The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Dec 20th

By Gaia Lamperti

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

Global expansion plans

🌍 In an exclusive interview, Helen Bierton, Starling Bank’s Chief Banking Officer said that the digital bank is now planning to take its BaaS services global. The first countries on the list would be in Europe, such as France, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain, but eventually, the goal will be to launch even further. Staling Bank now counts 30n clients for its BaaS offering, including the likes of SumUp, CurrencyCloud, Moneybox, and Standard Chartered.
The View: “The regulations are a little bit different, the markets are a bit different, but we’ve got experience, we’ve got an amazing technology platform, and we’re already offering customers Euro accounts. We feel that this is a service that we could offer completely internationally.” – Helen Bierton, Starling Bank’s Chief Banking Officer to AltFi

🏦 Russian neobank Tinkoff has selected Finastra and its Fusion Essence Cloud core banking solution to expand its digital banking services across Asia. Already back in August, it was made public that the firm was seeking a banking licence in the Philippines as part of its wider Asian expansion strategy. Tinkoff, which currently serves more than 18.5 million customers, might invest an initial capital of $40 million in a subsidiary bank in the Philippines.
The View: “Finastra will help us launch quickly, enable rapid growth, and help us to navigate the local requirements of a new market.” – George Chesakov, International Expansion Lead at Tinkoff

Late funding rounds in LatAm

👛 Addi, a BNPL startup in Latin America, raised $200 million of debt and equity to fuel an expansion in the region. The Bogota-based company hit a +$700 million valuation after the fundraising with investors like GIC Private Ltd., Softbank Group Corp.’s Latin America Fund and others. The round included $125 million in debt financing, most of which came from Goldman Sachs Group.
The View: “We’re well on our way to building a new way to pay in the region.” – Santiago Suarez, CEO and Co-founder of Addi.

🇧🇷 Brazilian credit platform Open Co secured a $115 million funding round led by SoftBank Latin America Fund with the participation of Raiz Investimentos, IFC and LTS. The São Paulo-based start-up says the money injection will be used to support its expansion plans and investments in technology and product development.
The View: “Access to good quality credit at the point and time of need is the single most important obstacle for Brazilians to achieve financial wellness, increase consumption and create wealth.” – Sandro Reiss Co-founder of Open Co.

Where’s the buzz

According to a Digital Economy Council report, 2021 has been the best year for the UK’s tech sector. The analysis took into consideration several elements among which VC investment, new jobs, and the number of unicorn companies. This year, the technology sector also saw more money than ever flowing £26 billion, compared to last year’s £11.5 billion.