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THE MONTH IN NUMBERS
The month in numbers… $55 MILLION…Blockchain startup Ripple has raised $55 million in
Series B financing, including participation from new investors Standard Chartered, Accenture, and SCB Digital Ventures (the venture arm of Siam Commercial Bank).
It has also added Standard Chartered, Westpac, National Australian Bank (NAB), Mizuoho Financial Group, BMO Financial Group, Siam Commercial Bank and Shanghai Huarui Bank to its network. The FIs will be looking to tap Ripple’s distributed financial technology to improve their cross-border payments. They line up alongside such existing customers as Santander, UniCredit, UBS, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Westpac Banking Corporation, ReiseBank, CIBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), ATB Financial, and Fidor Bank. Ripple’s network now includes 15 of the top 50 global banks, 10 in commercial deal phases, and over 30 bank pilots completed.
“2016 has proven to be the year where the most forward-thinking financial institutions are actually using blockchain technologies for payments and settlement rather than as an experiment,” says Ripple CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen (pictured). “The continued growth of the Ripple network represents a major endorsement of our open approach to connecting the world’s banks and their customers. Together we are building a modern payments system to enable new economic opportunities and the seamless flow of value around the world.”
The company will, meanwhile, use the aforementioned $55 million to accelerate its customer growth, pursue strategic partnerships and grow its team internationally. Ripple has thus far received over $93 million in funding.
$13.2 BILLION… Global VC investment in FinTech for H116 was up 148% YOY on the same period in 2015
at $13.2 billion, according to trade association Innovate Finance. For the first time China has outpaced the US, led by a $4.5 billion AliPay round, whilst the UK slowed at 33% YOY for the same period in 2015 at $386 million. CVC investment in FinTech, and Institutional investment in accelerators, partnerships, labs and consortia remains very firm with estimates from top tier global financial institutions in the range of $1–5 million for the period.
Brexit clauses were rumoured to have delayed funding for a small number of FinTechs in the UK directly following the 23rd June vote. Anecdotal evidence from US and UK-based VCs indicates that Brexit has not affected material interest in investing in UK FinTechs, and in some cases, USD and EUR denominated funds have seen value opportunities. Many UK FinTechs appear largely unaffected by the referendum result, although the longer term effects of a potential single market exit and loss of financial services passporting status including access to talent remain to be seen — 30% of Innovate Finance’s founders and CxOs are non-British. Access to global STEM talent remains a strong requirement and the association says it will continue to lobby for a stronger Tier 1/2 Visa programme.
47.15%... The latest BRC Payments Survey reveals that cash is now used for less than half of all transactions made by UK shoppers in-store and online. It still retains an important role, however, accounting for 47.15% of
www.ibsintelligence.com © IBS Intelligence 2016
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