Venture funding

The Dutch company is no longer a bank in some countries, but more of a digital matchmaker between consumers and financial products provided by third parties, explains innovation chief Benoit LeGrand.

Financing and payment technology provider Sunbit has received $26 million in a Series B funding round through Zeev Ventures and participants Group 11 and Chicago Ventures.

India’s government has taken drastic steps to encourage and standardize digital transactions, and those moves appear to be paying off.

The Australian API payments and rewards platform provider Verrency has closed on a $7 million (AU$10 million) Series A funding round, bringing the total funds raised to-date to $14 million (AU$20 million).

Payments software provider SpotOn Transact LLC has received $40 million in new funding from Franklin Templeton and participant Dragoneer Investment Group.

Digital payments are creating a wealth of data that can be used to inform other types of financial services for managing debt or promoting financial inclusion — and these services are, in turn, attracting the interest of venture capitalists.

Alkami Technology said it would use its latest round of funding to expand its white-label services for small banks and credit unions.

A trio of big deals in the payments and financial tech area and continued bank and venture capital interest in fintech investments are creating expectations for a banner year.

The online lending marketplace will use the equity financing from WestBridge Capital to diversify the digital products its offers banks trying to compete for small-business borrowers, its CEO says.

Cross-border money transfer provider WorldRemit has secured $175 million in new capital in a Series D funding round to challenge legacy money transmitters in the fast growing cross-border payments market.

Password management app and secure digital wallet provider Dashlane completed a $110 million Series D funding round led by Sequoia Capital. It also hired Lyft’s chief marketing officer, Joy Howard, to take the same role at Dashlane.

London-based processor Checkout.com’s recent $230 million Series A investment is an indicator of investors’ huge interest in cross-border e-commerce and payments in emerging markets.

Just two years after it was founded, Brex Inc. is close to securing new funding at a valuation north of $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Amazon led a Series G funding round worth £475 million (about US$575 million) with three other investors for London-based food delivery company Deliveroo.

Some of the biggest venture capitalists in the field are backing a new digital currency being offered by a leading blockchain academic.

The company offers an operating system for financial applications akin to Apple's iOS, and more than 1,000 applications run on it.

Dutch bank holding company ING Group and its venture capital arm, ING Ventures, joined three other VC groups to fund a €14 million (about US$ 15.75 million) Series B investment round for the Czech-based mobile credit payment app Twisto.

The investment money’s flowing into fintech that’s flexible and broad enough to build a bridge between issuers and merchants. For PayU’s investment wing, that’s a $500 million blanket covering cross-border commerce, open tools and markets in dire need of a digital revolution.

In his first extensive interview since taking the job this year, Javier Rodriguez Soler talks about banking as a service, how to keep customers happy and where he sees AI and other tech innovations heading.

Global cross-border payments network Thunes has completed a $10 million financing round led through global venture firm GGV Capital to boost its financial services efforts in emerging markets.