TrustPilot, a Denmark multi-language online merchant review platform, has raised 5.5 million British pounds ($6.9 million); platform allows for communication between merchants and consumers; funding was provided by Draper Esprit which now doubles its equity stake in the company to 11 million British pounds ($13.71 million). Source
PitchIt @ LendIt Europe is one of the industry's most popular startup competitions providing eight finalists with unparalleled access to industry expertise and funding opportunities as well as invaluable exposure, branding and more at the event; hosted in partnership with Startupbootcamp, the event also offers fast-track status to the finalist round for Startupbootcamp Fintech Accelerator as one of its prizes; interested startup companies must submit their application by September 4 and finalists will be announced on September 10; more details about the competition can be found here. Source
SBI Group, owner of SoftBank is investing into the mobile-first bank; SBI Group will also get a seat on Moven's board and the companies plan to form a joint venture in Japan; Moven is also splitting its business in two; one side is the software provider that powers digital banking software and the other is the neobank, MovenBank; Moven also announced that it is in the process of purchasing a US bank. Source
Stuart Sopp, the CEO and Founder of Current, is not your typical digital bank CEO. He is an underappreciated visionary as you will hear in this podcast.
Habito has raised its Series B funding round, led by Atomico; existing investors Ribbit Capital, Mosaic Ventures and Revolutionary (Ad)Ventures also participated; total funding is now EUR27 million ($35.14 million) for the London based company; the company brings the mortgage process online, describing itself as a digital mortgage broker; one of their biggest competitors is Trussle; funds will be used to integrate with major retail banks and high street lenders; Habito also plans to expand offerings to other parts of the mortgage process including home and life insurance. Source
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While P2P lending platforms have taken a significant amount of lending from banks since the financial crisis, data from the Financial Times suggests that growth could be slowing; an Ernst & Young survey shows only 7% of 1,100 people using P2P lending platforms for borrowing and a separate survey from Blumberg Capital says only 4% of 1,050 British adults have used the platforms in the past 12 months, signaling less awareness and demand; banks have also increased investment in fintech regaining some market share; overall, the Financial Times reports that the market in the UK is changing with regulations supporting P2P lenders but less demand and market risks slowing growth. Source
Parliament and the Council agreed to track crypto transfers continuously and block suspicious transactions in a provisional agreement.