Feb. 18, 2019

Concordium AG, which is launching an open-source blockchain network, has appointed veteran fintech executive Lone Fonss Schroder as its new CEO. She was named to the position after serving on the company's advisory board. 

Schroder is co-founder of Cashworks, chairwoman of hotel booking site Nustay, and former CEO of Wallenius Lines. She is also vice chairman of Volvo Cars, a board member at Ikea and is a veteran of A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, where she worked for 22 years, according to Concordium.

Lars Christensen, chairman of the Concordium Foundation, said the CEO position previously was occupied by one of the company's lawyers and that he interviewed approximately a dozen people before hiring Schroder.

"I have worked with Lone in various contexts and have great respect for her work, so I was delighted she accepted (our offer) to become CEO," Christensen wrote in an email to this publication.

In a Concordium press release, Schroder said the CEO role fits well with her history of involvement in disruptive technologies.

"As CEO of Concordium, a key mission will be to help ensure that the Concordium platform becomes a useful tool for everyone, from individual users to large enterprises and society at large," she said in the announcement.

Concordium released its proof of concept in January, and plans a beta release during the third quarter. The public release is set for the first quarter of 2020.

Topics: Bitcoin, Region: EMEA

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Feb. 18, 2019

Mambu, a Berlin-based fintech, raised $34 million (30 million euros) in a funding round led by U.S. investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners, according to a company release.

Action Capital, CommerzVentures, Point Nine Capital and Runa Capital participated in the round.

Mambu provides cloud-based software to legacy banks, startup fintechs and others to help them expand lending and full-service banking to mobile customers.

"The fintech era has changed financial services, forcing institutions to digitalize, innovate and scale to adapt to customer needs," Eugene Danilkis, chief executive of Manbu, said in the announcement. "In a shifting technology landscape, they have to move at the pace of a technology company rather than a traditional bank."

Mambu in November announced an agreement with Lendico Switzerland AG, which operates a digital lending platform for small business. Mambu is also working with mobile bank N26, Helsinki-based mobile lender Ferratum and ABM Amro's new10 small business platform.

Mambu will use the funding to invest in its technology platform and will also grow its sales and support staff, a spokesperson told Mobile Payments Today by email. The company has offices in Miami that serve the U.S. and Latin America as well as Sydney, Australia and Singapore, to handle its Asia-Pacific business.

Topics: Financial News, Mobile Apps, Mobile Banking, Region: EMEA

Companies: Mambu GmbH.

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Feb. 18, 2019

GoCardless Ltd. has raised $75 million in Series E funding, led by Adams Street Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Salesforce Ventures, with plans to expand its business platform into the U.S. and Spain later this year, according to a blogpost from co-founder and CEO Hiroki Takeuchi.

Several existing investors participated in the new round, including Accel, Balderton Capital, Nation Capital and Passion Capital. The company has raised about $123 million to date.

The London-based fintech specializes in helping companies collect recurring payments, for example, subscription, installment or membership payments.

In December, the company announced plans to expand into Canada, allowing customers in its first North American country to withdraw recurring debit payments. GoCardless had already expanded into Denmark, Australia and New Zealand in 2018.

After expanding into the U.S., GoCardless estimated that it will cover 70 percent of the global payment market. By the end of 2019, the company will be in 35 markets and nine bank debit systems.

"We will be using the investment to develop our recurring payment platform further, for example, making it easier to take bank debit payments across borders, with FX, making bank debit faster with instant settlement and leveraging our significant transaction data to increase success rates," Carlos Gonzales-Cardenas, chief product and technology officer at GoCardless, told MobilePaymentsToday.com via email.  

The company plans to open offices on the U.S. west coast later this year, he said. GoCardless estimated that more than ⅔ of payments in the U.S. are made by paper check. The company has not disclosed where it plans to open offices or how many people it plans to hire.

Beyond the U.S., the company also plans to open new offices in Spain and further grow operations in Europe and Asia.

The company said that it processes $10 billion a year in payments and has 40,000 merchants around the world using its services.

Customers include TripAdvisor, the Guardian and restaurant reservation platform Quandoo.

Topics: Bill Payment, In-App Payments, Mobile Payments, Region: Americas, Region: EMEA

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