Just before Christmas,
HSBC UK announced the expansion of its ‘Growth Lending’ fund from £250 million to £350 million in response to growing demand from high-growth tech scale-ups. To access the funding, scale-ups must have strong equity backing, a proven sales track record,
and a clear path to profitability.
The fund was launched in response to the UK Government’s call for additional investment in the sector, as explored in the
Spring Budget, which committed up to £3.5 billion to future of technology and science. The funding announced will support the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in delivering on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s key priorities, including on growing
the UK economy and creating better-paid jobs and opportunities for people in industries across the country.
According to analysis by
S&P Global Market Intelligence, venture capital flows into fintech firms plunged globally by 36% YOY to $6 billion in the third quarter of 2023. In addition to this, funding deal volumes dropped 39% to 484 transactions. However, mature startups, which were
hit the hardest in the previous quarters reported 30% YOY increases in funding values and deal count.
It is evident that investment into high-growth tech scale-ups could be increasing, and newcomers may struggle to get ahead. Here’s a summary of the biggest investments into fintech firms of 2023, as covered by Finextra. Comment below if we’ve missed any.
Tabby – $700 million
UAE-based BNPL player Tabby has secured $700 million in debt financing from JPMorgan and extended its Series D round to $250 million. Tabby in November secured $200 million in Series D funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, making it the MENA region’s first
fintech unicorn ahead of a planned IPO in Saudi Arabia. The additional $50 million was supported by Hassana Investment Company, with participation from Soros Capital Management and KSA-based Saudi Venture Capital. The financing fortifies Tabby’s balance sheet
to serve demand for its flagship BNPL offering, which now manages over $6 billion in annualised transaction volume. The numbers are on a par with Saudi Arabian BNPL peer Tamara, which secured unicorn status on a $340 million funding round.
Abound – $640 million
Abound, a UK-based fintech that uses a combination of open banking and artifical intelligence to offer better loan deals to consumers, raised £500 million in a mixture of debt and equity finance. Debt financing comes from Citi and clients of Waterfall Asset
Management. Equity investors included K3 Ventures, GSR Ventures, and Hambro Perks. This latest investment brings the total raised to date by Abound up to £570 million.
Rippling – $500 million
Rippling, a workforce management software provider that helps firms with things like payroll, benefits and expenses, raised $500 million in funding in the space of 12 hours as it looked to shore up finances in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.
CAB Payments – $429 million
British business-to-business cross-border payments firm CAB Payments raised up to £335 million through a listing on the London Stock Exchange. The company says it successfully placed shares at £3.35, resulting in a market capitalisation of about £851 million,
although shares were down to £3.03 by market close.
DMI – $400 million
Indian digital lender DMI Finance has raised $400 million in a financing round led by Japanese giant Mitsubishi Bank. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank joined the round for Delhi-based DMI, which claims a customer base of 25 million for its personal and MSME loans.
Phone Pe – $350 million
Indian digital payments platform Phone Pe raised $350 million in funding from General Atlantic at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. The General Atlantic investment marks the first tranche of an up to $1 billion total fundraise that PhonePe has commenced
in January 2023.
Tamara – $340 million
Buy now, pay later startup Tamara became Saudi Arabia’s first home-grown fintech unicorn with a $340 million funding round. The round was co-led by SNB Capital and Sanabil Investments, with participation from Shorooq Partners, Pinnacle Capital, and Impulse,
in addition to existing investors such as Coatue, Endeavor Catalyst and Checkout.com. It follows the completion last month of an additional $250 million in debt financing. With this transaction, Tamara will have raised a total of $500 million in equity funding,
and well above $400 million in debt financing since its inception in late 2020.
SumUp – $317 million
London fintech SumUp scored a whopping €285 million in growth financing to expand its global footprint and extend its range of financial products and services for its four million small business customers. The funding round was led by Sixth Street Growth
and also involved Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, Fin Capital and Liquidity Capital. The new growth funding follows the receipt in August of a $100 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital to drive the launch of a cash advance product for UK and
European merchants. The current raise is a mixture of equity and debt, although SumUp has declined to elaborated on the precise ratio. The firm is understood to have retained its June 2022 valuation of €8 billion. The new financing comes after a year of increasing
momentum for SumUp, which has achieved positive Ebitda since the fourth quarter of 2022 while reporting revenue growth of more than 30% YOY.
Ramp – $300 million
Finance automation and corporate credit card startup Ramp raised $300 million in finding at a $5.8 billion valuation, down from $8.1 billion at its last raise in 2022. The round was co-led by existing backer Thrive Capital and new investor Sands Capital.
Kredivo – $270 million
Kredivo, which offers BNPL and credit services to underbanked consumers in Indonesia and Vietnam, has raised $270 million in a Series D funding round led by Japan’s Mizuho Bank. The oversubscribed round also drew significant interest from Kredivo Holdings’
existing stable of top tier investors, including Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures, Naver Financial Corporation, GMO Venture Partners and Openspace Ventures, among others. Formerly known as FinAccel, Kredivo, has now raised a total of about $400 million
in equity, and has committed debt facilities of almost $1 billion to grow its loan book. The firm last year abandoned plans to go public in a $2.5 billion Spac deal, citing adverse market conditions.
DailyPay – $260 million
DailyPay announced it has secured $260 million of capital to fuel growth domestically, expand internationally and further invest in product innovation. The funding is divided between revolving credit facility capacity provided by Barclays and Angelo Gordon,
and new term loan funding from SVB Capital and a fund managed by Neuberger Berman. DailyPay first announced a $300 million revolving credit facility from Barclays in March 2022. The additional revolving credit facility capacity ($100 million provided by Barclays
and $60 million from Angelo Gordon) provides DailyPay with more capital to service its ever-growing roster of clients. The $100 million in term loan funding will be invested to fuel DailyPay’s continued product innovation and to accelerate growth.
eToro – $250 million
eToro completed a $250 million funding round at a valuation of $3.5 billion. Investors included ION Group, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Velvet Sea Ventures, and a number of existing investors. This funding stems from an Advance Investment Agreement (AIA) which
eToro entered into in February 2021 as part of its proposed SPAC transaction.
M-Kopa – $250 million
African fintech M-Kopa closed over $250 million in new debt and equity funding to expand its financial services offering to underbanked consumers across Sub-Saharan Africa. Over $200 million in sustainability-linked debt financing was led and arranged by
Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank, with support from The International Finance Corporation (IFC), funds managed by Lion’s Head Global Partners, FMO, Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, British International Investment, Mirova SunFunder and Nithio.
A further $55 million in equity investment was backed by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, which is contributing $36.5 million to the total raise. Blue Haven Initiative, Lightrock, Broadscale Group and Latitude, the sister fund to Local Globe, also participated
in the transaction.
RITMO – $200 million
Fintech RITMO successfully closed a $200 million debt funding round led by i80 Group and Avellinia Capital, making it one of the largest funding rounds of any e-commerce finance business in Europe and Latin America (LATAM). The debt financing was provided
by i80 Group, a US-based leading provider of capital to breakthrough technology companies that has committed over $1 billion in credit to fintech and proptech firms and by Avellinia Capital, a leading European provider of tailor-made capital solutions for
fast-growing disruptors across fintech lending, e-commerce and mobility. To date, RITMO raised $225 million in debt and equity funding in its first year of operations with support from serial entrepreneurs and institutional investors.
Petal – $200 million
Credit card and financial technology company Petal announced that it closed a committed $200 million debt facility from Victory Park Capital (VPC), a global alternative investment firm specialising in private credit. Petal has also agreed to a multi-year
extension of its existing term loan facilities and closed a new term loan facility for up to $20 million of incremental commitments with Trinity Capital Inc. (Trinity), a leading provider of diversified financial solutions growth-stage companies. In addition,
Petal has raised more than $20 million in new equity financing from its existing investors, building on the $35 million in funding Petal announced in May.
Marco – $200 million
Marco — the first tech-enabled trade financing platform built for small and medium-sized businesses in Latin America and the United States— received a $200 million credit facility from leading middle market lender MidCap Financial and global asset-based
private credit specialist, Castlelake. Marco also announced it raised $8.2 million in equity funding, led by Arcadia Funds LLC.
QI Tech – $200 million
Brazilian BNPL platform QI Tech raised $200 million in a Series B round led by General Atlantic. GA was joined by existing investor Across Capital, which is doubling its initial $12 million investment in the company. The new raise brings the São Paulo-based
startup’s total venture capital investments to $262 million, including a $50 million Series A round of funding led by the Sovereign Investment Fund of Singapore back in November 2021.
bolttech – $196 million
bolttech raised $196 million in connection with its Series B with an up-round valuation of $1.6 billion. The round was led by Tokio Marine – Japan’s first insurance company with a 140-year history. Other key investors include global life insurance giant
MetLife through its subsidiary MetLife Next Gen Ventures, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, as well as new and existing shareholders. International insurtech bolttech is defying the current capital markets backdrop – mega-round funding ($100
million and above) for the global insurtech sector is at its lowest level since Q1 2020. bolttech’s Series B fundraise is the largest straight equity Series B for an insurtech in the last year, and follows the company achieving the largest ever Series A round
for an insurtech in 2021.
InsuranceDekho – $150 million
InsuranceDekho, India’s leading Insurtech player, raised $150 million in Series A funding consisting of a mix of equity and debt, the largest ever series A round by an Indian insurtech company. The equity round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and
TVS Capital Funds with participation from Investcorp, Avataar Ventures and existing investor, LeapFrog Investments.
Curve – $145 million
Curve secured an additional £58 million in its series C round, taking the round’s total funding to over £133 million. Curve has raised £208 million in overall equity investment to date, and the series C funding round marks one of the largest in fintech this
year. The super app has partnered with large brands such as Samsung, Mastercard, Huawei, and Swatch.
Raylo – $141 million
Circular economy fintech Raylo agreed a new £110 million debt financing facility from NatWest and Quilam Capital. Raylo has raised over £150 million to date, including existing equity investors: Octopus Ventures, Macquarie Bank and Telefónica.
Liberis – $112 million
Liberis, a pioneer in embedded business finance solutions, announced it has secured $112 million in debt financing to support its further growth in North America and Europe and expansion into new markets, including Canada and Germany. This strategic collaboration
is set to inject a substantial sum of $112 million from HSBC Innovation Banking and BCI Capital across its European and North American divisions. The additional debt capital marks another 2023 milestone for Liberis as it enables the company to broaden its
reach and bolster its mission to close the global small business funding gap. The total funding secured by Liberis from capital providers as well as investors reaches over $700m to date. Its equity backers include Barclays, Blenheim Chalcot, and FTV Capital.
Altruist – $112 million
Altruist, the modern custodian built exclusively for RIAs, today announced a new $112 million series D round of funding led by Insight Partners, new investor Adams Street Partners, and continued support from existing investors. Notable industry leaders Bill
McNabb, Ron Carson, and Marty Bicknell also participated in the round. This comes just weeks after the acquisition of SSG, an advisory services firm, and the launch of a new brokerage offering that cemented Altruist as the third largest custodian as measured
by number of firms served. Altruist’s new funding adds to a previously undisclosed $110 million series C raised in November of 2021 and led by Declaration Partners with Venrock, Insight Partners, and Vanguard participating, bringing its total funding to more
than $290 million.
40Seas – $111 million
40Seas, an innovative fintech platform for cross-border trade financing, has raised $111 million to deliver a much more efficient and cost-effective financing framework for SMEs involved in global commerce. The company’s $11 million seed funding round, led
by Team8 with participation from ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., is complemented by a $100 million credit facility for exporters and importers.
Tranch – $100 million
Tranch, a BNPL platform for SaaS sellers and services providers, raised $100 million in seed equity and debt funding. The funding round was led by Soma Capital and FoundersX. Additional institutional investors participated in the round, including several
US and UK fintech founders. The funding round includes a credit facility from Clear Haven Capital Management.
