Biz Builder Mike

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

German Digital Bank Insha Attracts €2.5 Million in Seed Funding From Payment Provider Param

by

Insha, a Germany-based online banking startup, announced on Tuesday it secured €2.5 million in seed funding from payments provider, Param. Founded in 2018, Insha states it offers an innovative and fully digital account based on the principles and does not engage in interest-based transactions or investment in socially destructive areas.

“As a digital banking service based on strong moral principles, we offer tools that help its customers achieve their saving goals, gain insights into spending behavior, transfer money abroad for little cost, and donate easily to charities of their choice. With offices in Berlin and Istanbul, insha is regulated by EU authorities and fully backed by Albaraka Türk, Turkey’s first participation bank.”

Speaking about the investment, Yakup Sezer, Founder and Managing Director of Insha reportedly stated:

“I am very pleased that Param, a Turkish fintech pioneer, has joined our family. This investment will not only strengthen our financial position while we continue our European expansion. Param also brings a wealth of relevant experience. The money will help to optimize and localize our activities in line with our expansion strategy. I am very excited to move into the future together and would like to thank Param again for her confidence in our team, our business model and our vision.”

Insha added that in 2021 it is looking to introduce Principled digital accounts to six more countries in Europe.

Source

Small Business B2B Search Engine Developer, Grata, Is Using Machine Learning, NLP to Implement its SaaS Platform

by

Grata, a company developing the “first-of-its-kind” small business B2B search engine, has secured $3.2 million in seed funding. As mentioned in a release shared with CI, Grata’s investment round was led by Bling Capital along with participation from Accomplice and Alumni Ventures Group. Former executives from Goldman Sachs, American Express, and Citi also took part in Grata’s funding round..

Grata was founded in 2016 by Andrew Bocskocsky and Nevin Raj, two Harvard alumni, and classmates who, respectively, worked as consultants and investors at McKinsey and Palantir.

As mentioned in the announcement:

“[Grata’s founders] built and bootstrapped the company, whose mission is to make every small to mid-sized private company in the U.S. searchable, to well over 100 customers and 1,000 users. To date, business development professionals across private equity, investment banking, and recruiting have transacted over $1B with companies they’ve found through Grata.”

Grata is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that’s able to automate the B2B research process so that key information on the 30 million US businesses may be accessed by private equity and banking institutions.

Grata uses natural language processing (NLP) and web crawling technology. The automated solution may help reduce the time required to complete various processes which are being performed manually.

Andrew Bocskocsky, Co-Founder, CEO at Grata, states:

“Grata is the first search engine for company discovery, providing a single source of truth to find small to middle market private companies. …Grata indexes billions of sources on the web and has innovated the latest NLP technology.”

As noted by the Grata team:

“[Our] machine learning technology enables you to identify similar companies, find new targets you would otherwise miss, and automate personalized outreach. Grata’s platform also powers a suite of digital intelligence products for voice of customer diligence and competitive intelligence.”

Grata’s official website notes that middle-market firms and SMBs are more than “99% of your opportunities.” The company’s solutions can help businesses with “capturing hard to find companies that aren’t in the news or raising capital.”

Source

Remote Working Fintech Deel Is Launching Operations Across Europe, will Help with Compliance, Payroll, Taxes

by

Many individuals and businesses across the globe have been forced to make major lifestyle changes, including working from home, due to the contagious COVID-19 outbreak.

San Francisco-based Fintech firm Deel, which plans to improve the work from home process by offering an easy-to-use online platform, is launching its operations across Europe.

Deel’s platform allows employers to recruit and compensate remote workers in more than 100 different currencies from almost any location in the world.

The new remote working platform aims to remove the high legal fees and hours of due diligence that companies need to complete when recruiting skilled professionals from other jurisdictions. Deel claims that it has experienced a 200% growth in its customer base and also a 600% rise in its revenue since the pandemic and lockdowns began.

Deel is reportedly complying with local laws and guidelines. Its staff members are also able to navigate complex tax systems and handle various international payroll processes.

Dan Westgarth, COO at Deel and former GM at Revolut North America, stated:

“Raising money during COVID-19 pandemic was exciting. It was an uncertain time; uncertainty created an opportunity and Andreeseen Horowitz saw that huge opportunity and provided us with capital to accelerate the growth of our business.” 

The remote working Fintech solution provider claims WeTransfer, a file-sharing platform, as one of its clients.

Emma Korhonen, the human resources coordinator at WeTransfer, remarked:

“Due to temporary immigration service freezes in different countries we were looking for a solution to still hire strong talent from abroad. Most of them will move to the Netherlands as soon as this is safe and permitted, but in the meantime, Deel is supporting us with being compliant in whichever country we hire from.” 

Korhonen claims that without Deel’s services, the company would have to look into all the details or technicalities involved with adhering to relevant labor laws in each jurisdictions own its own. The firm would also have to figure out how to pay new workers who may be based in other countries, where requirements may be completely different. Korhonen noted that Deel keeps them “safe” during these unprecedented times and makes it easier to hire staff from other nations.

In May 2020, Deel secured $18 million through a Series A round for remote worker payroll services.

Omnipresent, a company offering assistance with payroll, compliance, and taxes to remote workers, recently secured $2 million in seed funding.

Source