Barclays extends FinTech-backing partnership with Illuminate

By Gloria Methri

Illuminate Financial, the London-based venture capital firm specialising in FinTech investments has expanded its partnership with Barclays. Under the latest agreement, the bank will become a limited partner in Illuminate Financials’ latest venture capital strategy.

Barclays was an investor in Illuminate Financials’ previous $100 million FinTech fund in 2019.

“We’re delighted to continue our longstanding partnership with Illuminate Financial. This investment will enable Barclays to play an even more meaningful role in the financial market’s innovation ecosystem,” said Andy Challis, Co-Head of Principal Investments at Barclays.

Barclays joins a list of global financial institutions including Jefferies, JP Morgan, Deutsche Börse Group, Citi, and S&P Global that have invested in Illuminate Financial, which supports early-stage FinTech and enterprise software companies.

To date, Illuminate Financial has invested in more than 30 companies at the late seed to Series A funding stage. Many of these are FinTechs operating in the digital asset infrastructure such as copper.co and Curv. Illuminate Financial typically takes a 5% to 20% stake in its investments.

Mark Beeston, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Financial, said, “It has been our privilege to work with Barclays for several years and welcome them back as an investor for the second time in our venture capital strategy. Illuminate Financials’ investors represent a unique combination of global financial institutions, extending the firm’s deep domain expertise and go-to-market value-add for our portfolio.”

Barclays has also been an active investor in FinTech in recent years and has provided capital to several venture capital firms in the past. In February, the bank teamed up with the corporate venture builder Rainmaking to launch a start-up academy and other projects focusing on cultivating FinTech founders.