Welcome to our latest Weekly Funding Highlights! In this roundup, we cover developments across the funding landscape, including strategic investments, funding rounds, and innovative initiatives from key players in the industry.
Osborne Clarke advises on AI-led fintech Abound’s £800m funding round (Osborne Clarke)
Osborne Clarke recently advised Abound, the consumer arm of Fintern Ltd, on its latest financing round totaling up to £800 million, expanding its total funding to £1.3 billion. This funding, one of Europe’s largest this year, combines debt and equity components. The debt financing comes from Citi, while the equity round is led by GSR Ventures. Abound will utilize the funds to venture into prime lending in the UK and globally roll out Render, its AI credit technology platform. Osborne Clarke’s cross-service team assisted Fintern, led by Partners Tom Bussy and James Taylor, with expertise from their Corporate and Banking and Finance teams. This fundraising underscores Osborne Clarke’s and Abound’s longstanding relationship, with the former having previously advised on Abound’s £500 million funding round last year. Osborne Clarke’s international financial services sector team, along with its venture capital team, provides comprehensive support to a wide range of clients in the fintech and tech-enabled industries. Read more
French AI company “H” launches with €204M Seed funding from Accel, Amazon, others; aims to reach full AGI (Silicon Canals)
Paris-based “H”, a global foundation model and agentic AI company, has announced its launch alongside a significant $220 million (approximately €204 million) seed funding round. The funding, supported by prominent global companies including Accel, UiPath Inc., Bpifrance, Eric Schmidt, Xavier Niel, Amazon, and others, will be utilized to develop the company’s research talent and acquire computational and data resources necessary for breakthroughs in agentic models. Led by CEO Charles Kantor and a team of experienced DeepMind alumni, “H” aims to introduce genAI to businesses worldwide, transforming industries and the everyday human experience. The company’s vision of creating large action models to automate business tasks aligns with investors’ excitement about its potential transformative impact across all industries. With support from investors like Accel and Bpifrance, “H” confirms France’s leadership in the field of Generative AI and sets out on a mission to drive productivity forward and pave the way towards full Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Read more
Vitesse obtains USD 93 million in Series C funding (The Paypers)
Vitesse, a UK-based treasury and payment solutions provider for the insurance industry, has secured USD 93 million in a Series C funding round led by investment firm KKR, with contributions from existing investors like Hannover Digital Investments. The funding will be used to support Vitesse’s US expansion and continued product development, particularly in enhancing connectivity within the insurance value chain and expanding its payment network. KKR’s investment comes from its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III, focusing on growth equity investments in technology. Officials from Vitesse expressed confidence in their mission to improve payment and treasury management in the global insurance market and highlighted plans to capitalize on their team’s strong industry expertise. KKR commended Vitesse for disrupting the industry and adding significant value. Read more
Alpian’s $83m Series C round sees Intesa Sanpaolo’s Fideuram become majority shareholder (Fintech Futures)
Swiss neobank Alpian has raised CHF 76 million (approximately $83.5 million) in a Series C funding round to fuel its growth trajectory. The investment, led by Fideuram, the private banking and wealth management unit of Intesa Sanpaolo, includes a CHF 40 million (around $44 million) contribution from Fideuram, making it the majority shareholder of Alpian pending regulatory approvals. This funding marks an extension of Alpian’s partnership with Fideuram, which began in 2022 with an initial CHF 19 million investment. Alpian, incubated by banking group REYL Intesa Sanpaolo, has experienced significant growth, with client assets nearing CHF 100 million and its client base doubling in Q1 of this year. CEO Gianmarco Bonaita emphasizes that the increased partnership and capital infusion will accelerate the firm’s growth trajectory. Read more
Propelld secures USD 25 Million debt financing for its subsidiary, Edgro (India Economic Times)
Propelld, a Bengaluru-based education lending FinTech, has successfully secured USD 25 million in debt financing for its subsidiary, Edgro, a licensed NBFC. The funding round involved nine lenders, including prominent names like Credit Saison India Private Limited, AU Small Finance Bank, InCred Financial Services Limited, and Northern Arc Capital Limited. Edgro, established in 2023, operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Propelld and focuses on providing education loans, particularly targeting students in tier 2 and tier 3 cities who face challenges in accessing traditional financing options. The funds will be utilized to expand the availability of flexible loan options for students, as stated by Nikunj Agarwal, Head of Debt & Lending Alliance at Propelld. Read more
Osome secures $17m to enhance SMB finance solutions (Fintech Global)
Osome, a leading finance admin platform for SMBs, has closed its Series B funding round, securing over $17 million in a mix of equity and debt financing from new and existing investors. The company, serving over 13,000 SMB clients across multiple regions, plans to enhance its offerings by integrating more automation and AI components, streamlining accounting and financial compliance tasks. This funding will support Osome’s mission of providing innovative financial solutions and drive sustainable growth and profitability in 2024. CEO Victor Lysenko emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship, particularly in the face of economic challenges. COO Konstantin Lange highlighted Osome’s resilience and growth in the past year, expressing gratitude to customers, team members, and investors for their support. Osome also aims to focus on marketing, customer service enhancements, and accelerating its global go-to-market strategies. Read more
Greek maritime technology startup Harbor Lab secures €14.7 million from Atomico, Notion Capital, SpeedInvest and others (Silicon Canals)
Athens-based maritime software company Harbor Lab secured $16 million in Series A funding led by Atomico, with participation from existing and new investors. The platform addresses the shipping industry’s challenges with outdated accounting methods, streamlining port-related cost management. The funding will support team expansion, technological advancements, and further collaboration with maritime innovators. Atomico partner Ben Blume expressed confidence in Harbor Lab’s potential to transform maritime operations globally. Read more
Footprint secures $13m Series A to revolutionise identity verification (Fintech Global)
Footprint, a London-based identity verification and fraud prevention firm, secured $13 million in Series A funding led by QED Investors, with participation from existing and new investors. The company plans to enhance its offerings, focusing on refining identity verification processes and launching a fraud detection suite. CEO Eli Wachs emphasized Footprint’s unique approach of identifying good actors, supported by a centralized network of authentic identities. Investors recognize Footprint’s potential to address identity fraud challenges, positioning the company as a leader in fraud prevention and KYC compliance. Read more
Kudos lands $10M for an AI smart wallet that picks the best credit card for purchases (TechCrunch)
Kudos, a company founded by Tikue Anazodo and Ahmad Ismail, provides an AI-powered smart wallet that optimizes credit card rewards for consumers. Since its inception, Kudos has experienced significant growth, expanding its user base and checkout volume. New features include MariaGPT for card discovery and Dream Wallet for personalized recommendations. With a recent $10.2 million Series A funding led by QED Investors, Kudos plans to enhance its AI services and expand its offerings. Read more
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