Wombat, Atlantic Money and more
On FinTech Futures, we know it can be easy to let funding announcements pass you by in this fast-paced industry. That’s why we put together our weekly magazine In case you missed it (ICYMI) funding round for you to get the latest funding news. With Wombat, Atlantic Money, Fairbanc, Kettel Homes, Atato and Guava.
Micro investment platform Wombat has launched a new crowdfunding campaign ahead of its planned international expansion.
Wombat goes to crowdfunding
The Crowdcube campaign will run for three weeks with a goal of £1 million.
Launched in 2019, Wombat offers a mobile investment platform – available on both iOS and Android. Users can choose from a range of themed funds and individual stocks to create a personal portfolio.
The London-based firm says it is preparing to launch in international markets, including Europe – where it estimates it has a total addressable market of 100 million users. It also plans to introduce new products and platform improvements.
Kane Harrison, CEO and co-founder of Wombat, says: “We’ve come a long way in a very short time and have big plans for the year ahead.
“Not only will we be introducing new products and features to support users as they become more experienced and confident investors, we will be making our first foray into Europe where we see great opportunities for Wombat to grow.”
Low cost money transfer service Atlantic money has secured an additional injection of 3 million dollars in seed capital to drive international growth after recently receiving its EU licence.
The round was led by Amplo with participation from Nordstar and former Lazada CEO Martell Hardenberg. The money is in addition to the firm’s seed funding of $4.5 million from investors including Index Ventures, Ribbit and Kleiner Perkins.
Atlantic Money will use the funds to improve its customer experience and further develop its offer.
Starting immediately, anyone in the UK can transfer up to £1,000,000 abroad for a flat fee of £3 and at the interbank rate with no foreign exchange (FX) markup via the Atlantic Money iOS app.
The company says the service will be made available to EU residents in the coming months.
Singapore-based and Indonesia-focused buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) company for businesses, Fairbanchave raised 4.8 million dollars in a pre-Series A funding round led by Vertex Ventures.
Lippo Group, Asian Development Bank and Accion Venture Lab also participated in the round.
Fairbanc says it will use the new investment to further expand its presence in Indonesia and explore new markets such as Vietnam and the Philippines.
Founded in 2019, Fairbanc is an AI-powered mobile working capital, credit and payment platform for micro and small businesses in emerging markets.
Kettel Homes have received one undisclosed investment from UK Building Society Nationwide. Kettel Homes is a rent-to-own startup that helps first-time buyers without access to typical mortgages get a home by saving part of their rent against a deposit.
Nationwide invests in Kettel Homes
“The investment in Kettel Homes is part of the UK’s largest building society’s drive to help its members with the cost of living crisis by addressing the challenges people face when living in financial hardship,” Nationwide said.
“Nationwide has put £2.5m into an incubator specifically designed to encourage and enhance innovative platforms such as Kettel Homes by bringing together start-ups with innovators, organizations and charities.”
Launched for first-time buyers in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester and surrounding areas, Kettel Homes says it offers a “roadmap” for first-time buyers to reach their goal of home ownership “within 36 months” while ensuring the price of the property is unmatched. increase over time.
Kettel also helps future homeowners with financial literacy tools, reporting rental payments to build their credit and navigating government incentives for first-time buyers.
Banking and networking platform for black entrepreneurs, Guavahas secured 2.4 million dollars in a pre-seed funding round led by Heron Rock.
Founded in 2020 and based in New York, Guava aims to provide financial services to black-owned small businesses and creators, and will officially launch early next year.
With the new money, Guava plans to expand its team and develop more credit products for the platform.
Atatoa licensed digital asset manager aimed at companies and institutions, has left 6 million dollars in Series A financing.
The round was led by AlphaLab Capital and FEBE Ventures with participation from, among others, Tom Trowbridge, NGC Ventures, January Capital, Babel Finance and Atato’s seed investor SOSV.
The new capital will be used to further expand the product offering and accelerate the completion of existing beta development products. This includes retail development, user growth, geographic expansion and talent acquisition.
Founded in 2018 and based in Singapore, Atato is a cryptocurrency custody and wallet provider that enables individuals and businesses to securely store, trade and manage digital assets, as well as access DeFi, NFTs and all decentralized applications.
