Fiona Davies, Head of Gaming at IDVerse, added, “This partnership enables Playtech operators to utilise a cutting-edge ID verification (IDV) solution that eliminates the need for manual authentication of ID documents worldwide. This advancement not only streamlines operational processes but also enhances onboarding speed significantly. With the implementation of IDVerse’s technology,  IDVerse's solution automates verification procedures entirely, addressing the common challenge of slow and costly manual document reviews, frequently encountered by operators using older solutions.

Davies continued, ”Our document ID coverage is the most robust on the market today due to the proprietary way in which our neural networks review identity documents. This allows customers to scale into growing markets with one IDV supplier, facilitating flexibility to onboard players wherever they are and whenever they want to play.”

BMLL, the leading, independent provider of harmonised, historical Level 3 data and analytics across global equity and futures markets, today announced that the company has secured investment from Snowflake Ventures and entered into a partnership with Snowflake to deliver granular data and analytics to market participants globally. The news follows the $26m Series B investment from Nasdaq Ventures, FactSet and IQ Capital in Q4 2022.

The Snowflake partnership delivers against the BMLL mission to broaden access to its granular order book data and analytics on a global scale. Further, it is revolutionising the way market participants can access and use Level 3 data: stored, curated and harmonised by BMLL, and delivered globally via the Snowflake Marketplace. The partnership removes the need for costly, in-house storage and data engineering while accelerating time to insights, making capabilities that were once the preserve of the most sophisticated quantitative firms available to the wider market.

Snowflake’s increasing number of capital market clients are now able to access BMLL data and analytics covering 75+ venues for equities, futures and ETFs via the growing Snowflake Marketplace and within their private clouds. This allows capital market clients to combine their private trading data securely with BMLL’s curated market data to create enhanced, augmented and new proprietary data sets; gain actionable insights on market behaviour; and significantly enhance their decision-making analysis.

Key to democratising access to Level 3 data, is to give market participants choices in how they access this data. Making BMLL data available via the Snowflake Marketplace enables seamless data access at scale in addition to the currently available API and FTP options.

FactSet was the first to access BMLL’s granular order book history and analytics via Snowflake to address the needs of clients across a wide range of use cases, including Quant Research, Back Testing, Best Execution, Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA), Compliance, Surveillance and Risk.  The joint BMLL FactSet historical product raises the bar on the typical quality available in the historical data market space.
 

Paul Humphrey, CEO of BMLL, said: “We are very excited to have secured strategic investment from Snowflake Ventures. They are backing, and are aligned with, our mission to democratise access to high-quality, large-scale historical data because BMLL’s data and analytics is one of the best use-cases for large-scale, financial market data in the cloud. Financial market players, including Snowflake’s customers, do not need to dedicate time and precious resources to engineer these large unstructured data sets to make them usable, and store unusable data in the cloud, over and over again. The cost and collective inefficiency of every organisation doing this themselves, is simply eye watering. We make our vast warehouse of curated Level 3 data and analytics readily available to the market and ultimately ensure that everyone can optimise their data capabilities. Clients differentiate themselves by what they do with this data, not by owning it.”

“At a time when the demand for data engineering and quant resources is at an all-time high and financial institutions are looking to optimise their operating costs and ‘run-the-bank’ budgets, it is no surprise that firms are looking to remove the cost of storing vast quantities of unusable historic content on-premise from their balance sheets. Increasingly, we are witnessing a considerable shift away from firms investing millions of dollars on quant resources to engineer this data to make it usable when high quality, curated and maintained historic data and best-in-class analytics are available for all to use.”

The partnership between BMLL and Snowflake comes at a time of significant developments in the cloud provider landscape. The industry is engaged in a battle for the cloud, with household names increasingly collaborating with large financial institutions in order to secure market share. “What will ultimately win in the cloud is content.  Just like Netflix and others had to evolve to produce their own content, rather than simply distribute other companies’ movies, cloud companies will need to differentiate themselves with the content they carry and make available to their community of users.  Snowflake is on the front foot in this race, which is why we are delighted to be partnering with them,” added Humphrey.

Kieran Kennedy, Head of Marketplace at Snowflake, said: “As we continue to increase our footprint and use cases within financial services, we want to align ourselves with the best-in-class content providers.  BMLL has a great track record and proven traction in serving some of the world’s largest financial institutions, regulators and academics, all seeking to gain a deeper understanding of market shifts, liquidity dynamics and alpha generation. We’re excited to announce both our investment in and partnership with BMLL Technologies and to welcome BMLL to Snowflake Marketplace.

Harsha Kapre, Snowflake Ventures,  “Our partnership with BMLL is an excellent example of a big data, cloud use-case for financial markets. By making BMLL’s data and analytics available via the Snowflake Marketplace we deliver on increasing customer demand for core analytics and analytical workflows.  By partnering with the best content providers like BMLL, we empower firms to access the best, large-scale content without the increasingly unnecessary headache of on-premise storage and costly data movement while enabling them to focus resources on value-added initiatives.” 

Snowflake enables every organisation to mobilise its data, unite siloed data, discover and securely share data and power data applications. Snowflake’s mission is to help organisations have seamless access to explore, share, and unlock the true value of their data, on a global scale. 

Snowflake Marketplace allows customers to securely acquire and access third-party data sets, tools and applications, and complementary data services—all without having to move or copy data. At the same time, Snowflake Data Cloud enables an organisation’s most critical workloads, including seamless data collaboration within an organisation, across its business units, with its ecosystem of partners, suppliers, and customers.

Emata - the agricultural finance solution for East African farmers - announces its successful completion of a $2.4 million seed fundraise, comprising $800,000 in equity and $1.6 million in on-lending capital.

The fundraise was backed by African Renaissance Partners - the VC firm investing in entrepreneurs in East Africa and the Horn of Africa; Norrsken Accelerator - an investment arm of Europe’s largest impact tech ecosystem; Zephyr Acorn - an investor in early-stage technology businesses in East Africa; renowned Swedish angel investor Marcus Boström; and global venture philanthropy firm - the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.

Proceeds will be used to expand Emata’s agri-loan offering across East Africa - both within its debut market of Uganda, and via imminent international expansion - which is most likely to be Tanzania. It will focus on scaling its core markets - dairy and coffee. A multi-crop company from inception, Emata’s other operations are oilseeds and maize, whilst expansion is also anticipated into potatoes.

As East Africa rapidly digitizes, Emata’s business model addresses East Africa’s lack of agricultural financing - by providing automated loans to farmers. This reduces cost and enables lending to smallholders at rates 5x more affordable than the informal loans they have often relied on to date. Instant lending and data-based decisions also benefits all farmers, without the need for collateral.

Emata has digitized the full lending process and is embedded in the agricultural value chain - via its partnerships with cooperatives and farmer-based organizations - which aids rapid scaling. Such partnerships also de-risk Emata’s business model, as they provide access to a direct source of repayment - as loan repayments are deducted by Emata’s partners on its behalf. By solving the financing challenge, Emata helps farmers raise their productivity, increase income and food production.

In 2022, Emata grew 7x year-on-year, is now live with 50 agricultural partners - reaching over 40,000 individual farmers - and has disbursed $1 million of loans.

Emata’s credentials have already attracted global attention. The multiple award-winning company won the coveted “Best Newcomer / Best New Startup” at the 2023 Global Startup Awards - beating 80,000 other start-up entrants from around the world and was named on Yale Africa Startup Review’s list of 30 startups to watch in 2023.

Bram van den Bosch, Founder & CEO of Emata, said:

“We are thrilled to complete our $2.4 million seed fund raise, backed by high-profile, impact-oriented investors who recognize the huge potential of digital agri-loans in East Africa, and beyond. Emata dares farmers to dream big and eliminates traditional obstacles that have made agricultural finance unavailable for the vast majority. Our solution turns a lifelong struggle into a five minute process, and is already tangibly impacting thousands of East African farmers.”

The need for agricultural finance in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at $240 billion by consultancy firm Dahlberg, with the value of Emata’s target markets in East Africa being $13 billion.

Other awards won by Emata include those from ‘CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa’ and ‘Fintech Abu Dhabi: The Search in Africa’. They are alumni of the Stockholm-based Norrsken Impact Accelerator and Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play Tech Center Accelerator.

Magdi A. Amin, Managing Partner at African Renaissance Partners, commented:

“We are delighted to back Emata - the digital and affordable solution for East African farmers. Our portfolio is geared to high-growth companies that use technology to solve real problems that Africans face every day. Emata is a perfect fit for us: growing rapidly, with many competitive differentiators, digital strategy at its core, and materially impactful. The company has a great future ahead and we look forward to working closely with its management team.”

Kanini Mutooni, Managing Director at Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, commented:

‘’Emata is one of those rare early-stage companies that has a business model where impact is seamlessly baked in; more loans to farmers means increased financial inclusion for farmers who would never have had access to formal credit. This investment represents the ultimate sweet spot for DRK and we are delighted to welcome Emata into our Africa portfolio.’’

Alex Bakir, General Partner at Norrsken Accelerator, commented:

"Norrsken Accelerator invested in Emata because we believe their team and model places them in the top 1% of impact companies, globally. We're excited to support the team on the next leg of their impact journey."

Mike Mbari, Investment Principal at Zephyr Acorn, commented:

“We are excited about this partnership with Emata. With agriculture contributing 25% to East Africa’s economy and employing over 70% of the population, improving access to affordable and flexible financial services such as credit facilities is poised to spur economic growth and improve livelihoods. Emata fits well within Zephyr Acorn’s thesis of investing in promising and impactful high-growth start-ups that are utilizing technology to bring vital services to the underserved markets in East Africa.”

Carputty the fintech company modernizing auto financing and ownership, announced today the next evolution of its platform. Having set out to re-engineer auto financing and ownership, Carputty has developed AI solutions that deliver a better consumer experience and more objective financing decisions. With recent updates to its platform, the Company has announced that up to one-third of applications from prospective members are now AI-decisioned.

Carputty's platform heralds a new era of faster, smarter, and fairer data-based decisions, setting a higher standard in the automotive finance industry. With traditional auto lending often involving subjective processes and lacking transparency, there is a potential for personal bias and manipulation, leading to undesirable outcomes like bad loans that negatively impact both recipients and capital markets. With AI-powered underwriting, the platform leverages direct bank data via Plaid to accurately assess each applicant's financial situation and ability to repay. This data-driven approach alleviates the potential for subjective judgment and human bias.

"Carputty's groundbreaking AI-driven solution marks a milestone in the auto finance industry,” said Patrick Bayliss, co-founder and CEO at Carputty. “By harnessing the power of AI, we provide an enhanced user experience and make finance decisions based solely on objective data, free from any influence of subjectivity, misaligned incentives, or biases. Our focus remains resolutely on delivering unparalleled value for our customers and partners."

Key Features:

• AI-based Application Review & Underwriting: Carputty's platform utilizes AI algorithms to anonymously and securely review and evaluate all bank deposits and withdrawals to swiftly determine critical metrics such as Debt-to-Income ratios. The platform's use of open banking standards fosters a more reliable view of existing debts, free from memory-based errors or biases, and ensures a level playing field for all income types including "non-traditional" earnings for entrepreneurs and contractors.
• V³ Valuation™ System: Carputty has leveraged AI and industry-available data to create the V³ Valuation System, a more useful approach to vehicle valuation for car owners. Unlike conventional valuation calculators, V³ goes beyond basic assessments to determine historical, current and projected future values for almost any vehicle. By providing consumers with this 3-dimensional view of vehicle values, V³ empowers users to objectively compare vehicles’ value over time, and easily identify optimal buying or selling opportunities throughout their vehicles’ lifecycles.

Carputty's integration of AI and advanced technologies, including the recent addition of Plaid IDV, goes beyond consumer benefits, presenting a solid business proposition. By ensuring more objective and transparent loan decisions, Carputty offers capital markets a bolstered assurance in the predictability of repayments and overall financial stability of its loans.

Joshua Tatum, the co-founder and Chief Product Officer, emphasized, "At Carputty, our vision encompasses more than just enhancing the consumer experience. We're dedicated to forging a platform that is mutually beneficial. By investing in AI and aligning with premier partners like Plaid, we're not only streamlining processes but also bolstering trust and efficiency for car dealers, capital markets, and everyone else involved in automotive sales. Our platform is designed with adaptability in mind, ensuring our innovations are effortlessly assimilated by our partners, driving holistic industry advancement.”

Carputty's AI integrations and enhanced fraud protection are another milestone in the company's ongoing commitment to security, innovation, and customer-centric solutions. By taking decisive action against financial fraud and identity theft, Carputty is spearheading positive change within the automotive finance sector.

BVNK, the global B2B payments platform and Noda, the open banking payments provider, today announced a partnership to bring stablecoin settlements to Noda customers across the UK and Europe.

Noda enables businesses in e-commerce, travel, gaming, and financial services to accept direct bank payments online via open banking, as an alternative to card payments. They also work with regulated fintech partners to provide other payment services, including collections, reconciliation and payouts. 

In 2022, Noda began to get more and more requests from clients for stablecoin settlements due to faster settlement times. Today, stablecoins account for 10% of all cryptocurrencies. While industry volatility in 2022 saw the stablecoin market contract, today volumes are almost back at their 2022 peak. Around $30 billion in trades are made every day using stablecoins, with on-chain settlement reaching more than $7 trillion in 2022, surpassing the volumes of major card networks. 

To meet customer demand, Noda needed a regulated partner that could provide a multi-currency account and enable digital asset payments. Noda selected BVNK and now uses BVNK’s Virtual Accounts and Global Settlement Network to convert 2 million euros into USDT stablecoins every month, to pay out to merchants. Noda has moved 90% of its stablecoin settlements to BVNK’s global payments platform.

Noda’s Chief Operations Officer, Anastasija Tenca, commented: “Increasingly our customers want access to faster settlement and stablecoins provide that. BVNK has the API technology and easy-to-use product interface we were looking for, they provide us with the right rates, and they understand our needs when it comes to enabling innovative new payment flows. We can now offer our customers the stablecoin services they have been asking for, and for us, the process is much simpler and more efficient than previous solutions we have tried.”

Jane McEvoy, VP Platform Partnerships, BVNK said: “We’re delighted to work with Noda to offer new payment options to their customers. We’re seeing more and more demand for stablecoin payments, particularly for cross-border payments, because they can be settled instantly, and often at a lower cost than traditional bank payments.”

Today, Trade Ledger announces it will launch a new solution integrating Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, designed exclusively for Business Owners, CFOs and Financial Directors in small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

SMBs often don’t have the resources or in-house expertise to access and understand information to optimize the cash-to-cash cycle. Trade Ledger’s Working Capital Copilot built on Azure OpenAI Service tackles this challenge by using advanced Large Language Models (LLM) to interpret conversational language queries about cash management, create algorithmic queries and return meaningful, actionable information. The new Generative AI interface interrogates the data Trade Ledger securely collects about a business and its trading practices and is accessed conversationally within the Microsoft Teams platform. The new interface will be available to distribute by banks as a simpler way for their customers to understand and apply for working capital credit.

"There has been much focus on embedding bank credit products in business channels," said Martin McCann, Co-founder and CEO at Trade Ledger. “However, most banks are confusing channel integration with embedded finance. Delivering working capital solutions in a conversational interface via Microsoft Teams, results in a scalable embedded business lending initiative.”

Working Capital Copilot analyzes profit and loss statements, sales ledgers, supplier data, balance sheets, trading co-party behaviours, and credit bureau records, and provides actionable insights into invoices, payments, and other transaction data. Bank integration via API provides real-time information on available financial credit products and can list matched options based on cash flow status, creditworthiness and specific business requirements.

The Working Capital Copilot will be able to apply to their bank for the optimal solution from within the Microsoft Teams chat.

Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President, Financial Services Industry at Microsoft added “Trade Ledger’s Bank solution integrates Trade Ledger’s data model and solutions with the power of Azure OpenAI Service, giving commercial banks the opportunity to embrace Generative AI in a powerful, compliant and secure manner for the benefit of their business customers”.

The Working Capital Copilot solution will be generally available in 2024 via the Microsoft Commercial Marketplace. Banks interested in joining the wait list for the beta program can contact Trade Ledger representatives.

Tools for Brokers (TFB), an international technology provider for retail brokers, prop trading companies, and hedge funds, and Red Acre Group, a premier player in the world of financial market solutions, have announced a partnership that can benefit all stakeholders in the proprietary trading space. This new joint venture offers an all-in-one solution for business owners and entrepreneurs interested in prop trading and is already available worldwide.

Tools for Brokers supplies the infrastructure with Trade Processor at the core of the ecosystem, which includes everything required for prop trading firms: a bridge connection to the LP, an aggregated price feed, an execution engine that simulates real market execution for demo accounts, a risk management system to control drawdowns with a trailing stop out level and much more.

The company's offerings are set to be complemented by Red Acre's cutting-edge technologies. Red Acre Group will integrate into the product its state-of-the-art CRM, Trader's Room, various front-end elements, and, crucially, its renowned 24/7 support for both businesses and traders. In short, prop firm owners will be able to focus exclusively on their network and client acquisition, leaving the handling of all the technology, marketing, and support to TFB and RA Group.

This comprehensive offering caters to a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the financial market. Existing brokers who wish to diversify their product range with proprietary trading can avail themselves of this plug-and-play solution. Likewise, budding entrepreneurs seeking a quick, complete, and reasonably priced entry into the financial market will find an easy and lucrative path forward with their personal prop firm's launch.

Gary Mullen, Chief Commercial Officer of Red Acre Group, spoke enthusiastically about the new partnership: "This is a phenomenal opportunity to enhance B2B financial market accessibility. At Red Acre, we have always prioritized collaborations with industry leaders to create synergies that benefit not only the businesses involved but also all clients who choose to use our platforms. This partnership promises exceptional service and high profitability for all."

Ivan Egorov, the Global Head of Sales at TFB, added: “Over the past year, we’ve seen a huge shift in the Prop Trading world. The industry is on the rise, and many companies come to us asking for technology that would support their intensive growth and ensure excellent performance. Red Acre and TFB have created a turnkey solution for Prop Trading businesses to help them keep the momentum going and guarantee a top experience for all traders.”