In the United States, a global benchmark in technology investment, the financing of companies in the Fintech sector grew by more than 20% in terms of both the number of transactions and capital invested. In Spain, there are also some good startups setting a good example.
Kantox received €1M investment in a round led by Cabiedes
Kantox is an alternative to the exchange rate hedging products offered by banks. It is a non-bank-intermediated hedging service that offers companies an opportunity to hedge their exchange rate risk at an adjusted price with the added benefit of not requiring any collateral to execute the transaction.
The round was led by venture capital Cabiedes & Partners in addition to the participation of the incubator Mola.com, Launch me, y Fxstreet.com, another of the few FX companies born in Barcelona.
"The operation has aroused great interest among Spain's leading business angels in the internet sector. In addition to those already mentioned, the following investors have also participated Marek Fodor (co-founder of atrapalo.com and now Chairman of Kantox), François Derbaix (founder of toprural.com), Juan Margenat (founder of PlanB), Carlos Blanco (founder of Grupo ITnet) and Michael Kleindl (KOMM Investment)" comments Diego Gutierrez, venture capital expert at Abra Invest.
Ibercheck financed by business angels
A report on non-payment of Ibercheck is an executive summary of a person's non-payments over the last six years with information obtained from the ASNEF-Equifax files. Ibercheck's main value is to process the information it has access to in order to make the report fair and easy to understand.
In 2012 they received a €112K round of funding in which several business angels have participated, among them Juan Leal e Ignacio Buenhombre.
In 2013 they have once again attracted business angel investors such as François Derbaix in a €150k capital increase. Francois himself explains in his blog the end of the traditional banking model and other participations he has made in the financial sector such as comunitae and Kantox.
Hypercom Spain acquired by Spire Payments
The Uk and Spanish subsidiaries of Hypercom were acquired by the American venture capital Kleinpartners to form a new company called Spire payments.
Spire payments is an independent provider of point-of-sale hardware and software solutions and is one of the pioneers of secure electronic payment systems, supplying a wide range of fixed, portable and mobile payment terminals, as well as PIN pads and unattended devices for integration with cash register systems and self-service kiosks.
"The payment systems segment is one of the segments that is receiving the most investment in the US in recent years, between 15-25% of the total depending on the year. There are other companies that are doing very well, such as Mpowa and Square"analyses Diego Gutierrez.