Weekly update #56

Welcome to this edition of the weekly newsletter. The idea behind this is to gather all the information in the startup ecosystem in one place, with a special focus on the fintech market and the VC industry.

No episode of Builders this week, but you can recover the last episode with Anthony Danon, CEO and co-founder at Rerail below.

Anthony comes from a long experience both in fintech and venture capital, in companies like Anthemis Group, Speedinvest, but also with a strong investing experience in fintech giants like TrueLayer, Tide and more recently the launch of Cocoa Venture Fund I.

You can find the complete video interview here on YouTube, or you can listen to the podcast here on Spotify or here on Apple Podcast. Next week the podcast will be back with another interesting episode!

As always, if you are a VC manager or a founder and want to be the next guest on the podcast feel free to send me a message on LinkedIn!

Coming back to us, this week I read an interesting report from Atomico, more specifically the “Status of European Tech 2024”. This is a study that takes in consideration the last 10 years in the tech market in Europe, including employees, investments, IPOs and acquisitions, in order to take the pulse of our technology market. Here are my main takeaways.

Let’s start from the basics: investment levels increased 10x in the last 10 years. Over the past 20 years, the growth of the ecosystem has been remarkable. The pool of capital invested in companies has expanded tenfold in just a decade, fostering an environment where talent can thrive.

In Europe, total funding over the last decade reached $426 billion, a significant leap from the $43 billion invested in the previous ten years. To put this into context, 2024 alone is projected to see $45 billion in investments, surpassing the total capital invested in an entire decade. By comparison, the U.S. saw its investment pool grow 2.8 times during the same period, increasing from $249 billion to $1.2 trillion.

With a strong shift in mindset, we’re witnessing a surge in the number of companies tackling more ambitious ideas and solving increasingly complex problems. Founders are raising their standards and driving innovation to new heights. In 2015, there were just under 8,000 early-stage companies; by 2024, that number has soared to over 35,000.

Growth-stage companies have experienced even more dramatic growth, increasing eightfold to more than 3,400. Europe also boasts more billion-dollar-valued companies than ever before. These figures highlight how significantly Europe’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has strengthened in just a decade, sparking excitement about what the next ten years could hold.

Progress has been widespread, but the most significant advances have occurred in the UK, Germany, and France. These countries, which saw relatively modest funding levels before 2014, have attracted a combined $250 billion in the last decade, with the UK alone nearing $150 billion. Tech employment in these nations has expanded six- to eightfold, aligning with the broader sevenfold increase across Europe. In the UK, tech companies now employ nearly one million people.

On average, 72% of tech employees in Europe work in the same country as their company’s headquarters, while the remainder contribute to other ecosystems across the region, driving growth through job creation and knowledge sharing. These developments highlight the interconnectedness and dynamism of Europe’s rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Investment activity across Europe has grown steadily over the past decade, reflecting the overall positive trajectory of the region's tech ecosystem. The most striking transformation, however, has been in the growth stage. Funding rounds of $15 million or more have more than tripled since 2015, highlighting the increasing maturity and scale of European startups.

Early-stage funding rounds have also shown consistent growth, with 2023 marking nearly a 40% increase compared to 2015. While preliminary figures for 2024 suggest a year-on-year decline, these numbers are likely influenced by reporting delays, which often lag by six months to a year. Once updated, the data is expected to show a stable trend, underscoring the resilience of Europe’s tech investment landscape.

Anyway we saw some very interesting news in the market this week. Revolut is thinking of getting a banking license also in the US, while Nubank is evaluating a domicile shift in the UK. Robinhood acquired TradePMR and TrueLayer laid off 25% of the workforce. In the VC industry, we saw Bling Capital closing a $270 million fourth fund and Portal Ventures closing a second $75 million crypto fund. But also new funds from 4impact capital and Initiate Ventures. In the italian market, CARDO AI raised a $15 million series A led by Blackstone . And finally, some very interesting funding rounds from fintech startups like Influur, Payfinia, Zeplyn, Groov, SarvaGram, Fairplay, EdfaPay, Rise and many others.

But let's take a closer look at the main news of the last seven days:

Closed deals

• Influur closes a $10 million series A to innovate the creator economy with fintech
• Payfinia secures a $4.5 million funding round to expand its instant payments platform
• Folks Finance raises $3.2 million series A to push crosschain DeFi solutions
• Wealthtech startup Zeplyn raises a $3 million seed round to improve financial advisory with AI
• PaaS startup Kody raises a $20 million series A to modernize e-commerce for larger businesses
• Groov secures a $1.5 million seed round for its embedded lending platform for SMEs
• Munich based QPLIX | Wealth Management Software raises $25 million from Partech
• Prune-based fintech SarvaGram raises a $67.8 million series D
• Digital personal finance startup Achieve secures a $186.4 million AAA-rated securitisation
• Litigation fintech Sandfield Capital secures a $10.5 million funding facility from Altimapa Capital
• Fintech innovator Goodstack secures a $22 million funding round led by General Catalyst
• Fintech startup OneChronos secures a $32 million funding round led by Addition
• Crypto startup Deblock secures a $13.3 million funding round led by 20VC
• Mexican fintech FairPlay closes a $35 million credit facility from BBVA
• Chennai fintech startup Pelocal Fintech Private Limited secures a $2 million seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures
• EdfaPay raises $5 million to expand its fintech reach in MENA
• NY-based fintech Rise raises a $6.3 million series A to help companies pay salaries in crypto and fiat
• Freight fintech Solvento secures $12.5 million to expand cross-borders services

Insights on the VC industry

• Hague-based 4impact capital raises a second $68 million fund
• Portal Ventures closes a second crypto fund at $75 million
• ScienceWerx, Inc launches a MENA chapter with a $100 million pre-seed fund
• Initiate Ventures closes a $45 million fund to invest in healthcare
• Bling Capital secures $270 million for a fourth fund

News on the market

• TrueLayer lays off 25% of the work force
• Blackstone Inc. and Warburg Pincus LLC are reported in the early stages talks of a potential sale of IntraFi for $12 billion
• Amundi announces the acquisition of tech services provider aixigo
• Robinhood takes a huge step in the wealthtech direction with the acquisition of TradePMR for $300 million
• African based fintech Mama Money launches a WhatsApp based bank card
• Klarna is launching its services on Google Pay
• J.P. Morgan UK digital bank Chase release the first credit card from the group
• So it appears that after the UK, Revolut is ready to look for a banking license also in the US
• Someone could see this as an answer to Revolut looking at the US, but Nubank is exploring the possibility of a domicile switch to the UK
• Openbank debuts in Mexico with savings accounts and a no-fee proposition

A special look in the Italian market

• Milan based fintech CARDO AI secures a $15 million series A led by Blackstone

And here some useful resources for everyone involved in the ecosystem:

Events you don’t want to miss

• Web summit | Lisbon 11-14.11.2024 (Link to the invite or website)
• FTT Fintech festival | London 11-12.11.2024 (Link to the invite or website)

You have a cool event you want to mention or to sponsor? Feel free to send me a DM.

Startups raising funds

• Loyyal - Loyalty platform from the MENA region, with entities in the US and South East Asia, provides a B2B2C platform to handle multiple loyalty programs and earn rewards all over the world. Raising a $6M Series A
• Freedhome - Proptech and fintech platform, enabling people to be able to gain profit from real estate by renting them to intermediaries. Raising a $1M seed round

• PopulaRise - The platform that allows companies of every dimension to promote themselves on social media through the collaboration with their clients. B2B2C SaaS. Raising $1M.
• Tutornow - Edtech that provides an online tutoring platform for students with learning disorders. Raising $500k to $1M.
• Weagle - B2B Tech startup that provides the very first browser designed for company, with total security for sensitive data. Raising $6 millions for their seed round.

• Shoppy Code:Gift card platform that offers a points based loyalty program. They share part of the profits coming from marketing budgets with their customers. Raising $500k.

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #55