Apr 16, 2021

16th April 2021 With the fast-paced nature of the fintech world sometimes it’s easy for announcements to slip by. Here at FinTech Futures we’ve put together an In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) list of our funding picks this week. Danish fintech Cardlay secured €8 million in investment from the Global PayTech fund run by former Mastercard president Javier Perez. Cardlay offers expense handling, integrated virtual card and a VAT reclaim platform. Perez is joining the firm’s board as part of the deal. “If Cardlay was an electric car company the best person to attract to the board would be Elon Musk. This is how I feel about attracting Javier Perez to our board,” says CEO Jørgen Christian Juul. Revix wants to empower everyday people to safely invest in crypto Cryptocurrency investment firm Revix has raised $4.1 million funding from the Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator and the Qatar FinTech Hub. The capital will be used to launch Revix’s mobile application and for expansion into Europe. “We aim to blur the lines between investing in traditional asset classes as well as the emerging alternative investment sectors,” says CEO Sean Sanders. “We want to empower everyday people to safely invest in emerging themes, technologies and asset classes in an effortless way.” Part of the investment sees Revix join the afore-mentioned Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator and the second wave of the Qatari incubator. Ugandan fintech start-up Numida has closed $2.3 million in seed funding. MFS Africa led the round, which saw participation from Equilibria Capital, the Segal Family Foundation, and the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation. Founded in 2017, Numidia aims to “unlock finance for the 22 million African businesses that need it”. Numida offers risk-based pricing on an applicant’s first loan. It offers up to $3,500 in working capital, and promises processing times of less than two hours. The firm says it has so far offered more than $2 million in unsecured credit to 3,000 small businesses in Uganda. Identitii subsidiary Payable has received AUD 1 million ($774,000) in funding from the venture wing of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, x15 ventures. Payable says it can fix failed or late bill payments “before they happen”. It says an estimated 75 million recurring payments in the country fail every year. “This is a huge problem for Aussie businesses who spend time and money following up on late payments,” says CEO Elliot Donazzan. “Payble set out to fix failed or late payments before they happen and we are thrilled to have x15ventures join us on this journey.” Kenyan agency banking start-up, Tanda, secured an undisclosed investment from early-stage African tech investor HAVAÍC, Zedcrest Capital, DFS Lab, and more. Tanda says its platform and network supports 58 banks, four telecoms, and 12,000 merchants. The firm aims to grow its footprint to 100,000 agents, and expand to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. “Our team will continue to run aggressive agent and customer acquisition drives across the region,” says CEO Geoffrey Mulei. “Tanda is excited to be at the forefront of the rapid shift towards innovative digital-first solutions, especially in markets that are ripe for disruption.” The app to drive customer loyalty, loyalBe Belfast-based fintech company, loyalBe, has secured $1 million investment in an oversubscribed investment round led by Techstart Ventures. LoyalBe says its platform improves customer engagement between retailers and customers by replacing “outdated” loyalty tools with a mobile app. Founder and CEO, Cormac Quinn, says the new funds will go towards building partnerships and upscaling marketing. “With loyalBe, we are encouraging customers to shop local and invest in the local economy,” says Quinn. “Our app helps businesses to create and engage with more loyal customers to drive repeat sales.” Australia all-in-one corporate card firm DiviPay has raised AUD 1.7 million ($1.3 million) in a Series A funding round led by ANZ Bank’s venture capital arm. DiviPay says it enables businesses to “instantly” issue virtual corporate Mastercard cards to employees for online and in-store purchases. Businesses control spending through pre-approved budget limits and smart payment rules that lock cards to approved amounts and merchants. The firm says it has issued more than 20,000 virtual cards to 7,000 users and more than 650 customers. “This year, we plan to attract larger customers and will continue to grow our non-profit customer base,” says CEO Daniel Kniaz.