Biz Builder Mike

You can't sail Today's boat on Yesterdays wind - Michael Noel

Pockit Partners with Railsbank, Raises £15 Million Includes Crowdcube Future Fund Offering

by

Pockit, a digital banking app designed to cater to the underbanked masses, has announced a new partnership with Railsbank while simultaneously announcing a £15 million Series B funding paired with an offering on Crowdcube.

The Crowdcube securities offer is for £500,000 Future Fund convertible note with an 8% interest payment. The offering will convert at a 20% discount to a future funding round. The money raised will be matched by the Future Fund, the funding scheme designed by the UK government and delivered by the British Business Bank.

Last month Pocket migrated its payment services and functions that underpin the Pockit accounts and operations to PayrNet Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Railsbank.

Virraj Jatania CEO & Founder of Pockit, said that launching a crowdfunding offering has been an ambition for his company for some time:

“Since its launch Pockit has helped over half a million customers to take control of their financial affairs, many of whom never previously had a current account that let them shop online or make contactless payments. The time to accelerate is right now; the COVID recession and the end of furlough schemes will disproportionately affect the financially underserved. Some 12 million people in the UK need a solution urgently, and we believe Pockit is that solution.”

Jatania views the crowdfunding round as a way to allow their loyal customers to own a piece of the Fintech and participate in its growth.

Since the Fintech’s inception, Pockit has raised a total of £27 million in funding and is backed by well known investors who previously have supported the successful growth of, among others, Spotify, Bolt, Funding Circle, Houst and Wheely.

Pockit has posted a page on its website explaining the securities offering hosted on Crowdcube. The investment limit starts at £10 with no upper limit. Pockit reports over 500,000 users that have completed more than £1 billion in transactions.

Have a crowdfunding offering you’d like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!

Source

Ideaology’s IEO Ushers the Launch of Blockchain Platform for Innovators

by

DUBAI, UAE – Ideaology is proud to announce its IDEA token pre-sale on December 1, 2020. The pre-sale event is an initial exchange offering (IEO) on P2PB2B exchange. Users will have a chance to purchase IDEA tokens with a 22% discount before the IDEA token public sale.

Ideaology aims to be the “Biggest Blockchain Ecosystem in 2021 and beyond”. Along with the pre-sale launch, Ideaology’s Active IDEA platform will have its beta launch on December 1, 2020 as well. The very existence of Ideaology is a testament to how the model it’s promoting works. With its upcoming IEO and subsequent launch on crypto exchanges, Ideaology’s Active IDEA aims to become the first blockchain-powered platform to pave the way for users to collaborate on promising blockchain projects while investing in these ventures as well.

“Freelancers don’t necessarily work on online freelance platforms, and clients or companies don’t necessarily look for talents on those websites. Many of them are running their independent business from their websites or agencies, and looking for clients via advertisements, email marketing, leads generation, and other techniques. This is why we need to ask the question: why would a freelancer choose a website like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer to sell his services when they can be part of a platform where they can offer their expertise and services on a platform specifically created for their exposure and convenience?” ,said Khaled Alkalbani, Founder and CEO at Ideaology.

Whether you are an investor looking for the right project to pour your resources on, a business developer that needs funding to start his empire, or a digital nomad looking for a platform where you can provide meaningful services and earn, Active IDEA strives to be the go-to platform for all online professionals.

Within the Active IDEA platform, members can collaborate as they invest and find projects that they have passion for. Members of the Ideaology community will be enabled to launch a startup through crowdfunding, but at the same time, will also have the opportunity to work with startups.The Ideaology team calls this whole process “collabvesting” – where Active IDEA users can invest in startups while also giving startups and freelancers to collaborate on projects.

“We believe that our IEO launch with P2PB2B enables Ideaology supporters and P2PB2B users to have a smooth and convenient experience in participating in our pre-sale for the IDEA token. We trust that P2PB2B will also offer a great IDEA token pre-sale experience for everyone interested to purchase IDEA tokens at an early stage.”, said Amar Kovacevic, Co-Founder and CTO at Ideaology.

By establishing a platform where online professionals can start collabvesting, and jumpstarting it with a pre-sale of their IDEA token, Ideaology just became one of the most promising blockchain companies in 2021 and beyond.

Click here to join the IDEA token pre-sale event.

Ideaology’s IEO Ushers the Launch of Blockchain Platform for Innovators

Source

Bahrain and Saudi Capital of Riyadh Named as Top Fintech Ecosystems to Watch Closely: Report

by

The Kingdom of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh were recently chosen as the top Fintech ecosystems to watch closely, according to a report from research organization Startup Genome.

The researchers at Startup Genome analyzed the economies and deal activities of several different countries. The research team has prepared their report after carefully looking at factors such as funding, exits, talent, focus, and key ecosystem participants such as company founders and policymakers.

Bahrain and Riyadh were notably the only two GCC members that were named in the report as Fintech markets to keep an eye on, along with Japanese capital city Tokyo, Melbourne in Australia, Frankfurt in Germany, and Cairo in Egypt.

Some of the main benefits offered by these fast-growing Fintech hubs included wage subsidy programs from Bahrain’s Labor Fund (Tamkeen). This fund offers a liberal 0% corporate and personal tax scheme along with the Bahrain government’s $11.3 billion Coronavirus stimulus relief package to support local business during these unprecedented times.

As mentioned in the report, the Saudi capital of Riyadh has been focused on the fast-growing digital commerce space. It’s supported by a tech savvy population and a rapidly evolving logistics industry, which has resulted in Riyadh being listed as a Fintech ecosystem to watch closely in the coming years.

The report states:

“Bahrain ranks first in the MENA region and second globally in terms of Islamic finance regulation according to the Global Islamic Finance Report thanks to its standards on crowdfunding and Open Banking. The Bahraini government has reduced capital startup requirements from $50,000 to $100 for some businesses and introduced a regulatory ‘sandbox’ for Fintech.”

The report from Startup Genome also mentioned that Bahrain, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai were named as the top Fintech markets in the Middle East region.

Dr. Ebrahim Janahi, CEO at Labor Fund Tamkeen, stated that Bahrain has managed to establish itself as a fast-growing Fintech hub. He added that within a short period of time, the country has built on its track record as a financial centre, and has adopted progressive regulations. Dr. Janahi also said that Bahrain remains committed to “nurturing new talent for this innovative sector.”

Dalal Buhejji, Director of Business Development for Financial Services at Bahrain Economic Development Board, remarked:

“Our ranking as one of the top Fintech ecosystems to watch is testament to Team Bahrain’s years of hard work building an environment that empowers firms of all sizes to rapidly bring new ideas to market. Our financial services sector is one of the most established in the Gulf region, and we have capitalized on that expertise to enable a shift towards digitalisation – something that has been of particular interest among traditional financial institutions during the global pandemic.”

Bahrain’s Labor Fund Tamkeen is a key source of government funding, which includes financial grants and subsidies. Tamkeen is an important part of Bahrain’s support structure for early-stage firms and includes Startup Bahrain, a community-backed project, local angel networks such as Tenmou, accelerators like Flat6Labs and BRINC, VCs such as Middle East Venture Partners and 500 Start-ups. There’s also a $100 million Fund of Funds, called Al Waha.

Source