In 2015, two independant investment teams were created in Paris inside Otium Capital, Pierre-Edouard Stérin's family office: * Otium Venture, focused on Seed investments in Tech companies (€40m invested in 14 companies among which Payfit, Doctrine, Owkin...) * Otium Brands, focused on Seed & Series A investments in Consumer Goods companies  In 2019, the two teams spun off to become independant investment firms: * Otium Venture became frst * Otium Brands became Eutopia

Otium Capital

Kima Ventures is one of the world's most active early-stage investors, investing in 2 to 3 startups per week all over the world; providing founders with funding, network, and support for them to reach the next steps of their journey. The firm invests from seed to Series A, mostly as lead investor but also working alongside other investors; backing ambitious founders who work hard to build awesome things that more and more people use everyday. The company helps them to build a great team, to learn very quickly, to keep the right focus and execute towards growth. Kima takes pride of itself in working side-by-side with entrepreneurs. They claim to understand that fundraising is only one step in the company’s journey, that’s why they take quick decisions and make the fundraising process as smooth as possible so the founders can get back to the work of building their business. Kima considers itself not only an investor, but a network of founders and experts sharing a pay it forward mindset. Headquartered in Paris with an office in London, the company was founded and backed by Xavier Niel, founder of Iliad and supporter of entrepreneurs through such projects as 42, Station F and 101projets. Over the last 5 years Kima has invested in over 400 startups in 24 different countries.

Kima Ventures

13Books Capital provides and offers financial assistance and support to various companies. It manages investment processes and financial services of business. 13Books Capital  is based in London, UK.

13books Capital

We aim to take minority stakes in European consumer facing startups that can shape the future of marketplaces. Our primary investment areas are proptech, fintech, future of work, education and mobility among others. We look for aspiring category leaders with tangible traction, a potential to scale beyond their domestic market, and which we can support with more than financial resources. Our sweet spot is Series A and B.

Adevinta Ventures

Ankaa Ventures is a European venture firm backing visionary leaders at seed stage.

Ankaa Ventures

Aria

On a mission to help small businesses grow exponentially with Payment-terms-as-a-Service.  At Aria, we believe that:  - When payments go fast, businesses grow fast - it’s that simple! - Managing payments and credits at scale is the way for endless growth - our API offers high stability and extensible limits  - The service and support of our teams is just as important as the financing solution we provide - we’re not just another tech product  Aria was founded in 2020 and is based in Paris, France.

France-based Aria offers a digital payments and receipts management platform that allows businesses to enable checkout options, KYC/KYB checks, debtor risk analysis, anti-fraud analysis, credit insurance, and debt recovery. Aria also offers an invoice financing lending solution for its business customers. The platform services various business types, including B2B marketplaces and SaaS platforms.

Democratizing financial technology with a suite of API-based solutions

FinTech Infrastructure

Parisian Fintech Aria Secures €15M in Series A Funding Round for Payment Solutions

France-based Aria offers a digital payments and receipts management platform that allows businesses to enable checkout options, KYC/KYB checks, debtor risk analysis, anti-fraud analysis, credit insurance, and debt recovery. Aria also offers an invoice financing lending solution for its business customers. The platform services various business types, including B2B marketplaces and SaaS platforms.Aria's technology integrates with client systems via APIs, supporting instant payment capabilities and maintaining cash flow for growth. By enhancing payment processing speeds, the company claims it can boost client acquisition rates and supply retention rates by 25% and 35%, respectively.Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2023, Aria had serviced payments and receipts for over 45 platforms including jump and other B2B marketplaces such as STAFFME, Momi, Comet, Brigad, and Malt.Funding and financialsAs of December 2023, the platform had processed payments of more than EUR 500 million from nearly 30,000 businesses and freelancers, with invoice values in the range of EUR 500–20,000.In December 2023, Aria raised EUR 15 million (~USD 16.2 million) in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24845">Series A funding</a> led by 13books Capital. The funds were earmarked to support the expansion of its business model and product offerings, particularly focused on the global SaaS market.

Cross River Bank provides a white-label banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform for enterprises, combining banking services, payments, and marketplace lending infrastructure to build fintechs. Its solutions comprise demand deposits, savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and payment clearing services, including automated clearing house (ACH) and real-time payments. The company also provides banking and payment infrastructure for the crypto industry, including risk management services for its crypto clients. Key customers and partnerships As of December 2020, the company had over 400 employees, and had entered into more than 30 partnerships. Moreover, as of March 2021, the platform had been used to support over 375,000 small businesses through the paycheck protection program (PPP).Cross River Bank teamed up with UK-based BaaS provider <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/421515">Railsr </a>in January 2019 to launch a common API for their platforms to be used globally. As of April 2022, Cross River had over 80 clients including lenders such as Affirm, Best Egg, and Upstart, neobanks such as <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/220119">Revolut </a>, and blockchain-based payment processing platform GreenBox. The platform reportedly originated over USD 24 billion in loans per annum, around 10x the value of loans it originated in 2015. Cross River Bank has expanded its operations by acquiring Betterfin, a platform offering lending-as-a-service (LaaS) solutions, in November 2021. Through the acquisition, Cross River Bank leveraged Betterfin’s software to digitize parts of the small-business lending process (such as origination and underwriting).The company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/1643">American Express </a>(Amex) to enable FinTechs to issue credit cards through Cross River Bank, on the Amex network, while also providing select Amex benefits to the FinTechs.Funding and financials The company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9458">raised USD 620 million in funding </a>co-led by Eldridge and a16z, at a valuation of over USD 3 billion, to invest in product developments, recruitment, international expansion, and boosting strategic partnerships.

Cross River Bank

Synctera was co-founded in 2020 by Peter Hazlehurst, the former head of Uber Money, who previously led the development of Google Wallet. The company offers an API-based infrastructure platform for community and regional banks to find and partner with FinTechs. This enables FinTechs to leverage the former’s licenses to embed FDIC-insured mobile checking, debit cards, savings accounts, and payment innovations, among other features. The API platform offered to the banks will then be sold to the FinTechs to code on. Although the end customers interact with the FinTechs, they legally belong to the bank.<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8117">Synctera mainly charges the banks </a>based on the interchange fees they earn (half of the interchange fees, as of January 2022) from the services provided. It does not charge them an initial amount to use the platform. Moreover, the platform also embeds fraud-as-a-service and charges FinTechs on a per transaction basis (4 cents per transaction) should they choose to use it. It subsequently shares that revenue 50/50 with the banks.The company launched the “t-minus10” project in January 2022, which offers a live sandbox for FinTechs to build apps, test, and go to market, enhancing their access to banking partners. It subsequently launched a “Smart Charge Card” (APIs to build, launch, and issue charge cards) and “White-label Banking App” (a codebase for developers to build embedded banking products or neobank apps) infrastructure in October 2022.Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2022, Lineage Bank (a community bank in Tennessee) and GoGetr (FinTech aiming to promote health and wealth management) became the first companies to launch a banking solution using the Synctera platform. As of March 2023, the platform was working with around 50 fintechs, of which 14 were live (including Wayapay and Float). Synctera reportedly had over 20 implementations set for launch in the following two months.Synctera announced a new card issuing and management infrastructure offering (Card-as-a-Service), in July 2021, which it developed in partnership with Mastercard and leading card issuing infrastructure disruptor, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/64287">Marqeta</a>.Funding and financialsIn March 2024, Synctera raised USD 18.6 million in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27244">Series A1 extension</a> co-led by Lightspeed and Fin Capital. The company earmarked the funds to support business growth by facilitating more complex use cases across the US and international markets. The company also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16980?industryIds=53">raised USD 15 million</a> in funding led by NAventures in March 2023, to invest in expanding the platform’s use cases and broadening its geographic footprint beyond the US (including expanding to Canada). Meanwhile, Synctera has also partnered with the National Bank of Canada to enable companies to launch FinTech apps and embedded banking products in Canada.

Synctera

Based in the UK, Weavr, formerly known as Open Payments Cloud, was spun out of payment provider Ixaris in 2019. Weavr offers the infrastructure for enterprises to embed banking services across various industries, including education, fitness, logistics, etc. Weavr’s “Meta” platform combines multiple banking and payments partners in one platform through application programming interfaces (APIs). Using the APIs, enterprises can embed virtual banking services such as card payments, fund transfers, and international banking accounts.Weavr expanded its operations to Singapore in November 2022, as part of its global expansion plans.Key customers and partnershipsAs of July 2021, Weavr’s customers included Finway, Thanks Ben, and MySkillCamp, among others.In October 2019, Weavr partnered with payment service providers Global Processing Services (GPS), Paynetics, and iDenfy to enable developers to create and run sophisticated and streamlined payment experiences for their European customers through Weavr.Funding and financialsWeavr <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8647?industryIds=53">raised USD 40 million </a>in Series A funding in February 2022, led by Tiger Global, less than a year after <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4166">raising GBP 4 million (USD 5.5 million) </a>in seed funding in July. The funds were earmarked for business development and recruitment to support Weavr’s expansion to the US market, while also supporting its continued expansion in the UK and Europe.

Weavr

MX offers an open finance portal, data connectivity application programming interface (API), and MX platform API for banks, credit unions, and other financial service providers. The company’s solutions allow its clients to utilize financial data to reduce fraud, approve loans faster, and improve their customer experiences. In addition to APIs and connections, MX also offers a range of capabilities, including data aggregation, analytics, financial feed insights, wealth and investment services, and verification services. MX looks to enable banks and financial institutions to launch next-generation services and apps that automate and personalize financial experiences. As of January 2021, the company noted that it worked with more than 2,000 banks, credit unions, and FinTech companies, and its platform reached over 200 million end-users. Moreover, it also powered 43 of the top 50 digital banks as of the same period. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8753?industryIds=53">February 2022, MX partnered </a>with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/361160">Rize </a>, to enable users to access Rize’s banking infrastructure to build, launch, and scale financial products through a single API, thereby reducing the development time and cost. In January 2021, MX raised USD 300 million in a Series C funding round led by TPG Capital, at a valuation of USD 1.9 billion. The newly raised funds are to be invested in improving MX’s capabilities, expanding its global presence, and increasing its workforce. In January 2021, MX noted that its headcount tripled over the past two years, reaching 550 staff members. The company appointed Shane Evans as interim chief executive officer (CEO) in January 2022, to prepare the company for an IPO or sale (at a valuation of over USD 5 billion) and oversee its growth.

Bankable is a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) infrastructure provider allowing financial institutions and corporations to utilize its API to integrate banking services. It provides a platform for its enterprise customers to offer modular banking services, including ledger management (process data from multiple banks to support cash management for global corporate affairs), digital banking, payment cards, and e-wallets. The company expanded its platform by <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19662">acquiring Arex Markets </a>in June 2023, to embed working capital solutions (such as flexible invoice financing, corporate credit cards, lodged cars, and revolving credit). The company has a global presence, with operations spanning from the US to the Middle East as of January 2021. Bankable noted that the expansion of its global footprint also helps its European and US FinTech clients expand their operations internationally. Key customers and partnerships In January 2020, the company partnered with the diversified FinTech infrastructure provider <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/85350">Plaid </a>, which enabled Bankable’s customers to use Plaid’s tech to connect to more than 15,000 banks in the US and Europe. Funding and financialsIn April 2019, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/13061">Visa </a>invested an undisclosed sum in Bankable and entered a partnership with the startup. Through the partnership, Visa members obtained access to Bankable’s platform, while Bankable used VisaNet (Visa’s electronic global payments network) to extend its international payment and banking solutions.

Bankable

Platforms that allow FinTechs to integrate banking services such as opening and maintaining accounts, facilitating card payments, etc.


Platforms that enable FinTechs to integrate a range of payment-related services such as one-time payments, subscriptions, and receipt management for domestic and cross-border transactions.


Companies that enable organizations to embed anti-money laundering (AML), identity verification, and know-your-customer (KYC) solutions.


Platforms that allow FinTechs to integrate lending services,  by typically applying AI/ML technology to a spending analysis to analyze creditworthiness.

Companies providing APIs and integrations for FinTechs to access securities markets, facilitate transactions and clearing, and provide insights to help end-users manage their finances.

May specialize in promoting inclusiveness in financial services, primarily in the investment and lending spaces

AI/ML can improve the quality of their offerings, such as using AI/ML to reduce biases

Used for payment completions, accessing banking and transaction data, and providing financial insights, among others

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 Aria, a French digital payments platform, has secured EUR 15 million in a Series A funding round. It was led by 13books Capital and included contributions from Adevinta Ventures, Ankaa Ventures, Otium Capital, and several angels. This brings Aria's total funding to EUR 69 million.
 The funds are earmarked for business expansion and product development, notably within the global SaaS market.
 Currently, Aria has transacted EUR 500 million in payments from nearly 30,000 businesses and freelancers.
</div> Analyst QuickTake: The payment and subscription infrastructure space has seen several companies raising early-stage funding recently. For instance, Rainforest raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22557"> USD 11.75 million in funding </a> (in October), and PortX raised USD 16.5 million in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22236"> Series B funding </a> (in September) primarily for product developments.

Aria

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