Velocity Venture focuses on technology-driven startups, investing primarily in seed and early series rounds.  They are based near Sacramento, CA.

Velocity Venture Capital

Frumtak (a.k.a. Frumtak Investment Fund, Frumtak I, Frumtak 1) was founded December 23rd. 2008. The objective was to invest in early stage growth companies that were post seed and had growth potential. This would result in leading companies that could deliver a good return to investors. At the close of Frumtak‘s investment period on December 31st. 2012, the fund had invested in fifteen companies with nine investments still active. The remainder of lifetime of the fund is used to follow on investments and divest assets.  Frumtak Ventures (Frumtak II, Frumtak 2) started in February 2015. The fund builds on the legacy of Frumtak 1. The fund invests in early stage innovative companies that are post seed and show great potential for growth.   The fund invests primarily in Iceland but is allowed to invest abroad as allowed by law in connection with its portfolio investments to ensure success in foreign markets.  Frumtak II emphasizes to invest in companies where growth and sales in foreign markets are the primary objective, but does not specialize in any particular industry. The fund wants to ensure that original ideas get a chance and thereby increasing the probability of creating growth and value. By doing this, it enforces the image that Icelandic innovation is profitable.  Frumtak II aspires to be a trusted and popular ally. The fund strives to have a good relationship and co-operation with all stakeholders within the start-up and innovation community. The fund puts a special emphasis on co-operating with stakeholders outside Iceland.

Frumtak Ventures

Kjölfesta invests in intermediaries and smaller companies in Iceland.

Kjölfesta

Canadian Pacific is a cross-continental railroad system that provides extensive railway connectivity. The company boasts direct connections to seaports along both the western and eastern coastlines of Canada. The company facilitates efficient transportation of goods between major industrial centers and ports, contributing significantly to the transportation and logistics infrastructure.

Canadian Pacific Railway

Groupe BPCE is France's second largest bank, formed by the 2009 merger of CNCE (Caisse nationale des caisses d'épargne) and BFBP (Banque fédérale des banques populaires), has more than 8,200 branches nationwide under their respective brand names serving nearly 40 million customers. Through its subsidiaries (including Natixis), it provides banking, financial, and real estate financing services to individuals, professionals, small and medium enterprises, large enterprises, and institutions in France and internationally.  Groupe BPCE was founded in 2009 and is based in Paris, France.

Groupe BPCE

Credito Agricola offers banking services such as insurance, deposits and investment, credit, internet and mobile banking.

Credito Agricola

Omega ehf is a private investment vehicle that makes investments in private equity and a variety of ventures.

Omega ehf

Meniga

Meniga is a digital banking platform that helps banks, businesses, and individuals manage their financial data. Its product offering includes data aggregation, personal and business finance management, cashback rewards, and transaction-based carbon insights. They are a team of coders, designers, salespeople, and data scientists who get excited about shaping the future of financial technology. They work with complicated solutions that operate across channels, are modular, and customizable for every client. If you love big data, predictive models, analytics, operational benchmarking, and getting the job done they’d like to hear from you.

<div>UK-based Meniga offers banking infrastructure through application programming interfaces (APIs) for banks to build digital banking solutions. Its infrastructure enables user enterprises to include data and finance management solutions including personal and business finance management as well as cash flow assistance. The infrastructure enables banks to personalize offerings to clients using personal data.&nbsp;</div>

Democratizing financial technology with a suite of API-based solutions

FinTech Infrastructure

<div>Meniga is a digital banking platform that helps banks, businesses, and individuals manage their financial data. Its product offering includes data aggregation, personal and business finance management, cashback rewards, and transaction-based carbon insights. They are a team of coders, designers, salespeople, and data scientists who get excited about shaping the future of financial technology. They work with complicated solutions that operate across channels, are modular, and customizable for every client. If you love big data, predictive models, analytics, operational benchmarking, and getting the job done they’d like to hear from you.</div>

Embedding environmental, social, and corporate governance factors into investments

Sustainable Finance

<div>
 
 UK-based Meniga offers banking infrastructure through application programming interfaces (APIs) for banks to build digital banking solutions. Its infrastructure enables user enterprises to include data and finance management solutions including personal and business finance management as well as cash flow assistance. The infrastructure enables banks to personalize offerings to clients using personal data.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 In addition to legacy banking services, the infrastructure also offers &ldquo;Carbon Insights&rdquo;, which tracks the estimated carbon footprint of individual transactions to help reduce their personal carbon footprint. In March 2021, Iceland-based &Iacute;slandsbanki, became the first Nordic bank to implement the Carbon Insights Solution, to its digital banking offering.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 As of March 2021, the company had 165 banking clients with operations in over 30 countries. In addition to its UK headquarters, Meniga was also present in Reykjavik, Stockholm, Warsaw, Singapore and Barcelona.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 In December 2023, Meniga 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24912">
 raised EUR 15 million 
 </a>
 (USD 16.5 million) in Series D funding, to reduce the company&rsquo;s existing debt and invest in product developments, focusing on advancing core capabilities around Data Enrichment and Hyper Personalized Insights for the financial services sector.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 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.
 
 
 
</div>

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

<div>
 
 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&rsquo;s &ldquo;Meta&rdquo; 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.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 Weavr expanded its operations to Singapore in November 2022, as part of its global expansion plans.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 As of July 2021, Weavr&rsquo;s customers included Finway, Thanks Ben, and MySkillCamp, among others.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 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.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 Weavr 
 <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&rsquo;s expansion to the US market, while also supporting its continued expansion in the UK and Europe. 
 
</div>

Weavr

<div>
 
 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. 
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Synapse offers a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) infrastructure primarily for banking and financial service providers. The infrastructure applies machine learning and automates repetitive back office tasks, covering a breadth of products, including deposit, lending, investment products, and payments platforms, among others. Its white-label infrastructure is available through application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing developers to launch customer-facing FinTech services.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 The company expanded its platform by launching the &ldquo;Credit Hub&rdquo; offering in August 2021, for financial institutions to help individuals build and access credit, and offer cards, credit building tools, lending accounts, and cashback rewards. Synapse claims its platform enables users to build FinTech solutions in six weeks, compared to the 18 months taken by typical alternatives. The Credit Hub was in private beta until August 2021, and in private beta it had issued around 1 million credit accounts and extended over USD 40 million in credit.&nbsp;
 
 
 In June 2019, the company claimed that its integrations allow developers and apps to reduce the incremental cost of operating financial products to zero, from around USD 130-USD 150.Synapse looks to broaden its global footprint by gradually entering Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. As of June 2019, its operations were limited to the US; however, the company intended to begin its foreign expansion to Canada and Europe by initially launching payment, deposit, and debit card issuances, expanding to lending and investment products thereafter.
 
 
 In October 2023, Synapse 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22521">
 laid off nearly 40% of its workforce
 </a>
 due to worsening macroeconomic conditions having unfavorable impacts on business circumstances, clients, and platforms. In June 2020, the company laid off nearly half of its workforce across 11 departments owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was largely due to the pandemic having a negative impact on its customers, who primarily comprised early-stage startups.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In January 2022, Synapse 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7574">
 partnered with TrueAccord
 
 </a>
 to offer debt collection service infrastructure for its clients.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In April 2020, the company&rsquo;s annual recurring revenue was estimated at around USD 20 million-USD 30 million and the company reportedly doubled its revenue in 2020 and saw a 150% revenue growth year-to-date July 2021. Notably, as of January 2021, Synapse had more than 7.8 million users and processed over USD 39 billion in transactions.
 
 
 &nbsp; 
 
</div>

Synapse

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

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


<div>
 
 Meniga is a digital banking platform that helps banks, businesses, and individuals manage their financial data. Its product offering includes data aggregation, personal and business finance management, cashback rewards, and transaction-based carbon insights. They are a team of coders, designers, salespeople, and data scientists who get excited about shaping the future of financial technology. They work with complicated solutions that operate across channels, are modular, and customizable for every client. If you love big data, predictive models, analytics, operational benchmarking, and getting the job done they’d like to hear from you.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Starling Bank is an award-winning and fully licensed bank built to give people a fairer, smarter, and more human alternative to the banks of the past. Starling Bank offers four different account types – personal, business, joint, and euro, plus a child card. Pairing this with a pioneering payment services proposition for businesses, Starling’s world-class tech reimagines banking for life today, putting the tools people need to feel good about money in the palm of their hand. All of Starling’s accounts are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
 
</div>

Starling Bank

<div>
 
 Sustainability-focused banking platform that claims not to use deposits to fund fossil fuel exploration or production. States that it plants up to two trees every time a purchase is made under its credit card offering and provides cash-back rewards of up to 1% on all purchases if customers attain carbon zero status.
 
 
 Offers incentives to promote sustainable practices, such as 3–5% cashback on Conscience Coalition purchases, personal impact scores, and options to plant a tree with every round-up of spending. Also provides access to the company’s “Redwood Fund” and “Redwood IRA”; an investment fund and retirement account which solely invests in companies that are based on sustainable and ethical principles.
 
</div>

Aspiration

<div>
 
 Classy is a social enterprise that helps nonprofits maximize their impact through a suite of world-class online fundraising tools. The company also hosts the Collaborative and Classy Awards to recognize excellence in social innovation. Since 2011, they've powered tens of millions of donations from over 190 countries and raised over $2 billion for social good.
 
</div>

Classy

<div>
 
 Sustainability-focused banking platform; offers a “Green Instant Access Saver,” which it launched in February 2021; a savings feature with variable interest rates and an annual equivalent rate (AER) of 0.4%.
 
 
 Supports green lending initiatives; offers “Green Loans” to its customers to fund green initiatives.
 
</div>

Tandem

<div>
 
 Cushon is a fintech company that provides investment, pension, financial wellbeing and workplace savings.
 
</div>

Cushon

AI/ML is used to support robo advisory functions and allocate funds into ESG-based investments

Startups in this hub focus on ESG-related financial services such as sustainable investing

Companies that provide the digital infrastructure for financial institutions to offer their own sustainable finance products.

Meniga

FinTech Infrastructure

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Recent Updates

Meniga raises EUR 15 million in Series D funding to reduce debt and enhance product development

Meniga appoints Gunter Saurwein as COO

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