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Numerous big fintech players are eyeing to better serve their business/merchant customers by offering new revenue-based financing services. This includes payments companies like Stripe and Worldpay. At this point in time, Sweden-based Klarna, the most highly valued startup in Europe has partnered with Liberis, the global embedded business finance platform to include revenue-based financing to its portfolio.

Through the new partnership, Klarna’s 250,000 merchants in 17 countries will have access to revenue-based financing from Liberis, through a direct integration into Klarna’s platform. They will be provided with a checkout and payment suite that enables their consumers to “buy now and pay later”. Notably, since its debut in 2007, Liberis has provided £500 million in financing to SMEs

Through Liberis, Klarna can also offer its merchant partners flexible financing solutions, pre-approved with fair and equitable payment terms that are based on their revenues and actual transactions.

The revenue-based funding options will be available immediately for global Klarna merchants in the coming months.

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As a result of the pandemic, people are returning to their home countries due to the many restrictions. This has opened the door to a new era of global employment in which employers recognise the need to offer remote-first jobs. However, thousands of organisations are currently breaching local employment laws without even realising it.

Dublin-based Boundless, a remote employment platform, helps companies compliantly employ talent globally while giving their employees access to benefits and opportunities in the country they work in. Now, this company has raised €2.5 million (nearly £2.1 million) in seed funding.

The investment round was co-led by London-headquartered Ada Ventures and FYRFLY to represent the significant shift to remote working, which is worth multi-trillion euros now.

Dee Coakley, Co-Founder and CEO of Boundless, commented: “From failing to register workers in the proper jurisdiction through to incorrectly hiring people as contractors to perform permanent roles, these worries are being felt across the entire leadership team – from the CFO and Head of Legal to the COO and Head of HR/People Ops. Employment laws, tax codes and statutory benefits all differ from country to country. Cultural norms around working also vary significantly. Overlooking or misunderstanding these norms only makes it more challenging to recruit and retain talent.”#

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Visa announced Thursday that it had signed an agreement to acquire Swedish open banking platform Tink for €1.8bn, a landmark acquisition for European tech and open banking. 

If completed, this would be the third-largest acquisition of a European VC-backed fintech, according to Dealroom data.

The announcement comes after Visa scrapped its $5.3bn bid to absorb data sharing fintech firm Plaid earlier this year following concerns from US regulators. At the time, a source close to Tink said that the company and its investors were “punching the air” in celebration when they heard the deal had fallen apart.

“As we got to know Visa, it became clear that we share a common mission — to connect the financial world and accelerate the growth and adoption of digital financial services,” said Tink’s cofounders Daniel Kjellén and Fredrik Hedberg in a blog published Thursday. 

Stockholm-based Tink started off as a consumer app in 2012, helping customers keep track of their personal finances, but later pivoted to providing banks and other fintech players with its aggregation software. It went on to become Europe’s largest open banking company, integrated with more than 3.4k banks and financial institutions and reaching millions of bank customers.

Post acquisition, Tink will keep its brand, management team and Stockholm headquarters. 

Tink also held discussions about an acquisition with Mastercard in 2019. 

“Visa is committed to doing all we can to foster innovation and empower consumers in support of Europe’s open banking goals,” said Al Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Visa.

“By bringing together Visa’s network of networks and Tink’s open banking capabilities we will deliver increased value to European consumers and businesses with tools to make their financial lives more simple, reliable and secure.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. 

Tink is not the only Swedish fintech to be acquired by a global payments giant; PayPal bought iZettle for $2.2 billion in 2018.

Josh Bell, general partner at Dawn Capital, a Tink and iZettle investor said, “With Tink and iZettle, Sweden has now produced two of Europe’s largest-ever fintech M&A exits, reflecting the world-class innovation, commercial excellence and entrepreneurial talent we have found across the Nordic market. As the only investor in both companies, we are delighted to have supported their successful journeys to new homes within corporations with global reach, validating the relevance of the B2B tech coming out of Europe. We wish Tink continuing success in the next chapter of its journey.”

Goat Group, a Los Angeles, CA-based platform for products from the past, present and future, closed a $195m Series F funding, reaching a valuation of $3.7 billion.

The round was led by Park West Asset Management, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Franklin Templeton, Adage Capital Management and Ulysses Management.

The company intends to use the funds to further invest in growth in its sneaker business as well as its apparel and accessories verticals, and to increase its global footprint of 13 facilities with the addition of Chicago, China, Japan and  Singapore.

Led by Eddy Lu, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Goat Group is a global sneaker marketplace, and has expanded to offer apparel and accessories from select emerging, contemporary and iconic brands. The company offers styles across various time periods on its digital platforms and in its retail locations, while delivering products to over 30 million members across 170 countries.

The platform has 30 million members and 600,000 sellers.

COCOON, the subscription rental service for luxury handbags, has announced the successful completion of a new round of investment, with new investors including global luxury group Kering.

The large number of existing backers in the business include Depop Founder, Simon Beckerman, and Lilly Wollman, a former partner at Generation Investment, bringing the total investment raised to over £2.5 million.

The announcement strengthens COCOON’s position in the UK’s circular fashion space and comes after a period of impressive growth for the company, which has seen a 200% increase in membership since April 2020.

The funding will allow a scaling of the COCOON platform through investment in a broader depth and selection of inventory, headcount, enhanced logistics and further tech development “to improve the member journey and create a frictionless experience for the community.”

COCOON will also deepen its relationships with leading brands to ensure members have access to the greatest selection of luxury bags, and the investment marks a major step in the company’s ambitions to be the first choice circular solution for bag lovers.

Ceanne Fernandes Wong, CEO and Co-Founder of COCOON, said: “From day one we have been selective and considered about our growth partners, so we are thrilled about the backing from such well-respected and informed investors. With Kering’s incredible history, proven track-record of innovation and deep luxury knowledge, it’s fantastic to have investment from such a powerful market leader. We are like-minded in our vision for a sustainable fashion future and our respect for the luxury codes.

“This funding marks a significant step for COCOON as we grow the collection and expand the business to own more of the circular fashion space. The market is calling out for innovative sustainable solutions and can see that our subscription-based model allows for consistent revenue generation through a challenging time. We look forward to developing the COCOON platform to offer our members a superior experience and unrivalled selection of luxury styles.”

Matt Heiman, Chair and Founder of COCOON, commented: “Our ambition for COCOON is vast, and we know this investment round will allow us to increase, improve and refine our offer for existing and new customers. Global investment into the circular economy has now reached over US$6.5 billion as investors back socially sustainable initiatives. They know that the option to do nothing has passed and they understand the opportunity the circular economy presents.”

Grégory Boutté, Kering’s Chief Client and Digital Officer, said: “We have an ambitious innovation strategy at Kering, which aims at identifying potentially disruptive trends and shaping the future of luxury fashion. As part of this strategy, Kering, through its ventures arm, takes minority stakes in services and technologies for the next generation of luxury consumers.

“This investment in COCOON will enable us to monitor new consumption habits and digital practices. We see the subscription model as a very interesting trend in fashion, and by extending the product lifecycle it resonates particularly well with Kering’s circularity ambition.”

Simon Beckerman, Founder of Depop, added: “We are seeing some impressive valuations for circular fashion businesses as investors recognise that sustainability is inextricably linked to the future of the sector. For me the COCOON model has huge market opportunity and revenue generating potential which means it will become one of the most important pillars of ethical luxury shopping.”

Following last week’s news that it was considering an IPO, maternity wear specialist Seraphine has formally confirmed its intention to float.

 

The final offer price of the London-based brand will be determined following a book building process with admission to the London Stock Exchange expected to take place during July.

Seraphine CEO David Williams said now was “the right time for the business to IPO”. “The ITF announcement marks the next stage in our journey towards being a publicly listed company. Listing will give us the opportunity to further the Group’s reach and continue to grow our presence and product offer in the highly resilient and under-competed maternity and nursing wear market. The opportunities for the business are considerable, with plenty of the global market still to go for.”

The offer will comprise new shares to be issued by the company (expected to raise gross proceeds of approximately £61 million) and sale shares expected to be sold by existing shareholders, including the executive directors. The company is targeting a free float of at least 50% of the Company’s issued share capital.

Seraphine was founded by entrepreneur Cécile Reinaud in 2002 offering premium, fashionable but accessibly priced maternity and nursing wear. The brand went on to acquire a high profile celebrity following, including, most notably, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Reinaud took a step back from the business when Williams, who arrived at the business from ASOS in 2017, stepped into the role of CEO in 2019.

At the end of last year the business was acquired in a £50m deal by Mayfair Private Equity Partners, who bought out Reinaud previous backers Bridgepoint Private Equity.

The digital-first business, which also has a number of strategically placed retail stores and some digital and wholesale partners, achieved sales of £34m in the year to 4 April. It also has a strong global footprint with around two-thirds of its FY21 revenue generated outside of the UK.

In addition to the intention to float, the business has also announced that Elvie Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Highfield has been appointed as a non-executive director. Elvie specialises in natural and sustainable baby products and equipment. Prior to joining Elvie, she was CFO at Costa Coffee.

‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) is a decentralised political and social movement protesting against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people. This movement was highlighted with the murder of George Floyd in 2020. However, it seems not to be long-lived as 53 per cent of London’s black tech workers feel that the incident hasn’t inspired enough tech companies to take meaningful action around diversity and inclusion.

This has been concluded by a new research by Tech London Advocates, the independent network of 10,000 tech leaders, experts and investors alongside UKBlackTech and the TLA Black Women in Tech Working Group.

Whilst career progression opportunities, salary and training remain the three most important factors for black tech professionals when deciding on a new job, 61 per cent and 57 per cent of the respondents identified diverse representation at senior level and equal opportunities as two deciding factors for choosing an employer. Most importantly, black tech workers think diversity of executive boards requires urgent focus.

As per the respondents, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are the three companies that demonstrated best practice in terms of creating a diverse workforce and culture. Also, Accenture is the highest ranking British business to follow the best workplace culture and diversity.

On the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, UKTN has listed 10 black women who are inspiring other aspirational women to break the stereotypes that exist in the UK tech world.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the legal sector and given rise to a significant opportunity to capitalise on increased budgetary pressure and interest in cost-saving software tools. A recent report by Thomson Reuters identified that 84% of Law Partners surveyed expected their technology investment to increase and had a greater openness to experiment with different forms of service delivery and operational processes.

London-based Legatics is an intuitive legal transaction management software that simplifies and automates traditional legal processes. The legaltech company just bagged £3 million growth capital investment from Mobeus to develop its platform and further build up on its strong customer acquisition. Also, Joe Krancki will join the board after the completion of this round.

Legatics will use this investment to double the size of its team over the next 18 months and further develop its technology to deliver new features and use cases for a wider range of practice areas within new and existing customers.

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Demand for cutting-edge education technology has soared during the pandemic while education has gone online. Among the companies that have mushroomed in this scenario is London-based AI edtech startup CENTURY Tech, which builds AI technologies to improve education and transform learning in schools worldwide. The company just secured $6.5 million (nearly £4.7 million) in funding.

Two-thirds of the investment in the oversubscribed round came from new investors, including MIT Solve’s philanthropic venture fund Solve Innovation Future. CENTURY Tech will use the investment to scale its AI-powered learning technologies to more schools across the world, following an acceleration in the adoption of technology in education. The company will also ramp up its efforts to expand its backend AI technologies to publishers and other content owners globally.

Priya Lakhani OBE, Founder CEO of CENTURY Tech, said: “The pandemic accelerated the pace of innovation in education – fast-forwarding the use of technology in learning by years in just the space of a few months. Advanced technologies like AI are here to stay – in the classroom, for homework, to aid with marking and planning, and generally to make the processes of teaching and learning far more effective. We are looking forward to being able to help more schools than ever before to realise the power of AI to transform education for the better.”

Susan Nesbitt, Head of the Global Innovators Community at the World Economic Forum, said: “We’re excited to welcome CENTURY Tech to our 2021 cohort of Technology Pioneers. CENTURY Tech and its fellow pioneers are developing technologies that can help society solve some of its most pressing issues. We look forward to their contribution to the World Economic Forum in its commitment to improving the state of the world.”

Casey van der Stricht, Principal of Solve Innovation Future, MIT Solve’s philanthropic venture fund, said: “CENTURY Tech is working to ensure that anyone, anywhere, at any level realises their ultimate learning potential. Priya and her team are rightfully focused on scalability of the AI learning platform model, especially given the increased demand for virtual learning technology—and at Solve, we are equally excited about how this tool can customise learning to support all students.”

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Founded in August 2015, Fresh Car Valeting was started as a project at Heriot-Watt University. Sam Brennan, the founder, saw a huge gap in the premium car valeting and cleaning service market. As a result, he wanted to revolutionise the industry that hasn’t had any innovation in the past few years. According to Brennan, the company is on a mission to change the way people manage their car, and customer satisfaction is central to that. 

In the latest development, Edinburg-based company launched a new app as it embarks on a £1 million investment round. With the app, the UK company aims to transform the way people manage their car care.

Sam Brennan says, “The market of 31M users across the UK is worth more than £1.2B so making it as simple as possible to deal with us is vital. Launching a new app does exactly that. Fresh is expanding rapidly because we provide fantastic customer service across all our franchises and people are sick and tired of sub-standard care.”

Furthermore, the company is planning to add more features to the app over the next twelve months. It includes added car services like tire and oil changes, scratch removal and more.

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