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Top 10 FinTech funding rounds in December (UK & Europe)

By Megha Bhattacharya

December 28, 2020

  • Europe
  • GoCardless
  • Tink
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Studies have shown that funding is undergoing a rebound following the COVID-19 disruption. The UK, Europe’s FinTech capital, has seen a rise in the number of investments received along with the country of Germany. Digital payment companies, health insurance entities, and relief funds gained the most popularity and investment amidst the pandemic.

Check out the top 5 FinTech funding rounds that took place in December 2020 (UK& Europe) –

  1. Tink ($104 million)

Open banking platform Tink recently announced that it has completed an €85 million investment round extension, following its €90 million investment round in January. This investment brings the total funding secured by Tink, during 2020, to €175 million.

The investment round was co-led by European growth equity player Eurazeo Growth, and current investor, London-based B2B software venture capital firm Dawn Capital. The round also saw the participation of existing investors such as PayPal Ventures, HMI Capital, Heartcore, ABN AMRO Ventures, Poste Italiane, and BNP Paribas’ venture arm, Opera Tech Ventures.

The company, with the funding, aims to accelerate its payment initiation technology development as well as enable European companies to integrate low-cost payment solutions.

  1. GoCardless ($95 million)

London-based FinTech GoCardless, this month, announced a Series F funding round of $95 million led by BainCapital Ventures – bringing its valuation above $970 million.

GoCardless, which is very close to reaching unicorn status, has seen a 46 per cent year-on-year growth despite a challenging economic environment, and the latest round brings the total raised to $240 million.

The funding will be invested in its Open Banking strategy to provide consumers and businesses with access to better services by allowing merchants to access recurring payments through instant and transparent open banking payments at a lower cost than cards.

  1. Liberis ($94.6 million)

London-based business finance platform, Liberis recently secured £70 million in financing from British Business Investments, Paragon Bank, BCI Europe, as well as financing and venture debt from new partner Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). This brings the total funds raised to £200 million total.

According to Liberis, the new funds will be used to boost the company’s growth, launch new products and markets as well as offer additional customer financing solutions.

Founded in 2007, Liberis offers partners with financing solutions for their small business customers. It has provided over half a billion pounds (£500m) in financing to 16,000 SMEs across Europe, USA and UK.

  1. Lydia ($86 million)

French FinTech Lydia announced the extension of its Series B with $86 million funding led by Accel. This brings the total Series B funding round to $131 million. Amit Jhawar, the former General Manager of Venmo and Accel venture partner, led the investment for Accel and will join the Board of Directors.

According to Lydia, the new funding will be used to speed up the company’s product roadmap. The company will also use the funding to expand its geographic footprint. In 2020, Lydia laid the groundwork for international expansion with its launch in Portugal and expects to expand into more of Europe in 2021.

  1. Luko ($61.2 million)

French neo-insurer Luko announced that it has raised €50 million in Series B funding led by EQT Ventures along with the participation of Accel, Founders Fund, Speedinvest, Orange Ventures and other angel investors.

The new funding will be used to invest in Luko’s technology, product development, and growing the team.

Established in Paris, Luko is B-Corp-certified and has developed its insurance model around its Giveback program. 70% of Luko’s premiums are pooled with other customers’ and this pool is used to pay compensation; 30% go towards Luko’s management costs. At the end of the year, any premiums left in the pool that haven’t been used to refund claims are donated to charities chosen by policyholders.

  1. Outfund ($50 million)

Outfund recently announced the close of a £37 million late seed round of capital, including debt and equity. The funding round was led by Fuel Ventures and sees TMT Investments and Force Over Mass also invest in Outfund.

The fintech lender aims to provide a faster, fairer and more affordable way for SMEs to raise growth capital. With this investment, Outfund is pledging to invest more than £100 million of lending to over 5,000 businesses in the next 12 months and will increase its lending limit to £2 million.

Outfund is an alternative financing channel where online-based businesses can get the funds they need faster and easier based on their future revenue projections and on significantly fairer terms.

  1. gohenry ($40 million)

gohenry, the financial app for children between 6 and 18, has raised $40 million in growth capital to accelerate expansion and boost financial education for families in the US and UK. The funding round was led by US growth-equity firm Edison Partners, followed by Gaia Capital Partners, Citi Ventures and Muse Capital.

The FinTech, which offers a prepaid card and money management application to children and a separate application for parents, has also reached 1.2 million members, doubling its customer base year-on-year.

Through the gohenry app, U.K. parents provided £98 million in pocket money in 2019, and their children were paid more than £2.2 million for completing tasks around the house. In the same year, gohenry’s young customers directly contributed just under £100 million to the UK economy, with children donating more than £53,000 to gohenry’s UK charity partner, the NSPCC.

  1. Getsafe ($30 million)

European digital insurance company Getsafe has secured $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Swiss Re’s digital platform iptiQ. The round also saw the participation of existing investors such as g Earlybird, CommerzVentures, btov Partners and Capnamic Ventures.

Getsafe plans to extend its funding with a second tranche to be closed ahead of the receipt of the company’s own insurance licence, scheduled for the first half of 2021. Getsafe is a fully digital insurance company that aims to help people cover themselves and their universe from their smartphone.

Using technology, the company offers renters, legal and car insurance and plans to further expand its product offering into health and life. The Getsafe app is available to customers 24/7 and 365 days a year, allowing them to file claims or change their coverage in real-time.

  1. Updraft ($21.6 million)

UK-based fintech upstart Updraft, which offers an app that it says is “part lending, part credit report, and part financial planning”, has scored £16 million in funding to help people steer clear of avoidable credit card and overdraft charges. The startup aims to help customers get rid of spend-associated borrowings such as credit cards, overdrafts and increasingly, the ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes often found on e-commerce sites.

The funding round for Munshi’s fledgling company is a mix of equity and debt, with investment firm Quilam Capital leading on the debt side, and the UK Government’s Future Fund participating via their convertible loan note alongside a group of unnamed ‘high-net-worth investors’.

  1. IDnow ($18.4 million)

IDnow, a German provider of identity verification-as-a-service products, has received €15 million from the European Investment Bank. The financing, provided under the Investment Plan for Europe, will support the startup’s research and development as well as international expansion.

The Munich-based company has built a platform that handles remote auto and video identification and electronic signature services, ensuring users comply with know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

READ MORE: UK Financial Services Technology Market Overview by IBS Intelligence 

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