This week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 14/02

In this Valentine’s Day edition of the Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup, we bring you the latest partnerships and job moves.

Appointments

Sprint legend Usain Bolt has joined cryptocurrency casino Old age as a brand ambassador. The appointment of the Jamaican sports star follows the news that Gamdom has grown its user base to 10 million global customers.

Durlston Partnersa talent advisory firm specializing in technology, quantitative finance and data science, has appointed Meraj Bahram as managing partner. He is responsible for accelerating the firm’s global expansion. Bahram takes over from founder Vax Bahram, who has stepped down to focus on his other business interests.

VeUP plans to hire 40 full-time staff this year and has opened offices in the UK and US. VeUP, a global technology consulting firm, provides customized services to independent software vendors working in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ecosystem. James Campanini has been appointed managing director. Campanini previously served as head of channels and alliances, UK&I at AWS, and will oversee the company’s expansion.

Global identity verification provider ID Card appoints Tim Murphy as the new independent chairman of the board. Murphy has served on the board as a non-executive member since 2017. His current position is Principal Director of M&A advisory firm, Guacamole Partners Limited.

SCRIPTthe Swiss-licensed company that offers a single access point to digital assets for institutions is hiring Marc Wackerlin as Chief Technology Officer. Most recently, he was CTO and CEO of Swiss crypto bank Sygnum Bank AG.

Infinicept, a provider of embedded payments, has appointed Anne-Jeanette LeBell as the company’s chief technology officer. In this newly created role, LeBell is responsible for developing and delivering on Infinicept’s technology strategy to support ongoing growth. Before joining Infinicept, she was a fintech co-founder BankShift.

Partnership

Baker Hill, a provider of financial technology that provides solutions for loan origination, risk management and analysis, has expanded its partnership with Union Bank from Vermont and New Hampshire. The bank has upgraded to Baker Hill NextGen, a unified solution that streamlines loan origination and portfolio monitoring.

American venture capital firm Pelion Venture Partners has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Greenstone Equity Partners, a capital raising firm in the Middle East. The aim is to expand Pelion’s GCC investor base as it raises capital for two funds, Pelion Ventures VIII and Pelion Olympus Fund I.

Paysend, the UK-based fintech, has entered into a commercial partnership with purple, the Lebanese money transfer and payout platform. Through this partnership, Lebanese can “connect and support their family, friends and loved ones through faster, cheaper and more secure money transfers”.

Broker GCEX has entered into cooperation with Komainu. The partnership will enhance GCEX’s offering of regulated custodians to its institutional and professional clients. Komainu currently supports custody of 34 native blockchains and 5,700 tokens. Assets are completely separate from both Komainus and other Komainus customers.

Wirex, a crypto payment platform, has signed a long-term strategic global partnership with payment company networks Visa. This includes joining Visa in APAC and the UK to allow Wirex to directly issue crypto-enabled debit and prepaid cards to over 40 countries. The agreement will also support further collaboration in major markets, including APAC, the UK, Europe and the US.

LMS, the UK broker and panel management company, has teamed up with Tandem Bank, which will be the 34th lender to join LMS Panel Link. LMS will supply a fully vetted, secure panel of haulage companies that meet Tandem’s exacting requirements, across England and Wales.

Financing and investments

Fintech Omnio raises €12 million ahead of planned merger with Nordic and Swiss bankers. After the merger, the group also intends to list its shares on a recognized stock exchange within the next 12 months. Omnio has completed an equity financing of €9 million, but will keep the round open to selected investors, aiming for a total of €12 million.

landytech, the company behind the leading investment reporting platform Sesamehas secured 12 million dollars in series B financing. The increase is lead by Aquiline technology growth with additional investment from existing investors Adelie capital. The financing will accelerate Landytech’s growth as the company expands internationally, as well as support product development.

Company updates

Paysera, a fintech company that processes payments in e-shops has purchased a 1.5 MW solar park in southwest Lithuania and a 600 kW wind farm on the park’s territory. The alternative energy generated there will fully supply electricity to Paysera’s offices in Vilnius, Kaunas and Alytus, with most of the energy going to the national electricity grid.