mn seed funding

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GajiGesa,a fintech company that offers Earned Wage Access and other services for workers in Indonesia, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Defy.vc and Quest Ventures. Other members included GK Plug and Play, Next Billion Ventures, Alto Partners Multi-Family Office, Kanmo Group and strategic angel investors.

The company was created last year by husband-and-wife team Vidit Agrawal and Martyna Malinowska. Agrawal was Uber’s first employee in Asia and has also operated in leadership positions at Carro and Stripe. Malinowska led product development at Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures and alternative credit-scoring platform LenddoEFL.

About 66% of Indonesia’s 260 million population is “unbanked,” which means they don’t have a bank account and have inadequate access to financial services like loans. Agrawal and Malinowska decided to launch GajiGesa in Indonesia because Malinowska worked with many unbanked workers while at LenddoEFL. While at Uber, Agrawal also worked with drivers across Southeast Asia whose average earnings were $250 USD a month (excluding Singapore), and he said the top issue they face was harassment by money lenders.

“These hardworking Indonesians had no fair or formal sources for easy access to capital. Further, the most common reason for borrowing was short-term liquidity issues,” Agrawal told TechCrunch. “But workers were forced to borrow either long-term, high-ticket-size loans or short-term loans with exorbitantly high-interest rates.”

Having immediate access to earned wages, instead of pausing for a semi-monthly or monthly paycheck, can help lighten financial stress and make it easier for workers to cope with their income and handle emergencies. Companies that have started immediate payment services for workers in other countries include Square, London-based startup Wagestream and Gusto.

Digit Insurance Enters the Unciron Club

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There looks to be no stop for India’s spree of producing unicorns. Last year, while the whole world was on its knees, India generated a record of 11 unicorns of which three entered the popular club in the last month. Fast forward to 2021, it just took 15 days for India to deliver the year’s first unicorn – Digit Insurance.

Insurtech startup – Digit Insurance on Thursday raised INR 135 crore of money from its current investors. Matching to media reports, the Bengaluru-headquartered startup post the capital infusion is valued at $1.9 billion.

The insurance-based startup was established by Kamesh Goyal, an insurance veteran with involvement in companies like Allianz Insurance and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance in 2016. It is one of the first fully cloud-based insurance firms in the country.

The main reason behind forming the startup was to simply customers’ insurance journey with the help of technology.  It boasts a portfolio of products across travel, vehicle, property, and health insurance.

UK Based Curve Closes $95 mn Funding Round

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UK-based FinTech company Curve has raised $95 mn in Series C funding led by IDC Ventures, Fuel Venture Capital, and the investment division of Vulcan Capital, launched from the estate of Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen.

Founder and Curve CEO Shachar Bialick said in a press release on Tuesday (Jan. 12) that the company strives to “empower as many people as possible to take control of their money,” and this latest round of funding is testament to that mission.

“We are ecstatic that our investors share Curve’s vision” Bialick added, calling the fundraising “an endorsement of Curve’s unique product strategy.”

The new resources bring Curve’s total funding to almost $175 million despite the economic fallout due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Curve’s revolutionary approach to business is more necessary than ever as we accelerate globally to a digital-first world,” said Bobby Aitkenhead, Managing Partner of IDC Ventures.

IDC started investing in Curve last year and thinks this year, the company can successfully gauge, “reaching more people, with more products in more regions,” Aitkenhead said.

In the last year, Curve extended its contribution in its 31 European markets to include Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay. In December: Curve partnered with Plaid to bring open banking to the U.K.

The first office in the U.S. Curve opened last year in Brooklyn, New York, will be the U.S. headquarters. The expansion to the U.S. is being managed by Amanda Orson, vice president and head of North America. She was previously managing partner of media group W2PY and an adviser to Gauss Ventures, according to the release.

“Curve’s model is redefining the future of banking by bringing diverse financial products and solutions together into one digital wallet, for the benefit of banks and customers alike. Their friction-free offering is coming at the ideal time for American consumers, who are looking for safer payment options and greater financial control in the wake of the pandemic. We are excited to be part of the next phase in Curve’s ambitious journey,” Rick Roberts, from Vulcan Capital, said.

Zupee Raises $10 mn led by WestCap Group

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Skill-based gaming app Zupee, one of Smile’s portfolio companies, has raised up $10 million in a funding round led by WestCap Group. This is the second round of funding procured by Zupee within the last nine months.

It has raised a total of $18 million from Matrix Partners, WestCap, Smile, FalconEdge, and Orios. The company was developed by Smile in 2019.

The platform places mission-like importance on bringing positive and engaging practices to its users.

Founded in 2018 by IIT-Kanpur graduates, Dilsher Singh Malhi and Siddhant Saurabh, Zupee enables users to perform live quiz tournaments on their smartphone devices. Running 24×7, Zupee Gold has over 2,000 live quizzes covering a broad range of topics from Bollywood, Hollywood, sports, math, spelling, and Hinglish. The company’s user base has expanded 100-times in the last 12 months.

Homebuyer Secures $1.4 Million Seed Round From Private Investors

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Homebuyer, a fintech startup has raised $1.4 million from private investors.  This round brings Homebuyers’ total funding to $1.52 million, which includes a $125K pre-seed round led by Colorado-based tech accelerator Techstars in 2019.

Founded in 2019, Homebuyer provides first-time buyers with customized homebuying advice based on their financial health, homebuying goals, and mortgage preferences.

After meeting basic personal and financial information, Homebuyer’s artificial intelligence-powered platform guides users through the homebuying process with custom-made information on mortgage rates, the dos-and-don’ts of choosing a home, down payments, and homeowners’ insurance.

Once they’re ready to officially begin the homebuying process, users can secure a loan through Homebuyers’ mortgage partner, Novus Home Mortgage.

Lightspeed and Diagram Ventures Lead $12.4 Million Seed Funding Round In Financial Services Matching Platform Synctera

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Synctera ,The San Francisco-based startup received $12.4 million in seed funding. The round was led by Lightspeed and joined by Diagram Ventures, as well as a group of strategic angel investors, including Zachary Perret, Max Levchin, Alexa von Tobel and Henry Ward.

Synctera CEO Peter Hazlehurst joined the company in September as the third co-founder with Kris Hansen and Dominik Weisserth, who founded the company in April as part of Diagram’s Canadian incubator program.

The company plans to utilise the new funding to hire more engineers and work on product development. Also the company is expecting to hire around 50 employees over the next six months.

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