As it’s London Fintech Week, we’ve taken a quick look at some of the fintech companies that are flying the flag for London right now.
London’s status as the world’s premier fintech hub is by no means assured, with strong challenges coming from Silicon Valley, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. And with some doubt as to whether Brexit could lead to an exodus of financial companies from the capital, these are tense times for London.
However, there are many reasons to be optimistic, as fintech companies in London continue to keep themselves in the spotlight. While there are many fintech success stories in London - Currency Cloud, Funding Circle and RateSetter to name but a few - we’ve highlighted some of the companies that are currently grabbing the headlines.
Curve is a money management startup that lets users consolidate all of their bank cards onto a single card and app. It has this week confirmed that it has closed a Series A fundraise of $10m, with backers including Santander InnoVentures, Investec, Connect Ventures, Speedinvest, Oxford Capital, Breega Capital, and Samos Investments. Read more in TechCrunch.
A whopping $66m Series B fundraise shows just how much faith investors have in Revolut, a payment card provider. Revolut users can use the company’s cards to pay for goods and services overseas at a fair exchange rate, dodging fees that traditional banks apply for such purchases. You can read more about Revolut on Reuters.
Having confirmed its ‘unicorn’ status, Transferwise - founded six years ago in London by Estonians Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmannhas - recently declared that its business is now profitable. Transferwise lets users make transfers overseas for a fraction of the charge applied by many banks, and more than £1bn is transferred through the platform each month. Read more on the BBC.
Yoyo Wallet, a mobile payment and customer loyalty platform, set up in London in 2013 and last month announced that it had closed a round of investment worth £12m. Yoyo gives users the ability to order, pay and collect loyalty bonuses through their smartphone, and made a custom app for Caffe Nero. More on TechCrunch.
While many of the headlines about Monzo recently haven't been positive - see this example from Business Insider - there is no denying that the digital bank is making an impact. Customer growth has been significant, and the company's plan is to build the customer base first before turning its attention to profitability. It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
If you’re a fintech company and want to get yourself mentioned in the same breath as the companies listed above, take a look at our article about what PR can do for you and get in touch.
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