Bitfinex, a state-of-the-art digital token trading platform, has launched paper trading for the Honey Framework, enabling users to test drive automated trading strategies in a simulated environment without putting real funds at risk.

Bitfinex’s launch of paper trading on the Honey Framework serves to further democratise access to sophisticated algorithmic trading tools and data that has historically been the exclusive preserve of traders at investment funds.

Users can use the Honey Framework to create custom order types or event-driven automated trading strategies in their paper trading sub-accounts. The framework, which integrates natively into the Bitfinex trading platform, also enables users to backtest market data to better inform their algorithmic trading strategies.

“We believe in the democratisation of finance and technology,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex. “The launch of paper trading on the Honey Framework forms part of our commitment to making powerful trading tools more accessible to the wider community. This will enable our growing customer base to explore highly sophisticated algorithmic trading strategies.”

Traders on Bitfinex are deploying algorithms on the Honey Framework to exploit rapid price fluctuations in bitcoin, Ethereum, and other leading cryptocurrencies. Recently, Bitfinex has seen visitors to the Honey Framework more than triple, further underlying the growing interest in algorithmic trading. These traders are also exchanging ideas and strategies on Bitfinex Pulse, a social network tailored to meet the needs of professional crypto traders.

Exabel, the simple-to-use Al, analytics and data platform for investment teams, announced it has closed a fourth seed investment round from investor AWC (formerly AwilhelmsenCapital Holdings), bringing its total capital raised to over $21M. The company also announced today the launch of the new "Exabel Insights Platform" product for alternative datavendors.

"We're delighted to support Exabel's next phase of growth and we believe strongly in their potential to lead the emerging Alternative Data Insights category." said Arve Ree, CEO AWC.

AWC is an active investor with a flexible investment mandate, investing in both listed and private     companies. As part of this round AWC will make a direct investment of $6M (MNOK 50) and provide a further $3M (MNOK 25), in a flexible debt facility at the company's option.

"2020 was a great year for Exabel as we grew our customer base by 5X, built and launched our first commercial partnerships and proved the value of ourplatform to investment teams and Alternative Data vendors alike. We are excited to welcome AWC onboard as we launch the Exabel Insights Platform, revolutionisingthe way Alternative Data vendors bring valuable insight from their datasets to the market" commented Neil Chapman, Exabel CEO.

The investment will underpin the company's plans for significant headcount growth in London and New York, and support the marketing, at scale, of the Exabel Insights Platform to the growing addressable market of over 1000 alternative data vendors globally.

The Exabel Insights Platform supports a powerful value-added insights creation, presentation and monitoring layer and is powered by Exabel's market leading Al analytics, financial modelling and data science toolset. Data vendors use the platform to first discover valuable insights in their datasets, then demonstrate that value to prospective customers in easy-to-create report cards and finally deliver a new Insights product which is attractive to a broad audience of financial buyers. In summary, vendors benefit by curating and distributing easy to consume investable insights in addition to their raw data offerings. Investment teams benefit by getting straight to the insights without the expensiveand time consuming process of extracting them from raw data inhouse.

Digiterre, a software and data engineering consultancy, today announced that it has partnered with Juniper Place, an investor intelligence, advisory and placement services provider, to build Juniper Place’s new intelligence platform for alternative asset raising.

Digiterre provided software and data engineering services for the new platform which includes functionality to generate investor intelligence data for the family office investor segment requested by leading global asset managers. Juniper Place was able to use this domain expertise to contribute to the recent co-branded BlackRock Global Family Office Survey.

Ian Murrin, CEO and Founder, Digiterre, said: “We are delighted to work with Juniper Place to help build an investor intelligence platform, within a very tight time scale, that enables a faster, leaner and more effective alternative asset raising process. Successful digital engagement in the alternative investment sector is powered by advanced data transformation services. We have delivered a solution that ensures data is accurate and granular, and easy to digest and analyse, and therefore can reliably inform clear, actionable insights.”

Paul Harvey, CEO, Juniper Place, said: “Digiterre’s specialist data and software capabilities have helped us transform alternative asset raising from a manual, speculative practice to a highly targeted, precise process that enables managers to continuously surface investor intelligence and better understand the requirements of inundated investors. The new platform has enabled us to pioneer change in alternative asset raising and accelerate our business growth, a significant component of which is driven by technology innovation and development.”

The platform is gaining wide adoption in the alternative investment community from family offices to investment managers in a diverse range of funds and strategies from insurance-linked securities (ILS) to infrastructure.

Digiterre previously provided software and data engineering services to build the previous iteration of Juniper Place’s platform, the leading alternative asset investor intelligence platform in the market.

Vacuumlabs, the global provider of full-stack fintech solutions, today announced a global partnership with Thought Machine, the cloud native core banking technology company, following the two firms’ successful cooperation in Asia.

Vacuumlabs recently completed the first-ever installation in Asia of Thought Machine’s core banking engine Vault. This significant project has enabled a new virtual bank to launch in Hong Kong – along with Asia’s first numberless payment card. The bank went from initial licensing to market deployment in just 18 months.

Thought Machine’s technology and Vacuumlabs’ expertise provided this new bank with unparalleled security, scalability, flexibility and availability. The Vacuumlabs team of specialist engineers worked both remotely and on-site throughout the build to lead the installation. This highly successful collaboration evolved into forging a global strategic partnership.

Steve Hoy, Partnerships Director of Thought Machine explains why Vacuumlabs was the first-choice partner for this ambitious and successful endeavor: “Vacuumlabs has the specialist skillsets, technical expertise, and can-do attitude which enabled the client to embrace our cloud native core banking technology – the collaboration between our two companies was a key factor for the overall success of the project.”

Paul Kenny, Chief Growth Officer comments: “Thought Machine’s cloud native core banking platform, Vault, is a proven gamechanger for banks around the world. This partnership is the logical step forward for our two companies which share a vision of engineering excellence and transforming industries with modern, pioneering technology. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Thought Machine in our future client implementations.”

Based on the first implementation of Thought Machine in Asia, Vacuumlabs aims to strengthen its presence in the APAC region and broaden its services to existing and new clients in Asia with the launch of new regional headquarters in Hong Kong. 

Vacuumlabs has a well-established track record in supporting those companies and brands that accelerate change in global financial services and make up this ecosystem. It has recently partnered on developing the 2030 Carbon Impact Calculator for Doconomy, and in supporting changemakers by building Daylight, the USA’s first LGBT+ digital banking platform.

Vacuumlabs and Thought Machine also launched the report Building a digital bank in August 2020, providing practical insights on how to future-proof any bank with modern cloud native technology. This report can be downloaded here.

ING will propose to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday 26 April 2021 to appoint Lodewijk Hijmans van den Bergh to the Supervisory Board.

Lodewijk Hijmans van den Bergh (Dutch, 1963) was a partner at the law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek from 2016 until December 2020. He also served at the firm as a partner and lawyer from 1988-2009 in Amsterdam, The Hague and London. From 2009-2015 Lodewijk Hijmans van den Bergh served as chief corporate governance counsel and member of the Executive Board of Royal Ahold. He currently serves as chairman of the Supervisory Board of BE Semiconductor Industries, non-executive chairman of the Supervisory Board of Fortino Capital Partners and as vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board of HAL Holding. He holds a master degree in Law from Utrecht University. 

Upon decision by the AGM, the appointment of Lodewijk Hijmans van den Bergh will be effective as of the end of the AGM on 26 April 2021. The proposed appointment has been approved by the European Central Bank.

It will also be proposed to the AGM to reappoint Margarete Haase and Hans Wijers for a next term of four years as members of the Supervisory Board. They both were first appointed in 2017. After completing his four year term since appointment in 2017, Jan Peter Balkenende will on his request retire from the Supervisory Board at the end of the AGM 2021 to focus on other future activities.

Hans Wijers, chairman of the ING Supervisory Board said: “We regret but respect Jan Peter’s decision not to seek reappointment. His national and international experience and network were of great benefit to us over the past years. On behalf of the Supervisory Board I want to thank Jan Peter for his valuable contributions to ING.”

The full details of all AGM proposals are included in the proxy materials for ING’s 2021 AGM to be held on 26 April 2021. The proxy materials, including the agenda for the AGM, will be made available at www.ing.com/agm on 12 March 2021.

ClickandCollection.com – an Irish start-up which provides small businesses with tools to sell online – has today announced a partnership with Visa to help more independent businesses take online orders and continue serving their communities.

Founded in April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, ClickandCollection.com enables businesses to set up an online storefront in a matter of minutes, with or without an existing website. In fact, in the nine months since launch, ClickandCollection.com has helped over 250 Irish businesses get online, driving almost EUR 6 million in sales to a range of companies, from ice cream parlours to fine dining restaurants.

Thanks to support from Visa, ClickandCollection.com will:

• Waive the first three months of ‘Starter Subscription’ fees for the first 500 small businesses who join the ClickandCollection.com service as first-time customers*, enabling those small businesses to join the platform and start selling online.
• Provide a dedicated support line for businesses once they’ve signed up to ClickandCollection.com, to help sustain their businesses during this difficult time.

Throughout the pandemic, communities across Ireland have continued to show support for their local businesses – not only thinking about how they are buying but where they’re buying from. But as restrictions for brick and mortar stores continue, the ability to serve customers online remains a necessity. For some small businesses however, getting set up to trade online can be a costly and time-consuming process – in fact, recent Visa research found 26% of small business owners surveyed said the biggest challenge facing their business was technological barriers[1]. ClickandCollection.com are helping small businesses with this challenge, levelling the playing field and making it easier for them to continue serving their customers.

Mark Hooper, Co-Founder of ClickandCollection.com said: “We are delighted to be working with Visa to bring this opportunity to more local businesses and helping them thrive during this challenging time. There is a real and growing sense of community in Ireland where people want to support their local businesses. Now, thanks to ClickandColleaction.com, they can.”

Dominic White, Acting Country Manager, Ireland, Visa said: “Small businesses are the backbone of the Irish economy, and their ability to continue serving their communities is crucial to the economic recovery. We’re proud to be working with ClickandCollection.com to give small businesses the tools and resources they need to continue supporting their local communities through the current situation, and beyond.”

Visa’s ongoing commitment to supporting small businesses

This partnership forms part of Visa’s long-term commitment to champion small businesses. Last week, with more than 100 partners across Europe, Visa announced that more than two million small businesses across the region have received support since the launch of the commitment initiative in summer 2020. The announcement marks a major milestone in Visa’s commitment to help eight million small and medium sized businesses in Europe to get online, adapt and future-proof their business.

To sign up to ClickandCollection.com and see if your business is eligible to receive a three months’ free subscription, click here.

MYPINPAD, a leader in PCI certified payments software solutions together with Hong Kong’s leading payment terminal manufacturer and payment solution provider, SPECTRA Technologies, today announced the launch of a software-based contactless payments solution for smart devices that will revolutionise the customer experience for small and micro merchants in Hong Kong. 

SPECTRA Technologies, a technology partner with MYPINPAD, has developed SoePay, a ubiquitous SoftPOS solution for accepting contactless Visa and Mastercard card payments on any Android smartphone. SoePay is a mobile payment solution that eliminates POS rental and provides an affordable and secure way for small and micro merchants to accept card payments. 

This is a significant step in mobile payment acceptance for Hong Kong. By transforming mobile devices into payment terminals, SoePay enables merchants to securely accept payments from cards and mobile devices in many situations where cash is needed, such as at events, markets and outdoor stalls.

Established in 1993, SPECTRA Technologies provides payment terminals and aftersales services with customers including KFC, 7 Eleven, H&M, and Shangri La Hotels and Restaurants. It exports products and holds partnerships in more than 65 countries and is a key promoter in Asia for cash to e-payment. 

The news of the first transaction comes following the October 2020 announcement of the Hong Kong government’s subsidy scheme to promote contactless payment in public markets under the third round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, which the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department opened for applications. The scheme was created to encourage the use of contactless payments to improve public hygiene and reduce virus transmission risk in street markets.

Head of Asia Pacific at MYPINPAD, Morten Hofstad commented: “MYPINPAD’s contactless payment software is the first to be globally certified by PCI to accept contactless payments on smart devices without requiring additional hardware. With Hong Kong so prominent in Asia for contactless payments, we are privileged to work with such a tech savvy company, like SPECTRA Technologies, to deploy their solution and increase the reach of contactless payments in the country. This is just the start of MYPINPAD’s payments software presence in APAC as we continue to deploy solutions elsewhere in the region over the coming months. We very much look forward to growing our partnership with SPECTRA Technologies in developing secure payments and enhancing the customer experience.”

Damien Chow, Director of Digital Payment, Spectra Technologies: “SoftPOS is a key strategic initiative of SPECTRA Technologies to make payment acceptance safe, affordable, frictionless and hassle-free for our customers. We’re proud to be the first in Hong Kong to launch a SoftPOS solution that supports Visa and Mastercard contactless payment.  We look forward to further evolution of SoePay and accelerating contactless adoption in Hong Kong and Asia with MYPINPAD.”

Helena Chen, Managing Director, Hong Kong and Macau, Mastercard: “Mastercard is thrilled to join forces with MYPINPAD and SPECTRA to further expand the Mastercard Tap on Phone acceptance network with the launch of the new SoePay solution, which provides safe, fast and secure contactless payments that meets consumers’ everyday needs. The Mastercard Sonic feature is also applied to SoePay, which accompanies payments with a sound that indicates cardholders’ successfully made payment. The new partnership is in line with Mastercard’s ongoing commitment to promote contactless payment across the city and to support local SMEs’ future development through digitalization.”

Maaike Steinebach, General Manager, Visa Hong Kong and Macau: “Visa is excited to partner with MYPINPAD and SPECTRA to enable off-the-shelf ‘tap-to-phone’ mobile devices to accept contactless payments without additional hardware in Hong Kong. More than seven in ten of all face-to-face Visa transactions are contactless. This new low-cost and simple solution will help micro, small and medium-sized businesses stay competitive on their digital transformation journeys.” 

Antler is delighted to welcome Orson Stadler as a Partner who will be co-heading its London operation. Stadler formerly held the position of Senior Principal at Mustard Seed as well as being one of the first team members of the mpact venture capital fund.

Stadler began his career at global asset manager BlackRock, conceptualising and implementing global business and product strategy. He later joined as one of the first employees at  Mustard Seed, a leading European early-stage impact venture capital fund.

During his time at Mustard Seed, Orson was involved in all aspects of setting up the fund, including fundraising and deployment strategy, before leading investments in twelve notable European startups across six locations. These included co-investments with funds such as Seedcamp, SpeedInvest, InVenture, Octopus Ventures amongst others.

In his position as Partner, Stadler is keen to further Antler’s vision of aiming to fundamentally improve the world by providing world-class support to entrepreneurs right from the beginning of their journeys. 

Orson Stadler comments, "The London and European early-stage eco-systems are at a hugely exciting inflection point, with more top-quality investors and great companies being built than ever before. However, the support available to entrepreneurs at the start of their journeys remains under professionalised and non-transparent. It is Antler's mission to provide world-class entrepreneurs access to all the tools necessary from community, to capital, to knowledge to build transformational businesses, and it is my great privilege to be joining my incredibly intelligent, driven and ambitious colleagues in continuing this journey.”

Antler is a global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow. The firm is present in six continents including major entrepreneurial hubs: London, New York, Singapore and Sydney.

Founded in Singapore in 2017, Antler is on a mission to fundamentally improve the world by enabling and investing in the world's most exceptional people building the defining companies of tomorrow. Antler has already invested in and helped build over 250 companies since launch. Of these companies, over 40% have at least one female co-founder, and the founders represent 60 nationalities.

Antler enables exceptional people to build impactful technology startups by building complementary co-founder teams, supporting the teams with deep business model validation and by providing a global platform for scaling their startups.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Finastra have committed to a strategic initiative to tackle the growing trade finance gap. Both organizations are orchestrating an ecosystem and exploring the development of a financing marketplace that will provide micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with access to a broader set of alternative finance resources in order to help keep the global economy moving forward.

The ICC TRADECOMM™ marketplace, powered by Finastra, will reduce trade finance barriers for SMEs and enable all parties to benefit from improvements in matching supply and demand.

There is a large and growing trade finance gap representing a mismatch between demand for and supply of trade financing, estimated at $1.5T pre-COVID-19 and potentially reaching $2.5T by 2025. Coupled with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, SMEs desperately need short-term liquidity and access to international trade to survive the ongoing economic crisis. Alternative financing options will be required to address this gap and provide SMEs with the immediate capital required to carry out cross-border transactions. ICC TRADECOMM will allow investors to finance trade transactions against title documents and equip SMEs with a broader set of solutions to mitigate perceived risk, the burden of compliance, and enhance access to finance.

ICC Secretary General, John W.H. Denton AO said: “If SMEs are going to survive the ongoing economic crisis, they need tools and solutions that will enable them to trade now. Only then will many micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises be able to seize new business opportunities and build back their activity post-pandemic. We are extremely pleased to partner with Finastra on ICC TRADECOMM, one of the solutions that ICC will unveil as part of its commitment to connect investors and SMEs looking for short-term liquidity for their international trade operations.”

In the coming months, ICC and Finastra plan a series of pilots across select markets before launching the platform globally. During the initial launch period, bank and non-bank financers will be given the opportunity to transact on invoices from SME suppliers from select marketplaces. Subsequent versions of ICC TRADECOMM may include other trade documents, such as letters of credit, bills of lading, and other bank-syndicated products, in a move towards creating seamless documentary flow.

Simon Paris, CEO at Finastra said: “Access to, and availability of, financing for SMEs​ continues to be a significant challenge and this is only worsening as the pandemic continues. These organizations make up around 90% of the world’s businesses and are the lifeblood of their communities. We have an obligation to redefine finance for good, to help reduce this gap and drive global economic equality. Our plans with ICC to establish and orchestrate this ecosystem are designed to do exactly this and keep trade moving. Our shared ambition is to facilitate millions of dollars in trade financing for SMEs. We are at the beginning of an exciting journey together, a journey towards reducing friction in trade and providing open finance for all.”

Pascal Lamy, President of the Paris Peace Forum and Former Director-General, World Trade Organization said: "For many SMEs, access to trade finance is access to trade. As the trade finance gap continues to grow, especially amidst the pandemic, so too do obstacles to trade, export growth and economic prosperity. Developing trade finance is as important as reducing obstacles to trade. This partnership between ICC and Finastra is a step in the right direction.”

ICC TRADECOMM will be one solution offered by ICC TradeNow, a new campaign to accelerate the provision of trade finance to SMEs. The campaign will build upon ICC’s high-level advocacy to regulators, standard-setting reputation, and trade finance research.