Encompass Secures Investment
The leading RegTech provider of Know Your Customer (KYC) automation software, Encompass Corporation, has secured investment from Beacon Equity Partners, a private equity group focused on companies that solve regulatory and compliance challenges. Beacon joins the existing investors in a broader capital round to fuel Encompass’ growth in 2020.
In addition, Beacon Equity Partner, Joe Bradley, will also join Encompass’ Advisory Council to further this important relationship. Bradley joins existing members Stephen Allen, former CRO of Macquarie Group; Kevin Gould, founder of IHS Markit, and Raymond W. Scott, CEO of Axolotl Corp.
Encompass has had a strong 12 months – the company has not only achieved significant revenue growth but has added a number of top global banks and law firms to its client list. A client list that already included the likes of Santander and the Nordic KYC Utility, Invidem, as well as key partners such as Accuity.
This follows the RegTech provider hiring 70 new staff members across all existing locations, but with a particular focus on expanding the organisation’s footprint in Singap[ore, the US, Serbia and Sweden. Key hires have included Alan Samuels as Head of Product; Chris Hodgens as EVP, Engineering; Robert Jessurun as Head of Banking Sales, and Tim Gentry as Head of Engineering Operations.
Wayne Johnson, CEO and co-founder, Encompass Corporation, said about the new investment announcement:
Beacon Equity Partners is the perfect match for Encompass, with this investment enabling us to continue our rapid growth journey whilst investing across our business to meet demand. The expertise Joe and Beacon bring in growing global companies is of great benefit, particularly as we work towards formally entering the North American market in 2021 ”“ a significant milestone for Encompass.
Joe Bradley, Partner at Beacon Equity, added:
Encompass is at the exciting stage where we like to invest in businesses ”“ they have a clear leadership position in a growing niche in the KYC space. The number of global banks adopting the platform reflects the momentum we have seen and is a telling sign of the growth potential of this company.
AutoRek takes on the Big Apple
AutoRek, a leading Fintech software provider to global financial service firms, is the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce’s selection for representing Scottish business in its virtual trade mission to the state of New York.
On the 23 and 24 March, the two-day event aims to attract Scottish companies from the Fintech sector that show interest in international exporting and expanding. 16 company-strong delegations that will participate in a market awareness session, and two business-to-business meetings based on specific requirements, with support from the Chamber’s local market partner.
Establishing international partnerships in the main aim of this trade mission, with the opportunity to explore joint ventures, distribution deals and other mutually beneficial practices.
Having been selected by the UK Government’s Department of International Trade to showcase the Best of British Innovation, AutoRek has continued to build overseas relationships. Just last week, AutoRek announced Scottish Equity Partners had completed a significant growth equity investment in its business, which will facilitate accelerating its US expansion plans.
Introducing edventure – Venture Builder and Accelerator
Introducing edventure, the first pan-European university venture builder and accelerator, bringing together universities’ best talents across Europe to solve society’s most important challenges. Edventure was founded in September 2020 by Zara Zaman, Ragnor Comerford and Fynn Comerford, students in their final years at the University of Edinburgh. The idea for edventure arose from observations they made about the student startup ecosystem in Europe, particularly in comparison to the US. Highly ambitious and talented students did not have the right idea or problem to work on, had difficulties finding co-founders and accessing resources, and were faced with the myth of the college drop-out successful entrepreneur. There was a need for a process to kick start their venture and guide them through the startup building process within a diverse community of likeminded individuals balancing their startup with their studies (and benefiting from the synergies between them!).
To tackle this, edventure takes a mix of existing startup teams and talented individuals to be matched with problems they are passionate about, and incubates them in a 10-week programme, with each week covering a key theme for startups. Throughout the programme, edventure provides its startups with resources, mentorship, tools, workshops, and access to its ever-growing European network.
What started as a student organisation grew from 3 founders to a team of over 40 people (over 50% female), helping 200+ students to build startups from universities across Europe. The startups in edventure’s cohorts so far are tackling issues ranging from climate change and waste reduction to inequality in accessing legal aid, to personal finance. One of edventure’s core principles is strength in diversity; their cohorts have hosted young entrepreneurs from over 60 different degree programmes, 45 nationalities, speaking over 40 languages and dialects.
https://edventure.vc/
SEP Invests in Glasgow Based SaaS Platform AutoRek
Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has made a significant growth equity investment in AutoRek, a leading Glasgow-based provider of Financial control, regulatory reporting and data management software. Over the past three years, Autorek’s cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) has experienced significant growth and investment from SEP, enabling them to extend further into the international market as well as accelerating additional product development.
About AutoRek
AutoRek is an industry-leading software provider to companies in the global financial services sector.
An industry leader at the forefront of financial data management, AutoRek’s customisable rules-driven platform allows firms to automate and streamline the collection, validation and reconciliation of data. This facilitates the necessary transparency for good governance and fulfilling regulatory obligations. Efficiency and cost reduction are delivered by eliminating spreadsheets and manual processing, as well as mitigating operational and regulatory risk associated with managing high volumes of data.
SEP Expansion
Increased regulation of financial institutions and growing demand for AutoRek’s financial control and regulatory reporting solutions have both been a result of the drive for greater integrity, transparency and accountability within the financial services sector. AutoRek’s software automates high-volume reconciliation, exception management and data analysis workflows, delivering operational efficiency and improved governance of financial and regulatory risk. Partnering with SEP will support the company to further enhance its proposition to address a $2 billion-plus per annum global regulatory and data management software market.
Andrew Davidson and Angus Conroy led the deal, with both joining the AutoRek Board. Angus said:
“AutoRek is a fast-growing and capital-efficient SaaS company, delivering business-critical functionality to financial institutions across the asset management, banking and insurance sectors. The company has an excellent reputation in the financial and regulatory data management market and a strong focus on product innovation. We are pleased to be working with the management team to help them achieve their growth ambitions.”
Gordon McHarg, co-founder and CEO of AutoRek said:
“We are delighted to have SEP on board as an investment partner to continue the successful evolution of the AutoRek business. SEP has extensive experience in the software sector and we are looking forward to working with them to build on our recent growth and to capitalise on the substantial opportunity within the global financial services market.”
Sustainably’s Subscription-Based Service for Good.
Scottish Fintech Sustainably has developed a subscription-based service which enables the opportunity for customers to automatically donate whenever they shop.
How does it work?
The fintech has created a method of philanthropy accessible for the everyday person with a busy life. Branded as ‘smart-giving’, the launch has two notable features.
- Round Ups, which uses open banking to micro-donate spare change.
- Monthly Happiness, which allows the user to donate monthly and see the immediate of said donation.
Individual users face no charge for utilising the service. Charities are offered a no donation, no fee service in exchange for a new income stream and anonymised supporter shopping trend data.
“We started with the idea of creating a product where doing good was effortless. We examined urban lifestyles. Every aspect of the app has been created to enable people to give in seamless ways, and see their impact.” Loral Quinn, Sustainably co-founder.
You choose a charity and connect your card in the app. Then you get impact points and levels to show the difference you’re making. Impact points will become a currency in the future for loyalty rewards from your employer and the retailers you shop at. Sustainably reward doing good so you get that do good, feel-good feeling.
How has it Evolved?
Sustainably is the brainchild of Loral Quinn and Eishel Quinn. They teamed up with Mark McLauchlan who was formerly head of technology architecture at RBS/NatWest. E-commerce has experienced accelerated growth during Covid19, with Sustainably reporting a 60% rise in organic growth in the past six months.
Our innovative giving tech is designed to make it easy to give, and track your impact without sharing your personal details so you can give on your own terms. Research shows that gen Z and millennials are the largest giving segment. “86% of Gen Z and millennials (the UK’s biggest givers) want to donate via mobile and see their impact. And while 50%+ of donations are still made in cash, we live in an increasingly cashless society. People want to give with privacy, transparency and control.” says Eishel Quinn, the other co-founder of Sustainably.’
With links to 17 banks, you can choose a cause and connect your bank account to the Sustainably app. You start making a difference as soon as you shop on your card/connected device. The app allows you to track your impact as well as pausing/modifying donations and setting donation limits. The minimum donation is £5 and supporters get instant impact updates showing the difference they’ve made when they donate.
“With Sustainably and our giving tech, we’ve set out to enable people to contribute towards something important everyday and see their impact, with their spare change. The majority of Sustainably users are 18-35 year olds and they want to buy from and work for companies who do good.” Notes Eishel Quinn who spearheaded the product development.
Sustainably currently support over forty good causes, ranging from removing plastic from oceans to teaching young girls how to code. And for 2021, any UK registered charity is able to sign up to Sustainably’s services.
How is it Changing Everyday Philanthropy?
The current landscape for giving is large but very fragmented. This ranges from sponsoring your friends, choosing causes for retailers to support or making regular donations to many different causes.
“We’re creating one place for all your giving, which manages your tax and tracks your impact.” says Quinn.
In addition, Sustainably never shares any of your personal data. You’re able to donate with the confidence that you won’t be contacted by any additional third-parties looking for further donations. In addition, with Covid19 cancelling so many fundraising events, Sustainably has been able to not only provide a new daily income stream from cashless transactions but has enabled charities to connect and engage with a younger demographic.
Sustainably is crowdfunding to get more users and charities and launch its B2B platform this year to enable brands to give to causes their customer and employees care about in a simple, connected way.
Fintech Zumo appoints Chief Technology Officer
Tim Sabanov has been appointed as Zumo’s first chief technology officer to pilot its plans for new product launches in the coming year. Zumo, the digital wallet and payment platform, now looks to discover new ways of democratising financial services, such as a debit card that converts cryptocurrencies to traditional currencies.
Nick Jones, co-founder and CEO of Zumo, said:
“Tim is a leader in blockchain technologies of truly global stature, and his experience will take our products to the next level.”
“We are so excited for him to take up the role and can’t wait to bring his plans to market.”
Tim is one of the brightest minds in Fintech, with his experience not exclusive solely to financial technology, but also creative design agency and stint as Creative Director at Kontrast Marketing. Since joining the organisation in January 2020, he’s pioneered the development of Zumo App, ZumoKit Enterprise Solutions platform, and most recently, the Zumo Smartfolio.
Tim said:
“Zumo is leading the field in providing technologies that democratise access to financial services. What makes Zumo different, however, is the non-custodial approach it takes in its platforms, meaning that whether you are a business operating on the ZumoPay payments platform, or a consumer on the Zumo App, you are truly in charge of your own finances.
“We are just beginning to realise the potential use cases of blockchain technology which is why I am delighted to take up this post and help further Zumo’s mission to bring the benefits of smart money to everyone.”