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
Silver Lake Partners is leading the next financing round for SoFi that is expected to add $500 million in new capital for the growing alternative finance company; investors include Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. and several other Asian investors along with DCM Ventures and Third Point; with the completion of the fundraising, SoFi will be valued at approximately $4.3 billion; recent acquisitions and product introductions have helped the firm expand its offerings from student loan refinancings to personal loans, mortgages, wealth management, life insurance and digital banking. Source
Lemonade has raised $34 million in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst; the Series B round brings the total funding to $60 million; the company plans to use the funding for state expansion with California as its next target. Source
Data from KPMG's Q4 2016 The Pulse of Fintech report showed US fintech funding decreasing to $12.8 billion in 2016, down from $27 billion in 2015; deal flow was also lower with 489 deals in 2016, a decrease from 615 deals in 2015; globally, funding was lower at $25 billion versus $47 billion in 2015. Source
Boutique investment bank GP Bullhound has published a report on the fintech market identifying 39 global fintech unicorns valued at $1 billion or more and showing global venture capital investment into fintech at $13.6 billion in 2016; in its report the firm also identities a watch a list of 17 companies it expects to exceed $1 billion based on their growth, business models and market opportunity; numerous marketplace lenders are represented on the list including LendInvest, Prodigy Finance, ID Finance, Ebury and Kreditech. 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
Andy Stewart, managing partner at Motive Partners, says fintechs are overvalued in the current market environment; speaking at the UK International Fintech event in London, Stewart says the over valuations are a result of success in the market and confidence from venture capital investors; Stewart cautions investors to watch for buzzwords including machine learning or blockchain that can enhance the value proposition of the solution but may be overvaluing a company's value overall; Stewart's Motive Partners launched in 2017 and is seeking to raise $1 billion. 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
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
Errol Damelin has been steadily growing his presence in London's fintech sector; founder of Wonga, Damelin's expertise and mentorship has helped over 200 employees currently working in London's fintech scene; his company Wonga is a case study for online payday lending in Europe and despite his exit from the company in 2014, Damelin has gone on to successfully invest and mentor a wide range of startup businesses in London. Source