Top 5 FinTech funding rounds in November 2020 (UK & Europe)

By Megha Bhattacharya

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 November 2020 (UK& Europe) –

1. Satispay ($111.2 million)

Italian FinTech Satispay has announced a €93 million (($111.2 million) Series C funding round co-led by American FinTech Square Inc, Tencent, LGT Lightstone and TIM Ventures. The funding round consisted of €68 million of newly issued primary shares and approximately €25 million secondary shares purchased from existing investors. The company has now reached a total of €110 million in primary capital raised since its inception in 2013.

Satispay is a “bank account enabled” mobile payment platform that is independent of debit and credit card networks. The consumer app is available for anybody with a bank account, while merchants both online and offline can accept payments using any device and POS.

According to Satispay, the round is expected to help it in accelerating international expansion as well as strengthen its position in Italy. The FinTech has reached over 1.3 million consumers and 130 thousand merchants in Italy.

2. Aidexa ($53.8 million)

Italy-based banking challenger Aidexa has secured €45 million in funding through a seed round. Aidexa plans to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and Open Banking to help Italian SMEs with streamlining their banking and overall business operations. Aidexa will focus on serving small businesses with a turnover of less than €10 million.

Aidexa acquired €45 million in capital from Generali Group, Banca Sella, IFIS, and from venture capital investors, family offices, local trade associations and several angel investors.

Currently, Aidexa is authorized as a credit institution (s.c. “106 license”) and has filed for obtaining a full banking license. Aidexa’s management is made up by a mix of banking and digital skills and plans to recruit approximatively 100 staff in the coming months.

3. Railsbank ($37 million)

Global Banking-as-a-Service platform Railsbank recently announced that it has secured $37 million in a funding round co-led by MiddleGame Ventures and Ventura Capital. The round also saw the participation of Anthos Capital, Global Brain, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Moneta VC, Mitsui Fudosan and Firestartr.

The new investment is expected to enable the company to continue the expansion of its global footprint, strengthen core product proposition, launch Credit Cards as a Service, etc. The latest round adds to the previous Series A funding round of $10 million in September 2019 from Moneta Capital, which led the round alongside CreditEase, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Singapore Life and a number of existing investors such as Firestartr.

Railsbank also announced that it is all set to acquire Wirecard Card Solutions card technology, client relationships, and specific employees in the UK, receiving the FCA’s support. The deal will accelerate Railsbank’s expansion across the UK and Europe, thus strengthening its position as a BaaS platform in Europe.

4. Funding Circle ($30 million)

British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, today announced a £30 million commitment to support UK small businesses through Funding Circle’s UK SME Direct Lending Fund.

The UK SME Direct Lending Fund offers institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies and local authorities, the opportunity to lend directly to a diversified portfolio of SMEs originated by Funding Circle. Following Funding Circle’s accreditation to lend under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) in April 2020, the Fund was subsequently given approval to expand its investment strategy to include investing in CBILS loans.

Recently, Starling Bank collaborated with UK-based small business loan platform, Funding Circle in a bid to offer £300 million of loans to SMBs under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Starling aims to support around 4000 SMBs with access to finance, by lending through Funding Circle and other institutional lenders.

5. Vivid Money ($17.9 million)

Berlin-based Vivid Money recently announced that it has raised €15 million financing for expansion and product development, thus reaching a valuation of €100 million. Vivid Money stated that that the Series A round was led by Ribbit Capital.

Vivid Money offers a single-app solution that aims to help clients streamline banking and investments. The company aims to use the new financing to offer a complete investment product within the app for users soon. The investment product launch combined with a free metal card and Stock Rewards program is expected to create a bridge between banking and investing.

With Subscription Control, Vivid Pay and Shared Pockets, Vivid Money combines all daily banking needs in one app. With the Vivid Pay service, customers can transfer money safely to any other bank account with a generated link.

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