After virtually a 12 months masking European fintech for Sifted, I’m used to being the one lady — or if I’m fortunate, one among two to a few token ladies — within the room in most reporting eventualities.
That’s as a result of on the subject of the C-suite in Europe’s most dear tech sector, males nonetheless rule the roost. And final 12 months, simply 6.5% of all fintech founders in Europe have been ladies.
However regardless of this 12 months’s difficult fundraising setting, a big chunk of essentially the most high-profile fintech funding rounds went to corporations with ladies on the helm.
Amongst them have been 12 European fintechs with ladies in essentially the most highly effective place of all — CEO — and 5 with feminine cofounders.
They’re a part of a brand new wave of feminine expertise that’s labored its means up the ranks of Europe’s largest startups and banks to safe some severe VC cheques for their very own concepts.
Listed here are the female-led corporations that raised in 2022 that it’s best to get to know.
2022-funded fintechs with feminine CEOs
YourJuno
Based: 2020HQ: London2022 increase: $2.2m seed in MarchTraders in final spherical: Led by InReach Ventures, joined by Mustard Seed Maze, RLC, Digital Foreign money Group and Sie VenturesValuation: $9m-13m (Dealroom estimate) CEO: Margot & Alexia de Broglie
YourJuno is tackling one of many largest monetary issues of our time: the distinction in monetary literacy between women and men.
Sisters Margot and Alexia de Broglie needed to do one thing about the truth that ladies are nonetheless far much less more likely to make investments their cash, and about 70% of the customers on apps like Robinhood are males.
So they based YourJuno, a gamified monetary training hole that they’ve dubbed the “Duolingo of finance.” Customers can entry classes and quizzes on the whole lot from mortgages to debt and private finance, to moral investing and crypto.
Starling Financial institution
Based: 2014HQ: London2022 increase: £130.5m inside fundraise in AprilTraders in final spherical: All present buyers — together with Goldman Sachs, Constancy, Qatar Funding Authority, Chrysalis Investments, RPMI Railpen, Millennium Administration, JTC Group and Jupiter Asset Administration.Valuation: $3.3bn CEO: Anne Boden
In a 12 months the place a number of of its UK fintech friends have struggled with layoffs and enterprise restructuring, Starling went in opposition to the grain and posted its first annual revenue — of £32.1m — in July for the 12 months to March 31, 2022. It’s a standing that CEO Anne Boden has stated at a number of tech conferences this 12 months that the neobank retains thus far. And it’s allowed the fintech to fund its two largest ambitions: buying different lenders and scaling the B2B SaaS facet of its enterprise, Engine by Starling, in new markets.
Boden has a monitor document of bucking fintech tendencies, and final week made the daring transfer of banning all crypto-related withdrawals and pay-ins for Starling clients.
Tumelo
Based: 2020HQ: London2022 increase: $19m Sequence A in Might Traders in final spherical: Led by US-based fintech investor Treasury, joined by Constancy Worldwide Strategic Ventures and Authorized & Common Funding Administration, Nucleus Journey Capital, Lance Uggla, earlier CEO of IHS Markit, and Jim Wiandt, founding father of ETF.com.Valuation: $76m-114m (Dealroom estimate) CEO: Georgia Stewart
Tumelo’s three cofounders, who met at Cambridge College, needed their alma mater’s £4bn endowment fund to be a extra engaged shareholder. They have been impressed by fossil gasoline divestment campaigns at Harvard’s equal, in order that they then appeared past their college halls and based Tumelo, which goals to take shareholder activism to disengaged retail buyers whose cash is invested in pension funds — and the hedge fund managers who vote on their behalf. Particular person shareholders can log in to its platform and let their fund managers know what they need to vote on on the corporations they’re invested in.
It’s partnered with 75 fund managers and 17 funding platforms within the UK together with Authorized & Common (L&G), Constancy, Aviva, Cushon, Penfold, InvestEngine and Large Alternate.
Less complicated
Based: 2021HQ: London2022 increase: €1m pre-seed in February Traders in final spherical: VentureFriends and MMC VenturesValuation: UnavailableCEO: Rania Lamprou
Less complicated needs to assist European customers eliminate the faff of typing in your card or transport particulars repeatedly when on-line buying. It’s a so-called one-click checkout fintech that’s coded a Europe-friendly product to assist internet buyers pay for his or her baskets shortly. This house has been gradual to innovate due to a 20-year Amazon patent, whose monopoly on “one-click” expertise solely expired in 2017.
Rania Lamprou coded an early model of Less complicated’s software program in Python throughout lockdown, and introduced on two cofounders that she knew at college for the fintech’s launch this 12 months.
Sequence
Based: 2021HQ: London2022 increase: $19m seed spherical in September Traders in final spherical: US VC agency Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led the spherical, joined by Salesforce Ventures, Firstminute Capital, Crew Capital, Ardour Capital and others. Valuation: $75mCEO: Riya Grover
Probably the most-hyped (and least secret) fintech funding rounds this 12 months, Sequence acquired exuberant backing from a16z due to the variety of large fintechs that second-time cofounders Riya Grover and Eamon Jubbawy have been already chatting with earlier than launching their product.
Grover, beforehand cofounder and CEO at meals supply platform Feedr, and Jubbawy, ex-cofounder of digital ID startup Onfido, have been already plotting with the founders of unicorns like Plaid, GoCardless, Hopin, UiPath and Monzo earlier than the increase.
What have been all these unicorns so eager to get their palms on? The “low-code” modular software program API that Sequence has constructed that permits corporations to trace billing, funds and income knowledge after which provide clients the power to customize issues like pricing primarily based on the utilization knowledge they gather.
Pile
Based: 2022HQ: Berlin2022 increase: €2.8m seed spherical in June Traders in final spherical: Led by Feminine Innovators Lab by Barclays and Anthemis, the spherical has additionally raised cash from Auxxo, fintech investor Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital and a bucketload of angels.Valuation: $12m-18m (Dealroom estimates)CEO: Jessica Holzbach
Pile has constructed a software program platform that offers with the sophisticated points of integrating a crypto providing into an present fintech. If a neobank, for instance, needs to launch crypto wallets or a crypto buying and selling platform, Pile offers them with a easy API platform, whereas dealing with the authorized intricacies related to sensible contracts behind the scenes.
It’s headed up by cofounder and CEO Jessica Holzbach, who cofounded B2B financial institution Penta and has poached a few of her former colleagues for her new enterprise.
Solvo
Based: 2022HQ: London/Lithuania2022 increase: $3.5m seed spherical in September Traders in final spherical: Led by Index Ventures and joined by CoinFund and FJ Labs. Valuation: $14m-21m (Dealroom estimates)CEO: Ayelen Denovitzer
Solvo cofounders Ayelen Denovitzer and Shailendra Sason are each Revolut alumni, the place they acquired to know one another whereas engaged on the neobank’s crypto providing.
Denovitzer and Sason cofounded Solvo, a crypto investing app, in January and launched it on the finish of September this 12 months. Solvo’s principal mission is to make investing in crypto simpler — and by advantage of training its customers extra, much less dangerous. Which feels like an excellent thought given what’s been occurring out there just lately…
The app is cut up into two key options: Vaults, which is a yield-generating product for retail buyers that need to make investments long-term in “high-quality” crypto cash like Solana and Cardano; and Bundles, which supply clients a diversified portfolio of crypto investments from the metaverse to gaming.
Ledgy
Based: 2017HQ: Zurich2022 increase: $22m Sequence B in SeptemberTraders in final spherical: Led by US VC agency New Enterprise Associates, joined by present investor Sequoia, and Speedinvest, Btov, Visionaries Membership, VI CompanionsValuation: $97m-145m (Dealroom estimates)CEO: Yoko Spirig
About: Ledgy offers a platform for all shareholders in an organization to maintain monitor of possession. Which means founders and buyers can log into Ledgy to maintain tabs on their cap desk (principally a listing of who owns what number of shares of an organization and the way a lot that’s price), and workers can use it to maintain updated on the worth of their stake within the firm.
Ledgy’s largest competitor had been London’s Capdesk, till it was acquired by its US counterpart Carta in September.
Spirig says Ledgy’s edge is its potential to work throughout completely different geographies from the get go, shifting with the startups it serves, like wefox, Bitpanda and Scalapay, as they develop.
Moneyhub
Based: 2014HQ: Bristol2022 increase: £35m in October Traders in final spherical: Authorized & Common and Lloyds Banking GroupValuation: $185m-277m (Dealroom estimates)CEO: Samantha Seaton
Launched in 2014, Moneyhub makes use of open banking to offer monetary insights to giant enterprises together with Aon and Commonplace Life in addition to to retail clients.
Moneyhub has racked up 100 shoppers together with 30 enterprise-sized companies, together with KPMG, Samsung, Aon and Vodafone — with a mixed 150m end-users throughout the UK and overseas.
CEO Sam Seaton has beforehand instructed Sifted: “Underfunding is undoubtedly a problem [for women]. Equally an absence of function fashions compounds the problem…I’m fairly decided to do my bit.
“I’ve by no means personally felt at a drawback, however you possibly can’t ignore the info that tells you you’re at a drawback.”
Pigment
Based: 2019HQ: Paris2022 increase: $65m Sequence B+ in September Traders in final spherical: Institutional Enterprise Companions and Meritech Capital CompanionsValuation: $365mCEO: Eléonore Crespo (co-CEO)
Pigment is a SaaS fintech that helps corporations with enterprise forecasting, funds planning and income forecasting. The corporate was based in Paris 2019, and has raised simply shy of $100m thus far.
Crespo is a founder that began on the opposite facet. Earlier than founding Pigment, she was an investor at Index Ventures, the place she sat on healthtech Alan, expense administration platform Spendesk and office platform Slite’s boards — so you possibly can see the place that fintech/SaaS collab thought was born. Previous to that, she spent three years at Google and two at advertiser JCDecaux.
Close to Basis (NEAR Protocol)
Based: 2017HQ: Switzerland2022 increase: $150m in January Traders in final spherical: Three Arrows Capital led the spherical, joined by Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, a16z, Bounce, Alameda and Circle Ventures. Valuation: Unavailable CEO: Marieke Flament
Close to Basis is a non-profit platform that was based to develop and govern the “proof-of-stake” NEAR blockchain protocol. The inspiration offers grants to tasks for the NEAR protocol, and goals to be a hub for builders engaged on these tasks.
Marieke Flament is one other former fintecher now in crypto; she joined Swiss non-profit NEAR basis as CEO in January, from Natwest’s challenger Mettle.
Lilo
Based: 2022HQ: London2022 increase: €3m pre-seed in July Traders in final spherical: Led by 468 Capital, joined by Presight Capital and unnamed angel buyers.Valuation: Unavailable CEO: Emily Chan
About: Fractional possession startup Lilo is gearing as much as launch the primary properties on the platform it’s created to supply “make investments and expertise” belongings.
What does that imply in follow? Suppose Soho Home does timeshares. It’s concentrating on millennials with fairly a little bit of spare money who may already reside throughout a number of areas — like European tech employees or rich creatives.
Lilo is constructing a portfolio of luxurious properties throughout completely different areas, primarily centered on European cities the place these younger professionals could also be planning to separate their time working remotely. Traders can purchase an eighth share of a property to make use of it for 30 days a 12 months — the everyday trade quota used for estimating how a lot a family makes use of a second dwelling.
And a shout-out to the regtechs with feminine CEOs …
Fides
Based: 2021HQ: Munich2022 increase: $4.3m seed in October Traders in final spherical: Berlin-based early stage VC fund La Famiglia led the spherical, and was joined by a bunch of angels. Valuation: $17m-26m (Dealroom estimates)CEO: Lisa Gradow
Study extra about Fides right here.
PocketLaw
Based: 2018HQ: Stockholm2022 increase: $11m Sequence A in Might Traders in final spherical: Atomico and a bunch of operator angels.Valuation: $44m-66m (Dealroom estimates)CEO: Kira Unger
Study extra about PocketLaw right here.
2022-funded fintechs with feminine cofounders
Yokoy
Based: 2019HQ: Zurich2022 increase: $80m Sequence B in MarchTraders in final spherical: Speedinvest, Sequoia, UNIQA Ventures, Visionaries Membership, Zinal DevelopmentValuation: $320m-480m (Dealroom estimates)Cofounder: Melanie Gabriel, CMO
Study extra about Yokoy right here.
GoHenry
Based: 2012HQ: London2022 increase: $55m Sequence B in October Traders in final spherical: Speedinvest, Sequoia, UNIQA Ventures, Visionaries Membership, Zinal DevelopmentValuation: $220m-330m (Dealroom estimates)Cofounder: Louise Hill, COO
Study extra about GoHenry right here.
Brxs
Based: 2021HQ: Amsterdam2022 increase: €3m seed in SeptemberTraders in final spherical: Axeleo Capital (AXC), Picus CapitalValuation: $13m-20m (Dealroom estimates)Cofounder: Amrita Ramsaransing
Study extra about Brxs right here.
Formance
Based: 2021HQ: Paris2022 increase: $3.1m pre-seed in JuneTraders in final spherical: Y Combinator, Hoxton Ventures, FrstValuation: $12m-19m (Dealroom estimates)Cofounder: COO Anne-Sybille Pradelles
Study extra about Formance right here.
Lendable
Based: 2014HQ: London2022 increase: £210m in MarchInvestors in final spherical: Ontario Academics’ Pension PlanValuation: $4.8bnCofounder: Victoria van Lennep
Study extra about Lendable right here.
Amy O’Brien is Sifted’s fintech reporter. She tweets from @Amy_EOBrien and writes our fintech e-newsletter — you possibly can enroll right here.
