Matt Handley

#Fintech #VCNews: 🎉Gideon Valkin, former Monzo Bank and ClearScore leader, investor, and entrepreneur, has just launched Andrena Ventures! 🌟 📈 It is a $12 million solo GP fund, supported by tech’s top founders and #VC leaders. 💼💰 👍 The fund has already reached its first close, with plans for a final close later this year. 📆 💡 This fresh fund aims to back Europe’s most promising #fintech founders, empowering the next wave of tech giants at pre-seed and seed stages. 🌐 Also, Gideon has also announced the fund’s inaugural #investment in Nustom, an #AI-powered software-building startup. 🚀 More details on Andrena Ventures and its mission: https://lnkd.in/g-DsJvdY #venturecapital #vcfunding #news #technews #uktech #investment #fundingnews #technology #investment Sayula Kirby Taavet Hinrikus Sten Tamkivi Filip Felician Dames Christian Meermann Sophia Bendz David Haber Firat Ileri

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Interesting comments from Marion King, Trustee of OBIE at the https://lnkd.in/ezwadQYJ yesterday, along with some great data points. “Open Banking together with Real time payments could and should provide a viable alternative to cards” “The Economic model, the pricing mechanism. How is this [open banking] paid for; who pays in the value chain. Because without an effective fair exchange of value the open banking market will not be able to afford consumer protection.” “So where are we now in bridging the gaps . . . . . Standing up the Future Entity, that is the replacement of open banking. That will be a central capability that will manage: the scheme, the trust framework, the standards basically the rules of the game and will liaise and interop with other open data sectors so it goes beyond just payments.” 17% of small businesses use open banking 1.5bn API calls in March 60% of API calls have a payment attached to it, gateway to enabling a transaction or a payment Estimated that UK Open Banking is worth around £4bn of growth and employs around 5,000 people. Tony Craddock Jan van Vonno The Payments Association Adam Cox Sindy Cain Georgina Wilczek

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A great question here.

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As mentioned in our last post, financial service providers spend $200bn/yr on credit/debit card acquisition and retention, but it’s not working. Hoox’s Zero Knowledge platform allows issuers and merchants to collaborate in real time, offering customers personalized incentives across the Hoox network – increasing card usage and overall brand loyalty 🏆

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Today's Friday Fintech Spotlight: PowerUp Money 📅 Launch Date: May 27th, 2024 (A new app launched in Beta, while PowerUp was active within the Uni Cards app for almost a year) 📱 Available On: Both iOS and Android (I tested the Android version—for a change) 🔑 Key Offerings: P2P investment (in partnership with Liquiloans), Mutual Funds (Coming Soon) 👍 What I Loved: ✔️ The Power Age calculator is well-designed for charting financial goals. ✔️ The "Life Events" section helps users consider often-missed milestones for better financial planning. ✔️ Detailed videos for each life event aid in informed decision-making. ✔️ Quick access to Support agent on Whatsapp 🚧 What Can Be Improved: ➖ Customer Support on WhatsApp feels robotic due to long pre-written answers. ➖ Please allow users who deactivated their Uni accounts earlier to access the app. (Still waiting to test the app in detail—waiting for my account to be reactivated) 💡 What Stands Out: Power Academy: A dedicated section with short, simple, easy-to-understand and super well made video FAQs. It’s a refreshing take on the usual FAQ format, building trust effectively with reel sized video content. Final Verdict: 👀👀👀 PowerUp Money offers a fresh approach to P2P investments in India. It educates users and provides an alternate asset class for diversification within the 9-12% range. It’ll be interesting to see which asset classes PowerUp Money adds next alongside P2P and Mutual Funds. PS: This is my personal & honest opinion and is not influenced or promoted by the founders. Prateek Jindal • Nitin Gupta • Navdha Khera • Ishan Upadhyay • Ankita Sarangi

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#FinTech | 🚀 Big News from Monzo Bank Here’s a deep dive into their 2024 Annual Report 🧵👇 1/ 📈 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵: Monzo’s gross revenue grew by 2.5x, hitting £880M in FY2024 compared to £355.6M in FY2023. Talk about a leap! 2/ 👥 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲: Customer base exploded to 9.7M, up from 7.4M last year. Word of mouth drove 46% of this growth. People are loving Monzo! 3/ 💰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲: For the first time, Monzo posted a profit before tax of £15.4M, reversing a £116.3M loss in FY2023. They’re in the black! 4/ 🌍 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: - #1 for Overall Service Quality in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (CMA 2024). - Best Business Banking Provider at the 2024 British Bank Awards. 5/ 💡 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀: - Launched Instant Access Savings Pots and Monzo Investments. - Rolled out new cashback offers and international transfer capabilities. 6/ 📊 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀: - Customer deposits surged by 88% to £11.2B. - Total assets almost doubled, reaching £13B. 7/ 🌱 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: - Expanded environmental reporting under Climate-related Financial Disclosures (CFD). - Focused on financial inclusion, aiming to simplify banking for all. 8/ 🤝 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁: - Successfully raised £489.5M in capital, led by CapitalG. - Valuation jumped to over £4B. 9/ 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵: - Increased workforce by 47%, now totaling 3,736 colleagues. - Commitment to diversity and inclusivity remains strong. 10/ 🔮 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Monzo’s mission is clear: to make money work for everyone. They’re set to scale even further, aiming to serve millions more globally. Stay tuned for more updates from Monzo as they continue to innovate and grow! 🌟

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