<div>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Wahed Invest, a robo-advisory platform focused on Shariah-compliant investments, has raised USD 50 million in Series B funding led by Wa&rsquo;ed Ventures (the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center) with participation from French footballer Paul Pogba and other investors. Wahed Invest&rsquo;s total funding now stands at USD 90 million, with a post-money valuation of nearly USD 300 million.&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        The company plans to utilize the funding to support its business growth in the Middle East and North African region including Saudi Arabia and the development of Niyah, its neobank platform to be launched in the UK toward the end of this year.&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        Paul Pogba has recently joined as a brand ambassador for Wahed Invest and is now part of its team of brand ambassadors including mixed martial arts fighters such as Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Zubaira Tukhugov, and Umar Nurmagomedov.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-15/islamic-startup-wahed-raises-50-million-for-middle-east-growth#xj4y7vzkg">
      Bloomberg
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.salaamgateway.com/story/wahed-invest-secures-50-million-series-b-financing-preps-digital-banking-platform">
      Salaam Gateway
    </a>
  </p>
</div>


Retail Trading Infrastructure

Wahed Invest raises USD 50 million in Series B funding

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 <p>Revolut, a UK-based neobanking platform, has received its UK trading license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This permits Revolut Trading to function as an authorized investment firm and broaden its product range for over 650,000 UK trading customers. The firm is also planning to introduce UK and EU stocks and ETFs and update its trading platform.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> This July—after a three-year wait—Revolout secured its <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32011"> UK banking </a> <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/32011"> license </a> from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). These regulatory licenses position the company to offer a wider range of financial services in the UK and set it toward a potential IPO, despite the company not confirming such plans. Following an <a href="https:<br>
//fintechmagazine.com/articles/revolut-hits-us-45bn-valuation-after-share-sale#:<br>
~:<br>
text=Revolut%20Reaches%20US%2445bn,Employee%20Share%20Sale%20%7C%20FinTech%20Magazine"> employee share sale transaction </a> , Revolut was valued at USD 45 billion in August 2024 .</p>

Revolut secures UK trading licence for standalone operations

<div>
 
 <p>AI platform Zeplyn raised 3 million USD in seed funding, with Leo Capital leading the round. Money from Converge and various angel investors also contributed. The funds will be used by the company as it looks to rebuild wealth management from an AI-native perspective.</p>
 <p>The platform's AI Meeting Assistant is designed to help financial advisors save time by automating several different tasks. This automation applies to pre-meeting preparation, note-taking during the meeting, and post-meeting workflows. The system boasts an over 90% reduction in manual work and is compatible with several systems like Salesforce, Redtail, and Wealthbox.</p>
 <p>The platform was founded in 2022 with a mission to provide an AI-powered assistant for financial advisors. Created by ex-Google engineers, it turns disorganized meeting conversations into neat, structured notes. Furthermore, it integrates well with commonly used video conferencing and CRM platforms.</p>
 
</div>

Zeplyn raises USD 3 million in seed funding to streamline advisor workflows

<div>
 
 <p>Moneybox, a UK-based investing and savings platform, has garnered GBP 70 million (~USD 90.5 million) from a secondary funding round headed by Apis Global Growth Fund III and including Amundi. This funding round has raised the company's value to GBP 550 million, reflecting an 84% rise since its Series D valuation in March 2022.</p>
 <p>The funds will be raised via a sale of secondary shares, with present investors offloading around 10%–15% of their existing share capital. This allows the company's 35,000 shareholders, such as crowdfund investors, clients, and staff, to sell off 10% of their shares.</p>
 <p>With over GBP 10 billion in assets under administration (AUA), Moneybox has moved into profitability. The firm reported a 168% surge in revenue and a 46% rise in AUA per client in the previous fiscal year, offering its services to over a million customers throughout the UK.</p>
 
</div>

Moneybox raises GBP 70 million in secondary funding from Apis Growth Fund III

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 <p>Brighty App, a digital banking app based in Switzerland, has launched an AI-powered investment management service. The service, which is available on the App Store and Google Play to users in EU and EEA countries, makes use of custom portfolio offerings and data-driven strategies such as Momentum and Industrial.</p>
 <p>With the use of AI, the service allows for investment in assorted portfolios with a single click of a button. In addition, continuous market analysis and trade rebalancing, driven by AI that analyses millions of data points, is available.</p>
 <p>Brighty App states their AI platform offers advanced strategies, previously available only to quant firms. Reportedly, the customised portfolios year-on-year returns can go up to 21%. A zero-commission fee structure is in place for the platform, with instant deposits and withdrawals.</p>
</div>

Brighty App launches automated investment management offering

<div>
 <p>Revolut, the UK-based neobanking platform, has introduced a standalone wealth management app called Revolut Invest. The app provides access to a variety of assets which include 5,000 US and European stocks, ETFs, bonds, commodities, and contracts for difference (CFDs).</p>
 <p>The new app, currently being piloted in countries such as Denmark, Greece, and the Czech Republic, comes with features borrowed from Revolut's wealth management business. Apart from this, it offers a premium subscription tier, Trading Pro, giving users benefits like reduced commission fees, broader limits, and valuable analytics.</p>
 <p>The standalone app is part of Revolut's strategy to attract users outside of its existing bank client base. By the end of the year, the plan is to expand Revolut Invest to other countries in the European Economic Area. Future plans include extension to the UK, US, Australia, and Singapore.</p>
 <p>At present, Revolut has a user base of 45 million, with 500,000 businesses and 3 million active traders using the platform. It also boasts of 20,000 premium investment account subscribers.</p>
</div>

Revolut launches standalone wealth management app Revolut Invest

<div>
 
 <p>The online trading platform eToro, based in Israel, has consented to pay a penalty of USD 1.5 million to resolve SEC allegations of functioning as an unregistered broker and clearing agency for certain cryptocurrencies. </p>
 <p>In accordance to the settlement, eToro will restrict its US customers to trade only Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ether on its platform. The activities with other cryptocurrencies offered as securities will be stopped. The platform will give its users the go-ahead to sell other cryptocurrencies 180 days post the SEC's order and liquidate any remainders within 187 days, refunding these proceeds to its customers.</p>
 <p>The SEC regards this settlement as a step towards augmenting investor protection and provides a blueprint for other crypto intermediaries to adhere to the existing regulatory frameworks.</p>
 
</div>

eToro settles for USD 1.5 million with SEC over unregistered trading of certain crypto assets

<div>

 <p>Digital wealth management solutions provider, SigFig, has enhanced its Engage platform with new AI-powered features. Engage is a collaborative tool for financial advisors combining human expertise and technology.</p>
 <p>AI enhancements introduce smart tips for in-meeting prompts and customisable suggestions, proactive surfacing of pertinent content and tools, and automatic transcripts and meeting summaries. The platform can also integrate with Salesforce, Docusign, Microsoft, and Google for two-way data synchronization.</p>
 <p>SigFig suggests its AI features can heighten financial advisor productivity and performance, allowing advisors to concentrate on strengthening client relationships. Additionally, the platform will provide personalised client experiences and manage time-intensive administrative tasks.</p>

</div>

SigFig enhances Engage platform offerings with added AI capabilities

<div>
 
 <p>The trading platform Robinhood stopped trading temporarily amid a huge stock market sell-off. During this significant market decline, Robinhood's 24-hour trading service was discontinued preventing users from participating in volatile trade. </p>
 <p>This decision of suspension came when S&amp;P 500 experienced a 4% drop in its early-day trading, along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 1,197 points. Users were notified about the unavailability of 24-hour market through a warning message displayed on Robinhood's app, but they were informed they could still place orders for the next trading session.</p>
 <p>Like other institutions, Robinhood abides by the "circuit breakers" of the stock market, which are defined criteria set by SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) for halting trades. These protocol steps are key in preventing panic selling and averting market crashes in times of severe volatility.</p>
 
</div>

Robinhood halts trading amid stock market sell-off

<div>
 
 <p>Online trading platform Robinhood has introduced a joint investment account feature. This feature enables users to collectively manage their investments by merging individual accounts into one shared account. The purpose is to simplify the investment process by centralising financial assets.</p>
 
 <p>The joint account allows shared access, fund transfers, investment management, and the flexibility to alternate between individual and joint accounts with ease.</p>
  
 <p>In an attempt to further benefit its users, Robinhood is not charging extra for these joint accounts. The accounts also include a 1% boost on deposits and a 5% annual percentage yield on uninvested cash, providing additional financial gain and growth opportunities.</p>

</div>

Robinhood launches joint investment accounts

<div>
 <p>Online trading platform eToro, based in Israel, has formed a partnership with the London Stock Exchange. This collaboration aims at offering users access to over 1,000 additional UK stocks and improving the quality of market data.</p>
 <p>This partnership will phase in the inclusion of more UK stocks to eToro's platform over the forthcoming months, growing from their existing offering of over 400 listed UK companies. eToro aims to enhance the trading experience for its global clientele, comprising of 3.8 million registered UK users. This enhancement will involve offering access to smaller stocks and better quality pricing data.</p>
 <p>This joint endeavor is a part of the strategies of eToro to tailor their offerings for the UK market. The strategy is in line with the prior launch of its ISA product and the provision for UK users to directly invest from GBP-denominated eToro Money accounts.</p>
</div>

All Updates

Wahed Invest raises USD 50 million in Series B funding

Revolut secures UK trading licence for standalone operations

Zeplyn raises USD 3 million in seed funding to streamline advisor workflows

Moneybox raises GBP 70 million in secondary funding from Apis Growth Fund III

Brighty App launches automated investment management offering

Revolut launches standalone wealth management app Revolut Invest

eToro settles for USD 1.5 million with SEC over unregistered trading of certain crypto assets

SigFig enhances Engage platform offerings with added AI capabilities

Robinhood halts trading amid stock market sell-off

Robinhood launches joint investment accounts

eToro partners with London Stock Exchange to expand UK stock offerings

Retail Trading Infrastructure

Wahed Invest raises USD 50 million in Series B funding

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