Venture funding

Swedish mobile point of sale company iZettle has raised about $80 million in funding, in part from U.S. investors.

Luminate Capital Partners has made an investment in Financial Information Technologies (Fintech), a company that sells data management, payment and software to the spirits industry.

Samsung has launched a $150 million venture capital investment fund to expand its partnerships and collaborations with fintech startups.

The blockchain startup Axoni has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round led by Wells Fargo and Euclid Opportunities, the fintech investment business of the interdealer brokerage ICAP.

A Danish company called Cardlay has closed a $4 million funding round to deploy its white label card management solution to banks.

To launch its payments platform, Digitzs used crowdfunding as an alternative to the traditional venture capital. Its founder explains how it made that happen.

The growth of China’s fintech scene is providing a less developed financial market with much-needed updates. But those improvements also serve as a stepping stone to bring Chinese fintech players to Western markets.

Stripe Inc. raised new financing that values the startup at about $9 billion, cementing its status as a major player in the crowded digital payments space and heralding a possible initial public offering.

An Israeli startup in the emerging B2B2C space that allows consumers to make payments through major messaging apps has completed a $6 million round of funding backed by Banco Santander, Mastercard and other investors.

Recent deals highlight the rush by Europe’s time-honored insurers to get in on the technology that’s changing financial services on Wall Street.