Diagram has raised $25 million (USD$19.13 million) for a new fintech venture capital fund that will be led by Paul Desmarais III; Paul Desmarais is part of Quebec's Desmarais family which has built a $7 billion (USD$5.36 billion) fortune through investment in the insurance business; the new fund's initial fundraising effort has come from Portag3 Ventures LP and over 50 individual angel investors; the fund will invest in a variety of Canadian fintech companies. Source
Core Innovation Capital has raised approximately $71.5 million for a second venture capital fund; the fundraising round included 17 investors; the company invests in fintech companies focused on mobile and efficient financial products; it has invested in Mirador, Nova, Banking Up, Trim, NerdWallet, CoverWallet, Oportun and Ripple. Source
Most well-known for his music career, Jay Z has also been investing in startups since 2012; the rapper has now reported he will launch a venture capital firm with partner Jay Brown of Roc Nation; Sherpa Capital will also help to launch the fund which will focus on seed-stage companies. Source
CB Insights reports on first quarter 2017 venture capital deals in their "MoneyTree Report" published in collaboration with PwC; globally, venture capitalists invested $27.1 billion in the first quarter with 2,228 deals; deals and investments increased from the fourth quarter of 2016 and were below the first quarter of 2016. Source
According to a new research report by KPMG and CB Insights, the number of deals and total value of venture capital investment dropped in Q3 to $2.9 billion down from $9.4 billion in Q2; the report points out that the significant drop was due in large part to a $4.5 billion investment to Alipay owner Ant Financial in Q2; while Asia investment remains strong, UK investment was hurt due to Brexit uncertainty and the US market saw a decline due in large part to the presidential election; overall investment trends remain positive as the amount invested for 2016 is on track to surpass 2015. Source
This year's list is focused on fintech's most powerful dealmakers from the past year, with extra emphasis on partnerships that act not just as funders but also strategic advisors; the fintech sector in particular has taken the term partnership to a new level as these startups need the investment and advisory relationship more than other sectors; Vanessa Colella of Citi Ventures explains, "We are beginning to observe much more of a push toward collaboration - a shift from complete independence to an interest in building tools with established players that happened really quickly in this sector." Source
Nutmeg has received 12 million British pounds ($14.74 million) in capital from investor Taipei Fubon Bank; the 12 million British pound fundraise follows a Series C fundraising round in November led by Convoy Global Holdings; the funding will help to support the firm's rapid growth; assets under management for its robo advisor service have been increasing significantly and are now at approximately 600 million British pounds ($736.85 million); success has been driven by demand for its discretionary investment management service which also offers low fees. Source
A new report by PitchBook details how $11.4 billion of private investment has flowed into digital wealth management companies since 2010; investment has occurred in more than 400 deals, with venture capital investment leading the way followed by private equity; the report explains some of the main reasons for this trend as active managers failed their clients while fees have continued to rise; clients are looking for a cheaper more predictable way to manage their wealth; one of the main questions going forward is will incumbents purchase, partner or build their own solutions. Source
CB Insights reports on the venture capital industries top investors in unicorn exits; Sequoia Capital ranks first on the list of investors investing in unicorn startups with private market exits during 2009 to March 2017; Sequoia Capital has invested in 18 companies with unicorn exits including fintech company Square Capital. Source
In partnership with The New York Times, CB Insights reports on the top 100 venture capitalists; top on the list is Bill Gurley from Benchmark; notable increases from 2016 include Founders Fund's Brian Singerman who moved to fifth and Lightspeed Venture Partners' Ravi Mhatre who is ranked sixth. Source