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E.U. Business Tech News Brief: November 21st 2018

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Fintech Funding Highlights: U.K. & Europe

A total of USD $70.1 million was raised within the Fintech sector across the U.K. and Europe this past week.

London led the charge with 3 notables but Berlin delivered the most sizeable deal of all;

  • Berlin: German Fintech consolidator firm Finleap raised $41.5 million ($47.3 million) in a funding round led by Global Voyager Fund – the venture firm of the Chinese insurance company Ping An. It is the first European investment made by the Ping An fund.
  • London: Form 3, a cloud-based payment as a service provider that delivers faster payment processing for banks and fintech companies, raised $13 million from UK based VC, Draper Esprit and existing investors.
  • London: Argent, a UK company marketing “the first smart wallet” for cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications, based on the Ethereum blockchain, has raised $4 million from Index Ventures, Creandum, firstminute, Hummingbird, and Mattias Ljungman (partner at Atomico). Their mobile app allows users to access their cryptocurrency assets, as well as blockchain applications.
  • London: Banked, a UK-based fintech start-up, who launched earlier this month, raised £1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Backed VC. The company has yet to release its first product but has plans to do so in Q1 2019. 
  • Riga, Latvia: Riga-based peer-to-peer lending marketplace start-up, Mintos, has raised €5 million in a Series A round from Latvian VC firm, Grumpy Investments (formerly Skillion Ventures).

German HR Platform raises $17 Million

Berlin, Germany: Berlin-based platform technology companies continue their strong Q4 fundraising, with HR platform, Zenjob raising €15 million ($17.1 million) in a Series B funding round. This news follows hot on the heels of our coverage last week, of Berlin-based freelancing platform, WorkGenius, who recently raised $9.6m.

Zenjob enables large and medium-sized businesses find on-demand student staff online.

The company was founded in 2015 and currently has a headcount of 180 employees.
The funding round was led by AXA Venture Partners along with current investors Acton Capital Partners, Redalpine, and Atlantic Labs. The capital will be used in technological product development and business expansion.

Solar Panel Start-up Otovo Raises $11.9 Million 

Oslo, Norway: Otovo, a Norwegian platform for the sale and installation of solar panels has closed a funding round with €10.5 million ($11.9 million). 

Founded in 2016 by Andreas Thorsheim, it was the winner of the Oslo Innovation Award 2018. Funding was provided by Norwegian investors, KLP Liv / KLP AksjeNorge and Nysnø. 

Otovo intends to expand its platform solution to other European countries in 2019. 

Swedish e-scooter Start-up raises $50 Million

Stockholm, Sweden: Europe’s e-scooter sharing platforms continue to attract sizeable fund raising.

This week, Voi Technology, a Swedish start-up, raised $50m in a Series A round led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Vostok New Ventures, LocalGlobe, and Raine Ventures, as well as several angel investors. 

Founded in Stockholm earlier this year, Voi claims to be the first and only European company that has launched in more than one country.

It already operates in Stockholm, Madrid, Zaragoza, and Malaga and plans to its latest funding to expand to Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Portugal within the next few months.

Animal Dynamics raises $7.8 million for Autonomous Military Drones

Oxford, England: Animal Dynamics, a British technology start-up, has secured £6m in new funding to build autonomous military robots.

The Oxford University spin-out has completed its Series A funding round, which was led by Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI). Kindred Capital and Australian investment company Tanarra Capital were among other investors.

The company, which produces robots inspired by design elements from nature, will use the capital to grow and support the development of future products.

Animal Dynamics is currently focused on two projects. They include Skeeter, a miniature drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and an autonomous delivery drone known as Stork.