Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 19 July 2018
Seedrs launches AutoInvest
An equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs announces a pioneering move for the sector with the launch of its new product AutoInvest. Following recent game changing products such as its Secondary Market and Portfolio Update, Seedrs continues to lead the way with expansion into automation.
For six years, investments on equity crowdfunding platforms have been entirely on a self-directed basis, with investors hand picking every campaign to invest in individually. With AutoInvest, investors select the amount they would like to invest per-campaign and the product then automatically invests based on criteria they have chosen.
Seedrs’ AutoInvest opens up early-stage private equity to investors who have long been interested in the asset class, but not able to dedicate the time. AutoInvest allows investors to build a diverse portfolio of early-stage businesses more efficiently than ever before. Investors that use AutoInvest won’t miss out on campaigns that suit their investment preferences.
Canadian credit union coalition joins R3
The Large Credit Union Coalition (LCUC), a group comprising the CIOs of the 16 largest credit unions in Canada, has joined enterprise software firm R3’s global blockchain ecosystem. Representing over $125B in assets, LCUC fosters innovation and technology to the benefit of the whole Canadian credit union system. It will join R3’s network of over 200 financial institutions, regulators, trade associations, professional services firms and technology companies to develop on Corda, R3’s blockchain platform designed specifically for businesses.
Corda is the world’s only blockchain platform designed from the ground up for businesses operating in complex and highly-regulated markets. It offers access to a vibrant network of interoperable blockchain applications for finance and commerce.
David E. Rutter, CEO of R3, comments: “Canada is a hub for blockchain innovation and remains a key market for R3. We are pleased to welcome LCUC on board and look forward to working with its group of CIOs to enrich the services offered to their members with Corda’s unique enterprise-focused blockchain technology.”
PayBreak secures £15 million in funding from Paragon
UK Fintech firm PayBreak has secured an additional £15m of funding with specialist banking group Paragon as part of its growth plans.
PayBreak, based in Altrincham, specialises in innovative digital point of sale finance through online retailers, allowing customers to spread the cost of payments on purchases through its afforditNOW online lending platform.
To expand its lending capacity, PayBreak has worked closely with the Structured Lending team at Paragon, which provides senior secured funding to help other UK-based, non-bank lenders grow their activities.
Using extensive experience in banking, payments, and e-commerce, PayBreak has seen extensive growth in recent years as it uses advanced analytics, flexible finance solutions and technology to enable real-time lending decisions to retailers at the point of sale along with individual customers. Its clients include health and life insurance firm Vitality.
Julia Throop, Managing Director of PayBreak, said: “This additional support from Paragon will only help us go from strength to strength and achieve our plans to reach more clients. By using innovative ideas and technology, we have found a fresh and useful way to help retailers provide flexible finance to their customers and we want to tap into a growing demand for that.”
Eacs acquires Sentronex
Managed services provider EACS announces that it has acquired the privately held IT services company Sentronex.
Based in London, Sentronex provides high quality disaster recovery and IT managed and professional services to the UK’s City financial organisations. Founded in 2005, this award winning company works specifically with FCA regulated businesses, using its specialist understanding of this sector to design and produce solutions that address the demanding needs of its clients.
The move represents a significant acceleration for EACS, with the business achieving growth that will secure £30m in revenues in 2018. The acquisition consolidates and builds upon the company’s position in financial services sector.
Commenting on the acquisition, Kevin Timms, CEO of EACS said:
“Sentronex has built a well-deserved reputation for great service within the financial services sector over many years. This acquisition enables us to add a fantastic set of clients to our business from a base in London of high quality technical resources. Significantly, Sentronex’s disaster recovery services adds an important new dimension to our managed services portfolio and Sentronex customers will have the advantage of EACS’s end-to-end cloud and business consultancy portfolio.
