This week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 18/10
This Tuesday Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup brings news of a partnership for Experian and Newday. Plus funding success for Capital on Tap.
The job is moving
Africa’s Flutter wave appoints Marshall Lux as a senior advisor. Most recently, Lux held the role of senior partner in the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He will advise across Flutterwave’s businesses, with an emphasis on global risk management, compliance and security-related areas.
Meathe AI-powered processing platform for insurance companies, has named Lohitashwa Thyagaraj as CTO. Thyagaraj joins mea after more than a year of advising and supporting the company in its development. He joins mea from IBM India.
ScalingFunds have introduced Imran Khan as its new commercial manager. Khan will focus on the global growth and expansion activities of ScalingFunds’ next-generation fund management platform. He is also responsible for strengthening strategic partnerships with key infrastructure partners in the industry.
Encompass Corporation, KYC provider, has expanded its footprint and awareness in North America, appointing Steve Hadaway as the new tax manager. Catherine Warren also with as US-based KYC transformation director. The number of employees in North America has also doubled after the capital raising of 33 million dollars.
Equifax has appointed Philip Davies as head of information security for Europe. He joins Equifax from a role as global CISO for Flat payment. Equifax says Davies’ experience in advising on operational risks and crises will be “critical”.
Additional agreements
LPAthe financial markets software and advisory firm is hiring Matthias Schulz as Chief Technology Officer to oversee the development of LPA’s technology stack. He leads all of LPA’s engineering work forward, creates synergies between different product teams and positions the company as an “innovative business that accelerates the transformation of the financial markets through next-generation technology”.
Fintech Kyriba appoints William Goodall as sales director for Northern Europe. He will lead Kyriba’s sales strategy in the UK and Ireland. Before joining Kyriba, William worked at Coupa Software. Goodall has also previously held senior sales and treasury positions in global organizations including MicroStrategy, JP Morgan and SAP Ariba.
Meanwhile, Philip Wendenburg have joined SAP Fioneer, a provider of software solutions for financial services, as a global leader in ESG solutions. He previously worked at PwC for over 14 years and was most recently responsible for transformation projects in the CFO area of international institutions. His newly created role at SAP Fioneer addresses how ESG impacts organizational growth alongside customer and market needs.
Mashreq has appointed Hamda Al Shamali in the newly created role of Chief Executive Officer and Intellectual Capital Officer. She is tasked with leading and growing human resources, nurturing and developing Mashreq talent, and supporting culture and engagement improvement programs across the organization.
Funding Circle, the British lending platform, has unveiled Greg McEwan as CTO. He joins Funding Circle’s global management team. Most recently, McEwan was CTO at sends, Europe’s leading digital forwarding platform. He was also previously CTO at Paddy Power Betfair.
Finally, Barclays Bank UK has announced two new non-executive appointments to further strengthen the board. Bernadette Wightman joined as an independent non-executive director in September while John Liver joined this week. The new hires add further expertise to support the bank’s strategic transformation and growth.
Funding news
Fintech Capital in print has secured a £100 million revolving credit facility Atalaya Capital Management to provide UK and US small businesses with a central hub to manage all aspects of their business finances. Since launching in 2012, Capital on Tap has provided more than £4 billion in funding to more than 200,000 small businesses.
Insurtech bolttech has revealed it Tokio Marine will lead its Series B funding round. The investment values Singapore’s bolttech at around $1.5 billion, a year after it closed the largest-ever Series A funding round for an insurtech. Tokio Marine’s partnership as a strategic investor will complement bolttech’s capabilities and reach.
Turkish mobile game studio Magic games has raised more than $5 million in seed funding led by Makers Fundwith participation also from Firat Ileri, Hummingbird Ventures. Magic Games will use the funds to expand its team, hire artists and developers in Istanbul as well as open a second office in Europe.
Acquisition
Investment banking store CFE Finance has snapped up 60 percent of the share capital in alternative investment shops RiverRock. The agreement, subject to regulatory approval, enables CFE Finance to further strengthen and expand its investment offering in Europe by diversifying its investment portfolio.
Partnership
Platform bank Wio Bank PJSC has entered into cooperation with Stripe to enable SMEs in the UAE to access the power of e-commerce faster and easier. Partnering with Stripe through Wio Business – Wio’s first digital banking application – is a “significant step” forward in the new bank’s commitment to streamlining the process for both SMEs and freelancers to manage their finances and get paid faster.
Experian and New day partner to provide consumers with more competitive prices. Experian Boost data will now be included in Newday’s credit decision making process giving Boost users access to more favorable credit options. The cooperation with NewDay supports Experian’s mission to improve financial inclusion for consumers.
