ImaliPay, a leading fintech-as-a-service provider, has selected Centropy PR to manage its global communications following a competitive pitch process. The news comes following ImaliPay’s successful $3M funding round to offer financial services to under-served gig workers across Africa.

It was launched in late 2020 by Tatenda Furusa and Oluwasanmi Akinmusire after Furusa noticed the challenges ride-hailing drivers faced when accessing working capital or emergencies like running out of fuel in Nairobi. Akinmusire recently addressed the UK Parliament, discussing the how the digital skills crisis is affecting workers around the globe.

ImaliPay is a fast-growing “Fintech-as-a-Service" start-up deploying API infrastructure to power embedded financial products and services that promote the operational efficiency of online businesses and drive revenue growth. It offers four main products; automated reconciliation, BNPL engine, payments and ledgers-as-a-service, along with additional value-added services. ImaliPay boasts a diverse clientele, including FleetSimplify, KeraPay,

and sell their products with ease and confidence.

Centropy will lead ImaliPay’s global communications programme, managing thought leadership, media relations, public affairs and content creation as part of an integrated communications brief.

Tatenda Furusa, Co-founder at ImaliPay said, “Our business is growing, and we needed the right PR partner to help elevate our brand in Africa and to the wider global fintech community. The Centropy team gave a fantastic presentation, bringing expertise, insight, and creativity to our brief and we are delighted to be working with them.”

Steven George-Hilley, founder, Centropy PR said: “ImaliPay is a truly innovative company with a clear vision, and we’re thrilled to be selected by such an ambitious brand.”

radicant bank ag (radicant) is the first digital sustainability bank in Switzerland strategically aligned with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To ensure the efficient and secure processing of its clients’ digital transactions, radicant has selected award-winning Swiss FinTech NetGuardians’ software for enhanced payment protection.

In an increasingly digital world, where more and more customers conduct their transactions exclusively online, the prevention of financial crime and the protection of clients from fraud play a crucial role in safeguarding smooth payment flows. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners report on “Occupational Fraud 2022”, organizations lose 5% of revenue to fraud each year, equating to total losses in excess of 4.7 trillion US dollars lost to fraud globally.

Preventing financial crime in its infancy is therefore essential for the efficient and digital processing of client transactions and, for a data and technology-driven financial services provider like radicant, a key element in its understanding of good corporate governance. For this reason, radicant has chosen the award-winning software of Swiss FinTech company NetGuardians to improve its clients’ payment protection.

NetGuardians software forms customer profiles through its innovative behavioural analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The software monitors all transactions in real-time and provides a risk score by comparing it against the customer profile. The software reduces the volume of false positives, providing an excellent customer and user experience whilst decreasing operational costs. Machine-learning algorithms help financial institutions to discover and stay on top of emerging threats from fraud schemes.

Digital Asset Research (DAR), a leading provider of highest quality crypto market data and insights, today announced DAR’s Exchange Vetting methodology and resulting ‘clean’ FTSE DAR pricing will provide the institutional-grade underpinning for Eurex’s new Bitcoin index futures.

DAR’s Exchange Vetting process combined with the robust index methodology and governance framework of FTSE Russell have been selected by Eurex – the first exchange in Europe to offer Bitcoin index futures. The Eurex Bitcoin futures offering provides trusted access to cryptocurrencies in a regulated market.

Arne Staal, CEO of FTSE Russell, a London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) business: “We are excited for this next step in the expansion of the digital asset ecosystem to meet institutional investor client risk management needs. Our digital asset indices apply the same rigorous index policy and governance framework used with our equity and fixed-income products. Perhaps most importantly in this market, in collaboration with DAR, we have created a vetting methodology to set a standard for digital asset and exchange index inclusion, that offers consistent prices reflective of the real investable market to the investor community.”

In an environment where cryptocurrencies trade across hundreds of lightly regulated or unregulated exchanges, DAR’s vetting processes apply institutional-level diligence to meet an industry-wide need for reliable crypto data. The asset and exchange vetting process combines quantitative and traditional qualitative due diligence to identify exchanges reporting accurate volumes and eliminate exchanges that are not appropriate for determining an accurate market price. DAR performs its Exchange Vetting quarterly.

"We are pleased to deliver 'clean' prices for Eurex's first Bitcoin index futures by emphasizing accurate price discovery, transparency, and consistency through our Exchange Vetting process and FTSE DAR pricing methodology," said Doug Schwenk, DAR's CEO.

The FTSE Bitcoin Index, which is the underlier for Eurex’s Bitcoin index futures, reflects the settlement price of Bitcoin as determined by the FTSE DAR Reference Price. The new futures contracts are traded in EUR and USD. Liquidity will be supported by order book and over-the-counter liquidity providers. Trading starts today, Monday, April 17, 2023.

Michael Peters, CEO of Eurex: "Investors need robust trading and clearing safeguards when engaging in the crypto market. We are looking forward to cooperating with FTSE Russell and Digital Asset Research to jointly deliver superior transparency, consistency, and safeguards to this emerging asset class.”

In 2017, DAR began measuring crypto exchange quality for clients who were concerned about reputational, price, and counterparty risks. Today, its risk assessment framework continues to evolve in response to feedback from clients and regulators.

Institutions need reliable crypto asset pricing data that meets the quality standards seen in traditional markets. Calculating ‘clean’ crypto prices is a challenge in an industry with notoriously bad data. DAR’s pricing methodology solves many of the problems associated with crypto pricing by implementing thorough quantitative and qualitative diligence. To achieve this, DAR utilizes a five-step process to vet, qualify, aggregate, clean, and calculate digital asset prices.

Capitola, the digital marketplace for commercial insurance that connects brokers and carriers and uses AI-based risk appetite matching to streamline the placement process, today announced it has raised $15.6 million in its Series A funding round. Led by Munich Re Ventures, this round will be used to grow Capitola’s platform with an emphasis on its market intelligence capabilities and to accelerate sales in the U.S. This round adds to a $5M Series Seed round raised in 2021 that was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, who also participated in this round.

“The insurance industry has seen many technological advancements over the years, but very little attention has been given to the insurance professionals and the tools they use,” said Sivan Iram, Capitola’s co-founder and CEO. “Capitola’s mission is to help insurance professionals deliver exceptional client service and coverage. Our platform brings together brokers and underwriters, removing many of the operational inefficiencies around manual processes and repetitive tasks to allow them to focus on what they do best. We’re thrilled to have the support of Munich Re Ventures, Lightspeed, and our other investors as we continue to grow our team, develop innovative solutions and expand our impact on the insurance industry.”

With Capitola’s smart placement and market intelligence platform, firms can now transform how broker teams work. The platform:

• Saves time and increases productivity with simplified and streamlined workflows
• Provides smart market recommendations based on AI (artificial intelligence) driven risk appetite matching
• Easily organizes and manages hard-to-place risk and multi-layered programs with intuitive tools
• Creates advanced client reports and proposals using customized templates

“The U.S. specialty risk market has grown exponentially over the last few decades and would benefit from a digital marketplace that streamlines processes and expands the option for insurance placement,” said Oshri Kaplan, managing director at Munich Re Ventures. “We are excited by Capitola’s approach to this opportunity and are thrilled to support their journey.”

“As active investors in the Insurtech space, we were immediately excited by Capitola’s vision to revolutionize the commercial insurance distribution network,” said Yoni Cheifetz, Partner at Lightspeed. “We truly believe their strong team can realize this ambitious vision.”

"Our broker teams are at the heart of our organization and it’s a priority for us to provide them with the tools that would make them more productive and happier,” said Mike Heffernan, president and CEO at Heffernan Insurance, a Capitola customer. "Capitola’s solution has impressed us with its ability to solve our brokers’ key pain points and increase the performance of our teams.”

Capitola was founded in 2021 by Naor Rosenberg (CTO), Amit Ben Nathan (CPO) and Sivan Iram (CEO).

The Acronis Cyber Foundation Program is proud to announce the completion of new school construction in Sierra Leone and Guatemala. In partnership with GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), the company that helps entrepreneurs thrive, both construction projects uphold the Program’s mission to help and empower children with modern educational infrastructure and learning environments.

The Barbara Junior Secondary School in Sierra Leone was completed in September 2022 and included the development of three separate buildings designed to maximise natural light and fresh air. The school is located in the village of Barbara in Sierra Leone’s Port Loko district, an agricultural region where most families have an income of less than $2 per day. Built with sustainable resources readily available in the immediate community including bamboo and interlocking brick masonry, the construction began in December 2021 with NGO partner Forikolo and is expected to be attended by over 120 pupils. The school features amenities to support disabled children, a hygiene room for girls, and the distribution of free hygiene products.

“These construction projects would not have been possible without the continued efforts of the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program and the extreme generosity of GoDaddy Pro,” said Patrick Pulvermueller, CEO, Acronis. “We work with tens of thousands of partners worldwide and over the past five years, we have successfully and positively impacted thousands of children together with our partners through the determinations of the Foundation. We are so thankful to our partners who have joined our mission to help those in underserved communities.”

In 2019, the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program, Cloudfest and NGO partner Esperanza e.V. built five new classrooms to extend the existing Escuela Oficial Urbana Mixta San Antonio School in Guatemala. Prior to the Program’s involvement, the school’s 525 students shared just 10 classrooms which led to significant overcrowding. GoDaddy Pro joined the initiative in 2021 and helped fund the latest construction project which includes remodelling and expanding three classrooms of the current facility, four additional classrooms, and proper stairs. The next goal for the school in San Antonio, Guatemala will be the development of a modern computer classroom that will allow students to optimise educational resources.

“These projects align with GoDaddy’s mission to make opportunity more inclusive for all. The successful completion of these projects provides communities with the educational resources they need and deserve,” said Paul Bindel, President of GoDaddy Partners. “We’re proud our efforts and partnership with Acronis created momentum in these communities and gave these students a chance at a formal, modern education.”

Founded in 2018, the Acronis Cyber Foundation Program has been strongly dedicated to education by funding school construction and bringing IT skills training to communities around the globe. In addition to building 18 schools and seven computer classrooms, the Program has engaged in educational projects with over 19,000 people participating in Acronis IT Skills Programs worldwide. It has brought humanitarian aid to more than 5,000 persons in underserved communities.

The Acronis Cyber Foundation Program is focused on partnering with other organisations to help make a difference. Acronis invites all businesses, large or small, to engage in joint projects. For partners wanting to develop their own community development plans, the Program can also help in supporting other initiatives. To join our mission, please visit: www.acronis.org.

To learn more about our partnership with GoDaddy Pro, check out our latest blog here: https://www.acronis.com/en-us/blog/posts/the-acronis-cyber-foundation-program-and-godaddy-pro-announce-school-construction-partnership

Visit Acronis.org for up-to-date information on past and present Acronis Cyber Foundation Program projects and initiatives. https://acronis.org/2023/04/acronis-and-godaddy-pro-partnership-empowering-650-children-to-study

London, United Kingdom – 23 March 2023

NayaOne selected by FCA to build and operate Digital Sandbox, a ground breaking platform for responsible innovation in financial services.

London-based company NayaOne has been awarded the highly sought-after Digital Sandbox tender by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Digital Sandbox is an initiative that enables innovative companies to develop and test their products in a safe and secure environment, with support from the FCA. 

NayaOne's success in securing this tender is a testament to the company's cutting-edge technology and proven track record in digital transformation. As an established player in the fintech ecosystem, NayaOne brings a wealth of expertise and experience to the Digital Sandbox initiative.

"We are thrilled to have been selected for this prestigious opportunity to collaborate with the FCA on driving innovation in financial services," said NayaOne CEO Karan Jain "We believe that our digital transformation platform and synthetic data technology will be a valuable asset in helping fintech companies to develop and test their products more efficiently and effectively. “We look forward to developing the relationship with the FCA and being part of any future focus areas, they have, for development within the industry”

The Digital Sandbox is a highly competitive program, with a rigorous selection process that evaluates companies based on their potential to make a significant impact in the financial services industry. NayaOne's successful bid is a reflection of the company's innovation, vision, and commitment to advancing the fintech landscape.

NayaOne will have the opportunity to work closely with the FCA and other industry leaders to drive innovation and create new opportunities in financial services. This is a significant milestone for NayaOne and a testament to the company's dedication to delivering cutting-edge solutions that enable financial institutions to stay ahead of the curve in the digital age.

About NayaOne

NayaOne is a digital transformation platform that helps businesses in the financial industry accelerate their product development and time to market. The company provides innovative solutions that leverage cutting-edge technologies and a deep understanding of the industry, enabling businesses to stay ahead of the curve.

Contact:

Ambar Vitelli

Ambar@nayaone.com

+447956621075

Clear Street Receives $270M Investment from Prysm Capital in Series B

New York-based independent prime broker Clear Street has been valued at $2bn following the close of a $270m investment from growth equity firm Prysm Capital. This fresh capital is the second tranche of a $435m Series B funding round. In addition to Prysm Capital, Series B has received backing from a diverse institutional investor base, including public pension funds and endowments. The funds have been earmarked to expand Clear Street’s reach across new markets and asset classes.

The Corporate Venture Capital unit of Deutsche Börse Group Leads €8 Million Investment Round in Next Gate Tech

Next Gate Tech, a leading provider of innovative technologies for the financial services industry, announced a €8 million investment in a new funding round led by DB1 Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capital unit of Deutsche Börse Group, with the continued support of existing investors; NewAlpha Asset Management, Volta Ventures, Expon Capital, and Seed X. This investment will accelerate the development of Next Gate Tech's cutting-edge solutions that help financial institutions streamline their processes, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

PhonePe Raises Additional $100 Million

Indian mobile payments company PhonePe has raised a further $100 million in an ambitious attempt to complete an ongoing $1 billion financing round. The new funds from returning backer General Ataltantic bring the total raised by the company over the past few months to $750 million.PhonePe picked up a $450 million investment in February (including $350 million from Genral Atlantic), followed in March by a $200 million injection from majority backer Walmart.

Hakbah - The Saudi-Based Fintech Savings Platform - Closes US$2 Million, Pre-Series A, Funding Round

Hakbah, the Saudi-based fintech savings platform, announces its successful closing of a US$2 million, pre-Series A, funding round. Global Ventures - MENA’s leading venture capital firm and DIFC-based Aditum Investment Management participated in the round, providing Hakbah with its first institutional capital. The funding follows approval granted by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). Hakbah is one of the fastest-growing companies in the region.

absolute labs Announces $8 million Seed Raise to Accelerate Growth of its Groundbreaking Wallet Relationship Management Platform for Marketing in Web3

absolute labs – the first Wallet Relationship Management™ (WRM™) platform that is revolutionizing how growth and marketing teams acquire, engage, convert, and retain customers in the next Internet – announcesthe close of a $8 million Seed fundraising round including Aglaé Ventures, Alpha Praetorian Capital, The Luxury Fund, Near Foundation, MoonPay, Plassa Capital, Punja Global Ventures, Samsung Next, Sparkle Ventures (Animoca Brands), and W3i.

Ryft Receives UK FCA Licence Following £1.2M Seed Round Raise

Ryft, the revolutionary PSD2-compliant payments system, has announced its receipt of a UK licence from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following a £1.2 million seed round raise in August last year. The authorisation of the licence opens up opportunities for Ryft to become a regulated payment facilitator with some of the world’s biggest acquirers. The FCA licence will allow Ryft to expand its in-house compliance team led by the new Head of Compliance and Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), Grant Campbell.

Partnerships 

OKX Wallet Announces Blur Partnership, Revamps OKX Earn

OKX announced a partnership with Blur.io to fully integrate the OKX Wallet on the leading Ethereum-based NFT Marketplace. On March 22, OKX announced the addition of Blur to the rapidly growing OKX NFT Marketplace ecosystem, offering traders batch shelf and order book NFT transactions. As of today, OKX users can connect their OKX Wallet to the Blur.io marketplace and transact directly.

Experian and CarCloud Shift into Higher Gear as Partnership Set to Accelerate Car Ownership Experience

Experian and CarCloud announced a new partnership that will further enhance the car ownership experience for drivers using CarCloud’s free digital management app. CarCloud users will now be able to check eligibility for new car finance deals without it affecting their credit score – giving them the confidence to go ahead with the best, most affordable option. Further to this, users can also assess if they can obtain improved terms on their existing car finance deals.

tmgroup Integrates with LMS Confirmly in Move to Protect Clients from Rising Financial Fraud

LMS, the UK's leading conveyancing services provider, announced a new partnership with tmgroup, a tech company specialising in conveyancing services, to deliver confirmly, its law firm identity-checking technology to tmgroup’s client base. Confirmly is specifically designed for law firms to tackle rising levels of fraud in the industry. By harnessing LMS Panel Link and specialist third party data, it provides real-time monitoring to law firms to verify account details automatically before any funds are transferred, reducing the risk of falling victim to scams.

Affirm and Stripe Expand Partnership to Help Merchants in Canada Grow Revenue

Affirm, the payment network that empowers consumers and helps merchants drive growth, announced that it is expanding its relationship with Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, to Canada. Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout™ is now available to all eligible Canadian Stripe users, allowing merchants and platforms to add this pay-over-time option to their checkout experience in minutes.

Deloitte and Riskified Partner to Help E-commerce Merchants Analyse Their Fraud Exposure Against Industry Benchmarks

Riskified, a leader in eCommerce risk intelligence, announced its partnership with Deloitte, a leader in fraud and financial crime advisory services, to empower merchants with real-time insight into how their chargebacks, approval rates and fraud costs compare to similar companies in their space. This benchmarking service is an industry first, helping retailers formulate a scorecard that can uncover new opportunities to reduce operational costs, lower chargeback and fraud losses, and boost revenues by minimising false declines.  

SentinelOne and Wiz Announce Exclusive Partnership to Deliver End-to-end Cloud Security

SentinelOne, an autonomous cyber security platform company, has announced an exclusive and strategic partnership with Wiz, a leader in cloud security. Through the strategic partnership, the combined expertise of Wiz’s Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) and SentinelOne’s Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP), can be offered to organisations of all sizes and equip customers with a best-of-breed cloud security solution.

National Trust Launches Three-year Partnership with Starling Bank to Improve Access to Nature for Over 1 Million People a Year

The National Trust and Starling Bank have launched a three-year partnership aimed at ensuring more people have access to nature, both now and in the future. Through the partnership, it is estimated that over 1 million people will be able to benefit from improved access to nature through the family-focused Summer of Play programme, nature workshops for school children, and Starling Banks’s refer a friend scheme.

Hoxton Capital Management Teams Up with Salt Edge to Boost the World of Investments

Hoxton Capital Management, a borderless financial advisory firm, teamed up with Salt Edge to offer internationally mobile people and expatriates a more comprehensive and detailed view of their finances, helping them make the most informed financial decisions, including investment. By utilising an unparalleled combination of highly-skilled advisory experts and cutting-edge technology, Hoxton Capital is dedicated to helping individuals achieve their financial aspirations and manage their wealth on their own terms.

Themis Announces Partnership with SeedLegals

Themis announces a new partnership with SeedLegals, the UK market standard for start-up companies raising investment. The partnership allows SeedLegal’s startup customers to “check that cheque” and ensure they know the provenance of their funding by undertaking thorough due diligence on all their investors. The two companies will promote each other’s services and work together to provide a comprehensive offering to startup customers, covering the legal and administrative aspects of undertaking the funding process and associated screening and due diligence on potential investors.

Ecospend Joins PIMFA WealthTech as Innovation Partner to Pioneer New Open Finance Solutions for the Wealth Sector

Ecospend, the UK’s leading Open Banking provider recently acquired by Trustly, has joined PIMFA WealthTech, the digital marketplace and industry network created to drive innovation and enhance collaboration between WealthTechs and wealth management firms, to provide a proof of concept “Pay-by-Bank” solution to its members. Ecospend’s solution will allow clients of PIMFA WealthTech members to make payments directly to their accounts more easily and securely and without the need for cards.

FNZ and Virgin Money Launch Transformative New Digital Investment Platform to Inspire New Generation of Investors

FNZ, the global wealth management platform, announced that they have partnered to launch a new digital investment solution for UK retail investors. The service has been developed by Virgin Money Investments, a joint venture between Virgin Money UK and abrdn. The new digital investment platform and mobile app will offer Virgin Money customers an enhanced digital experience with a range of new features and capabilities that will make investing easier,  faster and more convenient than ever before.

Capital Bank Goes Live with Finastra to Support Strong Growth in Corporate Banking Business

Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, announced that Capital Bank, a leading financial institution with commercial and investment banking expertise, has gone live with Finastra’s Corporate Channels and will soon follow with Trade Innovation as well as other Corporate Channels modules. The combined offering will help to streamline banking services for corporates in Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Top US-Based Bank Selects Temenos for Core Banking Modernization in the Cloud

Temenos announced that Regions Bank, a top bank in the US, has selected Temenos to modernize its legacy systems for customers’ records and deposits on the Temenos Banking Cloud. The move to software as a service (SaaS) will enable Regions Bank to deliver more seamless customer experiences and more personalized banking products and services designed to help consumers and businesses reach their financial goals.

Qredo Partners with Avalanche for Launch of First-Ever Evergreen Subnet

Qredo, a leading provider of institutional-grade digital asset self-custody solutions, announced its participation as one of the institutional partners in the Avalanche Spruce testnet. Avalanche has provided Qredo with access to the Spruce testnet via MetaMask Institutional and WalletConnect. Qredo will be utilising the Spruce testnet to assess various applications and assets so as to understand the potential benefits of on-chain trade execution and settlement.

Mercuryo Partners with Simpledo to Make Buying Crypto Easy for Turkish Users

Mercuryo, the all-in-one cryptocurrency platform, announced its partnership with Simpledo, an emerging crypto provider in Turkey. This partnership is aimed at expanding Mercuryo's global presence and enhancing its services for customers in Turkey. Simpledo offers a range of crypto solutions to its customers in Turkey, including on/off ramps, crypto swaps. With this partnership, Simpledo will be able to leverage Mercuryo’s expertise to provide its customers with a seamless experience.

Payfare Expands Partnership with NCR to Power Self-Service Financial Tools for Cardholders

NCR Corporation, a leading enterprise technology provider, has expanded its partnership with Payfare Inc. (TSX: PAY), a leading fintech powering instant payout and digital banking solutions for the gig workforce. The extended partnership makes NCR a provider of self-service financial solutions for Payfare’s cardholders across the United States for both cash-in and cash-out transactions.

Pioneer Valley Credit Union Partners with Mahalo Banking to Accelerate Digital Transformation

Springfield, Mass.-based Pioneer Valley Credit Union (Pioneer Valley) has signed a partnership agreement with Mahalo Banking, a CUSO that provides online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions. By launching the Mahalo Banking platform, Pioneer Valley plans to advance its digital banking experience and improve its competitive advantage within the industry. Pioneer Valley is the oldest postal credit union in the nation and serves members of select employer groups and associations within Western Massachusetts.

ApprovalMax and Airwallex Announce Powerful New Partnership

ApprovalMax, a leading provider of automated approval workflows for invoices and purchase orders, has partnered with Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform for modern businesses, to offer a powerful integration that enables users to prepare and approve payments for execution (including batch and multi-currency payments), without leaving ApprovalMax. The integration offers a seamless solution for businesses seeking greater control over their payments by streamlining the preparation and approval of payments.

InfoTrack Integrates with LMS Secure Link to Drive Efficiency for Conveyancing Stakeholders

LMS, the UK’s leading conveyancer and panel management specialist, announces that InfoTrack, a pioneering digital conveyancing provider, has integrated with Secure Link to facilitate access to the service for all its clients and deliver an enhanced user experience. LMS Secure Link is an innovative messaging service, launched last year to streamline the conveyancing process and improve case query turnaround times.

Societe Generale and Lemonway Partner to Support the Growth of Large Corporates’ B2B Marketplaces in Europe

Societe Generale, one of Europe’s leading banking groups, and Lemonway, an ACPR-licensed pan-European payment institution, have signed a commercial partnership to deliver payment services to large corporates in Western Europe, launching B2B marketplaces. With complementary approaches, these two firms have committed to adequately addressing the growing needs of corporates in the booming B2B marketplace sector.

Finastra Integrates Alygne’s Tailored ESG Data into Fusion Invest

Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, announced its partnership with Alygne, a sustainability technology platform that provides tailored ESG alternative data, to help asset managers globally make more informed ESG investments. A new connector seamlessly integrates Alygne's data into Fusion Invest, allowing users to leverage the portfolio management capabilities of the solution to ensure portfolios support their ESG-related values.

Launches 

dLocal’s For Platforms Brings a Unified Payment Solution for E-commerce Marketplaces, Ride-sharing Solutions, and Social Media Platforms

dLocal, a technology-first payments platform enabling global enterprise merchants to connect with billions of consumers in emerging markets, announced the official launch of a new all-in-one payment solution to manage global platform payments in one place. dLocal for Platforms is an end-to-end payment solution for marketplaces, on-demand services, and any other platform business models.

Blockchain App Factory and bitsCrunch Join Forces to Launch White Label NFT Marketplace Solutions for Global Businesses

Blockchain app factory, India’s leading enterprise blockchain technology solutions provider announced a strategic partnership with bitsCrunch, a leading force in Forensic and AI-powered NFT analytics. The symbiotic association between the two leading brands will leverage the combined power of their technologies to empower users with forensics and AI-powered real-time analytics. 

Georgia United Credit Union Strengthens Digital Strategy with Jack Henry

Jack Henry™ announced that Georgia United Credit Union has launched its digital banking platform to deliver more personal, custom member experiences. The $2 billion-asset credit union wanted a platform that would scale with its growth goals and meet the evolving needs of its members. Jack Henry’s digital banking platform provides a flexible, open-API infrastructure that gives the credit union control of its custom features and functions, allowing for faster rollouts of new products and services.

ACA Group Launches ACA Vantage to Help Meet Investor Expectations for Portfolio Company Cybersecurity Oversight

ACA Group (ACA), the leading governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) advisor in financial services, bolsteredits product line with the launch of ACA Vantage for Cyber, to help private markets (“PM,” i.e., private equity, hedge funds, and venture capital) firms discover, prevent, and remediate critical cyber vulnerabilities across their portfolio. This unique offering is powered by ACA Aponix®, ACA’s cybersecurity division.

Gate.io Launches Gate Wealth, Offering One-Stop Wealth Management Solution

Gate.io, the world's leading crypto asset trading platform, has launched a new wealth management product called Gate Wealth. This product is designed to provide professional, comprehensive, and customized wealth management services to global crypto investment users, helping them better manage their crypto assets. Gate Wealth offers a wide range of investment tools and structured products with stable income and considerable return rates.

Merger & Acquisition

GoLogiq to Acquire Shape Super, a Leading Manager and Administrator of Self-Managed Super Funds

GoLogiq, Inc., a U.S.-based global provider of fintech and consumer data analytics, has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Australian-based Shape Super Australia Pty Ltd (Shape), a prominent manager and administrator of self-managed super funds (SMSFs). The acquisition will expand the services offered by the company’s subsidiary, GENFI Financial Group, and enable its accountants and advisors to take greater advantage of the specialist management and administration services offered by Shape. 

Job Moves

EBANX Announces Africa-based Executive Wiza Jalakasi as its New Director of Africa Market Development to Lead Expansion in the Region

EBANX, a payments fintech company helping global companies grow in Latin America and Africa, announcedWiza Jalakasi as its new Director of Africa Market Development. Jalakasi comes in with the mission to expand and develop EBANX's operations across the region, strengthen the connections between its global merchants and African consumers and provide in-depth knowledge about the flourishing digital market in Africa.

Surecomp Hires Tal Weiser as Chief Revenue Officer to Drive Digital Trade Finance Growth

Surecomp announced the appointment of Tal Weiser as Chief Revenue Officer to accelerate digital trade finance adoption and support the company’s growth objectives. Helping fulfill its mission to enable seamless, sustainable trade for everyone by removing barriers and fostering collaboration, Mr Weiser will focus on reinforcing Surecomp’s market expansion within the financial institution and corporate domains. Mr Weiser has over twenty years’ experience in the fintech and telecommunication industries.

ING Appoints Amin Mansour as Vice Chairman, Wholesale Banking (WB)

ING has appointed Amin Mansour (60) as Vice Chairman, Wholesale Banking, with immediate effect. In this newly created role, Amin will be responsible for building and enhancing engagement with clients at senior executive levels and further leveraging the network across functions, regions and products. Amin has over 30 years’ experience in senior management roles in international and investment banking.

WealthKernel Appoints Brian Schwieger as its Chairman and Non-Exec Director

WealthKernel, a leading provider of digital investment infrastructure, announces the appointment of capital markets veteran Brian Schwieger as its new Chair of the Board. Brian was previously the Global Head of Equities and ETF trading at the London Stock Exchange (LSE), bringing decades of capital markets experience to WealthKernel. Prior to the LSE, Brian was the Managing Director and the Head of Electronic Trading at BoA Merrill Lynch. He also has a strong background in working with complex B2B platforms, including FinTechs and RegTechs.

Monument Appoints New Chief of Staff

Monument (or the “Bank”) announces the appointment of Craig Blackburn as Chief of Staff, reporting to Chief Executive Officer, Ian Rand. Craig will support the senior leadership team to drive company-wide progress on critical projects and initiatives that are key to the Bank’s strategic ambitions to meet the unmet demands of mass affluent clients – approximately 7 million professionals, entrepreneurs, property investors, and others – who are seeking a bank to help them save and grow their wealth (which is estimated at c.£6 trillion).

Lightspeed Appoints New EMEA Managing Director in Continued Path to Profitable Growth

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale, and create exceptional customer experiences, announced the appointment of Liam Crooks as Lightspeed’s new  Managing Director for the EMEA Region. Formerly Lightspeed’s Senior Vice President of Hospitality, UK-born Crooks brings over 15 years of experience within the technology industry to the new position. He joined Lightspeed in early 2022, after spending 10 years at Yelp as Vice President of Sales.

FV Bank Names Frank J. Serra as Chief Financial Officer

FV Bank, the U.S. licensed global digital bank that offers a vertically-integrated suite of traditional and digital asset banking and custody services, has appointed Frank J. Serra as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective immediately. Serra is a seasoned financial executive with over 26 years of experience and brings his considerable experience in asset management, regulatory compliance, and financial performance management to FV Bank.

HSBC Hires Ex-SVB Bankers

Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March, HSBC is now hiring around 40 ex-SVB bankers to establish a new unit targeting tech, healthcare, and VC funds in the US. In a statement released by HSBC on Tuesday, the bank’s US and America’s chief executive, Michael Roberts, stated: “As we look to grow our business, this offering allows us to connect the innovation ecosystem with the size, strength, and international network of HSBC.”

Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March, HSBC is now hiring around 40 ex-SVB bankers to establish a new unit targeting tech, healthcare, and VC funds in the US.

In a statement released by HSBC on Tuesday, the bank’s US and America’s chief executive, Michael Roberts, stated: “As we look to grow our business, this offering allows us to connect the innovation ecosystem with the size, strength, and international network of HSBC.”

The team will be based in San Francisco, Boston and New York, and led by David Sabow, ex-head of tech and healthcare banking at SVB. Sunita Patel, Katherine Anderson and Melissa Stephanis will also be transferring to the new unit.

In a LinkedIn post, Sabow stated: “Over the last ten years at SVB I have had a front row seat to the importance of people and culture on a business. I saw this pattern play out repeatedly with our clients, and I experienced it every day I came to work. Today I am thrilled to share that I have joined HSBC to lead their Technology & Healthcare business and am so fortunate to be joined by 40+ of my former colleagues. We are bringing the same sector insight and radical customer centricity that made SVB so special, and marrying this with a fortress balance sheet, venture debt, and sophisticated global product capabilities.”

HSBC purchased SVB’s UK arm following the collapse earlier this year, and the recent hires suggest HSBC is making an increased effort to snap up venture capital and start-up clients which may have been impacted by SVB’s collapse.