GoKwik, an e-commerce enablement company on a mission to democratize the shopping experience and increase GMV realization for e-commerce businesses, has raised a $5.5m (INR 40 crores) Pre-Series A round led by Matrix Partners, which also saw the participation of global investor RTP Global.  Marquee Angels and other leading industry figures have also contributed to the fund, which will be used to expand internationally.

BankiFi, a fintech business specialising in payment processing and financial administration services for SMEs, has secured a £2.2m investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures, with participation from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).  Headquartered in Manchester, BankiFi was founded to help financial institutions better serve small and medium-sized businesses. 

Foresight Group, an award-winning listed alternative investment manager, has provided a senior secured debt facility of up to £25 million to specialist secured SME lender, Fresh Thinking Capital.

Liverpool FC has welcomed global online trading broker, ThinkMarkets, as its new Official Global Trading Partner.  

Ordnance Survey, Britain's national mapping service, has decided to exercise its stock options in UK InsurTech, Flock. This marks the first time Ordnance Survey has ever held equity in a startup.  Flock has recently raised $17M in funding to supercharge its expansion into new geographies and product lines. This round of funding marks a major milestone in building a global, fully digital insurance company for connected and autonomous vehicles.     

Kroo Ltd has raised £17.7 million in a Series A funding round led by tech entrepreneur and founder of Karlani Capital, Rudy Karsan. The capital raised will be used to mobilise the bank ahead of its launch in early 2022.  Kroo’s goal as a social bank is to remove friction from financial interactions with friends and family. Currently it does so by offering customers a prepaid debit card and innovative ways to track their personal and social finances – enabling them to easily create groups with friends, track spending, and split and pay bills quickly and securely.

Fast-growing financial super app Curve has appointed Renata Sumskaite as CEO and Head of Curve Lithuania, in a move that cements its growth strategy from an EU-licensed base. The Lithuanian office represents a gateway to frictionless trade for Curve and its customers across the European Union. Renata will be focusing on innovation and product development Curve. 

Palatine Private Equity has exchanged contracts for the sale of national independent financial adviser Wren Sterling to the management team supported by investment funds affiliated with Lightyear Capital LLC, which is making a majority investment in Wren Sterling.  The deal is subject to FCA approval. 

Percent, the fintech innovator with the mission to put good into everyday financial transactions, has closed a $5M venture round led by Morpheus Ventures. 

A new technology platform designed to generate long term royalties for artists and venues will be launched this August by Kasabian drummer Ian Matthews and his long-time friend and tech entrepreneur Irfon Watkins. 

Ntropy, a company removing data barriers to understand financial transactions, has announced a $3.2M seed round led by QED Investors, who has previously invested in fintech unicorns Nubank, Klarna, and Current. Ntropy’s API enables businesses to convert raw data into contextualised and structured information understood by both man and machine.  January Ventures also participated in the investment round, along with founders and executives from Ramp, Square and Stripe.

byrd, the tech-driven digital logistics and fulfilment platform, has raised a €16 million Series B funding round. The round was led by new investors Mouro Capital, an autonomously managed venture capital fund focused on fintechs and adjacent businesses that is backed by Banco Santander, joining Speedinvest, Verve Ventures, Rider Global and VentureFriends. This latest round follows on from byrd’s €5m Series A round in July 2020, bringing the total amount raised to date to €26 million.