It seems like a good moment for FinTech investments, and there are no signs of a potential slow down. What else happened last week? Read to find out!
Weekly FinTech news digest: 23 February—1 March 2021
Can you believe it’s March already?! The first two months of 2021 in FinTech were so busy that it would be hard to resume the most important events. Thankfully, we do it every week, so it’s easier to have a solid grasp of what’s happening. Last week seemed like a particularly successful time for the startups that completed their funding rounds or made a significant step towards a milestone: either a launch or an IPO. Do you want to learn more? Sure, let’s get straight to the point!
Monument closes a £28M Series-A round
The digital-first bank will be launched in summer 2021
In the third issue of FinTech Wire we informed about Monument, a new challenger bank to be launched in the UK. Last week, the startup made a significant step towards the launch by securing a £28M funding in its Series-A round. With the total funding of £40M, the company believes it’s now able to start preparing its launch as a fully-fledged bank sometime in summer this year, and attract the underserved affluent segment of the market, supposedly worth around £3.5trn. Monument wants to stand out from the crowd of other British digital banks with its offering focused on savings, lending and investment products.
Read more about digital transformation in banking
Fronted, a rental deposit startup powered by Yobota core banking platform, launched
The company was founded by former Bud, Monzo, and Apple employees
How to help renters afford deposits when signing new tenancy agreements? Fronted, a new startup founded in London by Jamie Campbell, Simon Vans-Colina and Anthony Mann, has the answer. It offers 12 months loans to those who don’t have enough savings to afford paying the deposit. Interestingly, Fronted is the second platform built on the Yobota core banking platform, using its API to customise customer experience and streamline the process of applying for the loan.
Read more about lending software development
Atom Bank eyes an IPO and more funds from investors
The challenger bank plans to raise £40m from its existing investors
Another British challenger, Atom Bank, is planning its IPO, preferably sometime in the financial year 2022/23. At the same time, the company is looking to secure £40m in funding from its investors, with the goal of further fuelling growth and achieving profitability within a year. Seeing how the neobank’s revenues grow in the pandemic, with many SME asking Atom for loans mostly through the governmental Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), it doesn’t seem improbable.
Read more about trends in FinTech investments
South-African open banking startup Stitch raise $4million
The company offers developer-centric API infrastructure to African FinTechs
Now we move to Africa where, according to Stitch, running a FinTech business is particularly difficult due to compliance challenges and lack of infrastructure. However, Stitch has a solution, and has just gathered $4 million in seed funding that will help it deliver this solution to African FinTechs. What is it about? Stitch provides an API infrastructure that handles things such as security, privacy, compliance, allowing FinTechs to focus on their core business and on providing the best experience to customers.
Read more about the rise of neobanking in Africa
Coinbase is going public via a direct listing
The cryptocurrency exchange platform has filed the necessary documents to the U.S. regulator
It’s all said and done: Coinbase has filed the paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in order to go public via a direct listing, following the steps of Slack and Spotify to avoid intermediaries. The IPO is rumoured to take place early this year, but no exact date is provided. After the IPO, the cryptocurrency exchange is expected to be valued at around $100 billion, based on the current share price on the Nasdaq Private Markets. If you’re interested in buying Coinbase stock, we recommend reading this handy guide by Nerdwallet to learn more about this opportunity.
Read more about Coinbase and other cross-platform FinTech apps
A nation-wide QR code payments network to be rolled out in Australia
The payment scheme will be launched by Eftpos Australia
It seems like QR code-enabled payments are booming—remember Revolut Business and Evershare from FinTech Wire #17? Now the trend has arrived in Australia. Eftpos, the country’s national card scheme, unveiled plans for a nation-wide QR code payments network rollout by 2022. The solution will cover both online and mobile, as well as high street transactions. Eftpos CEO Stephen Benton assured that the network “will enable local home-grown innovation by connecting numerous APIs, consumer digital wallets, and supporting technologies on top of the existing Eftpos network rails”.
Read more about the most popular payment methods in 2020
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