Capital markets

Fundraising platform TapSimple has raised nearly £1 million (U.S. $1.3 million) in an investment round that will help it to continue to develop fundraising activity in what it describes as an increasingly cashless world.

Fintech success stories have encouraged investors to back more startups, but newcomers will be hard-pressed to attract enough customers to compete while keeping expenses down.

E-commerce and digital finance are expanding quickly due to the pandemic, economic downturn and plans for recovery — providing opportunities for VCs that back technology that powers faster, more digital payments.

London-based crypto payments app Ziglu, launched by Starling Bank co-founder Mark Hipperson, has raised £6 million (about $8 million) on the Seedrs equity crowdfunding platform.

Marketplace payments technology provider ConnexPay has secured additional funding from investors to reach $15 million, and it will use its funding to increase product offerings in the travel industry and expand in other e-commerce sectors.

Stripe Inc. is in talks to raise a new funding round valuing it higher than its last private valuation of $36 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

E-commerce fraud prevention provider Forter has raised $125 million in a Series E funding round, pushing the New York-based company's valuation to more than $1.3 billion.

The Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility was brought back to inject $100 billion into the pandemic-battered economy, but only a fraction has been disbursed. Yet experts, pointing to its calming effects on markets, recommend that it be extended into next year.

Freddie Mac representatives would not comment on the sudden resignation of Brickman. Interim CEO Michael Hutchins has served as Freddie’s executive vice president of investments and capital markets since January 2015.