Juan Manuel Fernández Lobato

Ever wonder what its like to run a Private Equity fund? Now you have the chance to follow along with successful investment managers by participating with Fund Launch Partners. Join me and Lincoln Archibald and next week for the Third Thursday @ Three to hear about direct investment opportunities with General Partnerships in the one of the fastest growing portfolio investment sectors. Pick up a free ticket here: https://lnkd.in/dd2yzxDd #HolyGrailofInvesting #GPOpportunities #FundLaunch #Alternatives

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This excellent deck compiled by my fellow partner, Thomas Olszewski, who is happens to be an ex-Fintech founder, is a must read for anyone considering investing in the UK Fintech scene. It provides an excellent compass to navigate the investment landscape and if you are currently a fintech founders particularly the slides on active UK Fintech investors is very useful. Great job Thomas! #fintech, #UKfintech, #6DC, #6Degrees Capital

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🌱 Looking to Connect with Leading VCs and Early-Stage Investors? 🌱 At Virtualnonexecs, we don;t only work with PE firms - we are also proud to be working with some of the UK’s most active early-stage investors to help them find the top board advisors and chairs who can drive impact. If you're a non-executive or chair looking to connect with the heart of the startup ecosystem, take note of the names below. Here are 10 of the UK's most active early-stage investors and the incredible numbers that back them: 1. Octopus Ventures - Backed 100+ startups, with a portfolio value of over £1.3 billion. 2. Seedcamp - Over 400 startups funded, including unicorns like Revolut and TransferWise 3. LocalGlobe - Invested in 300+ startups across deep tech and fintech. 4. Playfair - Early backer of companies like Stripe and Anduril. 5. Passion Capital - Early investor in Monzo Bank, managing £100M+ in assets. 6. Ascension - Over 100 startups backed with a focus on social impact and fintech. 7. Frontline Ventures - Backed 80+ startups across Europe with a key focus on B2B. 8. MMC Ventures - £500M+ under management, supporting 60+ innovative growth companies. 9. Balderton Capital - Invested in 220+ startups with notable exits like THG. 10. Entrepreneur First - 500+ startups built, including companies now worth over $10 billion collectively. ✅ To join Virtualnonexecs: https://lnkd.in/eXBj687 ✅ If you are a VC or company looking to hire: https://lnkd.in/d3na7CEC #NonExecutiveDirectors #Chairs #VentureCapital #Startups #Virtualnonexecs #BoardRoles #Leadership #BusinessGrowth

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#fundingalert 💼Company: Lemon 💰Funding: €580K ⚡Round: Pre-Seed  👥Investors: SFC Capital, Nick Dodd Lemon is a platform that assists small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in managing and funding their software subscriptions. SMEs with extensive software usage tend to overlook their subscriptions and overpay for them. Lemon will eventually expand the functionality of its products to include instant credit options for SMBs that can save money. These options will be available both through the Lemon dashboard and at the checkout of the software vendor, enabling them to take advantage of the discounted annual software subscriptions that vendors offer while still being able to enjoy the convenience of monthly payments. Matt Bird, Koen Christiaens, James Doyle CIPR, Chris Boud, Kimberley Waldron (Fintech PR), James Lewis Read more - https://lnkd.in/gb-GWR-g To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #Lemon #mediumsizedbusinesses #vendors #funding #fundingnews #startupnews #news #startup #startuprise

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ANNOUNCEMENT: We just launched our diversified fund investments feature on Mainshares 😲 Starting today, accredited investors can invest in SMB acquisitions managed by sophisticated investors via Mainshares I’ve been telling you all that we’re here to change the game of SMB investing for the better, and this is a huge step for us. Before, SMB investing was commonly done on a deal-by-deal basis, and depending on who you are, you may not have the time to spend parsing out every deal. Well now, investors on our platform have access to deals across a variety of industries, geographies, and deal structures in this (traditionally) inaccessible and fragmented asset class. Invest in ~20 SMBs, all with a single investment. Join the Mainshares train before we take off like a 🚀 Link below for diversified SMB investing 👇

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Coming soon on Aug 1: "Transformation to a Fresh Tomorrow." This is theme of our 3rd Annual Web3 Investor Day, as we welcome the innovators and investors convening in Chicago for these discussions around the next generation Internet. Our theme reflects the optimism, determination and commitment investors and innovators have solidified off the depths of the bear markets to drive success in the bull markets. Broader investor optimism suggests that fresh institutional funds into Web3 across both tokens and equity may endure.  Across adoption metrics, customer interest and developer activity, Web3 seems to have normalized. It’s refreshing to see the transformation and next evolution of Web3 and it’s refreshing to meet many of you on August 1.  And yet, even with the improved optimism from last year, there still remain open questions in the development and adoption of our next generation Internet:  1. the balance of speculative versus productive investor capital in this current cycle 2. the productive role of liquid trading capital in fostering Web3 innovation 3. the attractiveness of venture investments in follow on financings 4. the role of policy and regulation that may enhance innovation 5. the continued developer activity to improve the underlying infrastructure 6. other Web3 recovery characteristics in target customer use cases. We remain committed to navigating regulatory shifts, fostering investor optimism, and building the customer use cases for Web3.  Physical spaces enhance our innovation conversations.  In person relationships foster our collaboration.  Relationships drive breakthrough innovations.  Reach out to Rizza Torres at Decasonic if you would like to join us! #web3investorday #web3 #venturecapital

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Mikel Ventures 26-Week Wrap-Up for October 2024 This week Mikal Ventures is pleased to bring you our half-yearly breakdown of the global venture capital market with an emphasis on the Mikal verticals. Over the 26-week period ending October 28, just under 16,500 new companies were added. The market grew to 211,248 companies included in the Health Tech, Med Tech, AI Tech, Fin Tech, and Ed Tech verticals. The non-US market again saw the largest percentage of new companies added--the group is trending at an impressive 21% annual growth rate, with all of the non-US verticals projecting double digit growth.  The total projected 52-week deal count has slowed a bit from last quarter and now is estimated at about 14% in US and 20% in non-US verticals. AI continues to dominate. AI Tech again saw the largest projected annual percentage of growth in new companies, weighing in at a notable 31% and 37% in the US and non-US markets, respectively. A global annualized growth rate topping an estimated 34% shows a striking indication of just how active this vertical remains. Worldwide, the 52-week indicated transactions in AI Tech were impressive as well, coming in at about 29%, with the lion’s share resulting from non-US deals (32%). Mikal Ventures publishes these stats on a rolling 4-week, quarterly and annual basis to provide a perspective on how the verticals and new startups move through time. We hope you find them informative and thought-provoking. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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MFD (aka Manufactured) is looking for a Head of Finance. This isn't your average Series A/B finance role, managing runway and a lot of critical admin. Finance is at the core of MFD, because lending to small and medium-sized businesses requires a level of financial precision that most startups can't manage. In fact, lending isn't typically accessible to these customers (outside of paying an insane interest rate). If you want to change the world by making the SMB survival rate skyrocket, come help us re-invent lending (and their inventory + manufacturing process) to fuel them.

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Base10 partners lead $4.5M funding round in Greenboard Greenboard, a compliance and operations software company for financial services, has announced the completion of its seed funding round, raising $4.5m. The round was led by Base 10 Partners, with participation from notable investors including Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Wayfinder Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, Twenty Two Ventures, Rogue Capital, Transpose Platform, and others. Founded in June 2023 by Dave Feldman and Ed Schembor, Greenboard aims to revolutionize compliance software in financial firms. The company’s platform, driven by artificial intelligence, streamlines compliance processes and aims to eventually handle all back-office operations efficiently. Dave Feldman, Co-founder and CEO of Greenboard, expressed the company’s mission, stating, “We founded Greenboard after witnessing how cumbersome and outdated compliance software is at most financial firms. This fundraiser, along with our partnership with Base10, will help us enable financial institutions to operate their back office teams at a higher standard, with half of the headcount. We’re starting with compliance, where we see incredible need from an underserved set of users.” Greenboard’s core product offering includes an AI-native compliance operating system that facilitates various use cases such as Know Your Employee (KYE) and Communications Archiving. With its easy-to-use interface and tangible administrative benefits, Greenboard has already garnered praise from industry professionals. Brook Powers, CEO of Fiduciary Financial Advisors, a Greenboard customer, commended the platform, stating, “The administrative benefits of the system are tangible, in that it helps us detect risk and automate more of our compliance program than previously possible. The software is also easy to use, which matters a lot in a world where we compete to attract the best financial advisors to our firm.” Furthermore, Greenboard’s innovative approach utilises GPU-powered computational statistics to automate tedious back-office financial work. Dave Feldman highlighted the shift from traditional filing systems to modern computational methods, stating, “Not long ago when filing cabinets were the norm, financial recordkeeping required substantial resources. It turns out that computers are cheaper and better than humans at storing files by such a wide margin that there are no longer roles for file clerks in the economy.” Rexhi Dollaku, Partner at Base10 Partners, expressed confidence in Greenboard’s potential, stating, “We believe in supporting visionary founders like Dave and Ed, who are revolutionizing how financial institutions manage their back-office processes. With this investment, we are confident that Greenboard will continue to lead the way in delivering AI-powered solutions that drive efficiency and effectiveness in the financial services industry.” News credit FinTech Global #news #technews #dailynews #dailynewstech #fintechnews

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Island Secures Citi Ventures Backing in Series D Funding Learn more & get our take 👇 https://lnkd.in/gmzP-24a “Over the last twenty years, we’ve seen the rise of SaaS applications and the deployment of desktop applications to the browser. As applications move into the browser and off the operating system, the browser has become of increasing importance and an ideal place to implement security controls and monitoring. We believe Island has built a best-in-class browser to meet these new security requirements, while also providing functionality to dramatically improve user experience and productivity.” – Matt Carbonara ✅, Head of Enterprise Tech Investing at Citi Ventures “Enterprises with the most rigorous data security requirements continue to simplify their IT stacks with an enterprise browser. CIOs, CISOs, and their teams have the ideal platform to enhance cybersecurity and drive down costs while delighting end users with unmatched productivity gains.” – Michael Fey, CEO and Co-founder at Island #SoTNews

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of appearing on CNBC to talk about the state of tech in the UK and Europe, touching on the state of IPOs vs PE acquisitions, sectors to watch and where the opportunity lies. Thanks for a great discussion Arabile Gumede! Some thoughts from the interview: Signs of Success: The acquisition of UK tech companies by prestigious private equity firms like Thoma Bravo is a testament to the strength and success of the UK tech sector. It's a clear indicator that UK companies are building substantial value and attracting significant international interest. Vibrant Ecosystem: Despite challenges, the UK and Europe boast a vibrant tech ecosystem, particularly in AI, cybersecurity, and fintech. The market has now stabilised post-pandemic, offering a fertile ground for emerging companies to thrive. Opportunity for scale-up investment: Looking at investment into SaaS companies, Europe is on par with the US in the early stages. It is at the scale-up stage that a divide appears – support and more investment into Europe and the UK’s growth companies will further strengthen the region’s tech scene. Watch a clip from CNBC here: https://lnkd.in/d7J8_FNP #Oxx #UKtech #VC #growth

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Recently, CEO Rehan Jalil joined Walter Thompson on our Fund/Build/Scale podcast to discuss Securiti's funding journey and how they scaled to $1M #ARR. If you are in the #startup space, you know how challenging sustainable growth can be. Securiti is a great example of how to scale efficiently and effectively. Check out the podcast transcript below to learn more about Rehan and his team's approach: #ITLeadership #Startup #Entrepreneurship

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Manchester-based FinTech Lemon is proud to announce a successful £500K pre-seed funding round led by the UK's active investor SFC Capital and supported by European early-stage specialist Pitchdrive | Early-stage VC 🚀. This investment propels Lemon forward in developing its robust platform aimed at helping SMBs to manage and reduce their SaaS costs effectively. The funding boost comes at a critical time, demonstrating the market's confidence in new FinTech solutions that address the needs of businesses globally, despite an economic downturn affecting FinTech investment trends. Lemon's subscription management tool is especially timely, as it offers a strategic way for SMBs to cut costs on essential software services in HR, marketing, and accounting. Lemon’s Co-Founder and CEO, Matt Bird, reflects on the current market conditions: "In these tough economic times, SMBs are searching for cost-effective tools to enhance their operations. With software as a major expense, we believe Lemon will play an integral role in how SMBs utilize SaaS. We're thrilled to have the backing and expertise of SFC Capital and Pitchdrive on this journey." Source: https://lnkd.in/eBYrmqfv Sign up for more news updates like this in our daily newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eskQx7Ym #fintech #donedeal #funding #seedfunding #vc #investment #investors #fintechindustry #financialservices #fintechnews

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#fundingalert 💼Company: Swiipr 💰Funding: €7 Million ⚡Round: Series A 👥Investors: Octopus Ventures, TX Ventures and Solano Partners supported Octopus on the funding round Swiipr are mobile, travel and payments people with a long history of successful, #innovative and disruptive #technology and financial services businesses and a deep understanding of the airline market. Swiipr is the first airline-specific payments platform in the world. It helps airlines digitise disrupted payments, which improves passenger experience and can reduce costs by as much as 60%. Since its inception in 2020, 26 airlines in 70 countries have already adopted Swiipr. Tara Spielhagen Hale, Tosin Agbabiaka, Jens Schleuniger, Ian Clowes Read more - https://lnkd.in/ga5mfWNF To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #Swiipr #travelpayments #airline #funding #fundingnews #news #startup #startupnews #startuprise

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📢 Pera Wallet ASA Verification Program has been a cornerstone in the #Algorand ecosystem, bolstering trust among thousands of projects and users. Today, we're announcing a important update: we will be simplifying our verification tiers to one tier - “#Verified” - and will be discontinuing the '#Trusted' tier. ✅ https://lnkd.in/d-4qf3Dr This shift allows us to be streamlined and transparent in verifying new ASA projects in our ecosystem and hold everyone to the same high standard of trust and security. 🛡️ 🔍 Fear not. Projects moving from 'Trusted' to 'Verified' will retain all benefits, and established projects will continue to be highlighted, maintaining their visibility and prominence within the ecosystem. #Algorand 🤝 We're here to support you through this transition. Should you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

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fundcraft Raises €5 Million Series A Round Led by aperture.co! 💸 📈 fundcraft‘s technology-centric value proposition CENTRALISES and AUTOMATES processes, data, and stakeholder interaction to lower costs and deliver better customer outcomes 🌏 The funding round will be used by fundcraft to expand its product and market reach, as it plans expand into NEW markets, including Spain and Germany 👨‍💻 Victor Martin Garcia, co-founder and CTO said, “The Asset Management industry’s technology stack is antiquated, spreadsheet-driven and inefficient. We look forward to continuing to invest into our custom-built platform and working with best-in-class tech providers where relevant. Our services will disrupt and disintermediate the incumbents in the industry, but it’s our tech that supercharges our digitisation engine.” Find out more on the link below! 👇 https://lnkd.in/e5YiS3Tb Olga Porro Ben Robinson Julien De Mayer #funding #investment #fundinground

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If you are a FinTech founder or VC, you need to have a look at this! We just put out a deck (link below, no login required) that has a in depth breakdown of the UK FinTech ecosystem. It has: - List of FinTech investors with offices in the UK - Who is investing at various stages - List of funds with "dry" powder, newly raised funds that invest in FinTech - How the UK compares to its closest rivals, Paris and Berlin - Comprehensive list of FinTech exits (200+ since 2005) - Celebrating success stories, Revolut and Transferwise ($1bn+ revenue) - How FinTech unicorns are training the next generation of entrepreneurs - UK as a magnet for equity growth capital - Early stage startups to watch - How valuations have changed over the past few years Full presentation (no paywall or login required): https://lnkd.in/eZx2ZCvz If you hate it or love it, please like or leave a comment and let me know what you think is missing Some of the early stage startups to watch: Superhog, Banked :,Barte, Adhara, Artificial Labs, Blockpit AG, in3, Pomelo Pay, Rivero Thomas Olszewski, Wouter Volckaert, Thibault D'hondt, Filip Coen, Bob Rode, Hilmar Eggertsson, Kim Jory

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I first learned of TeamApt (now Moniepoint) through my brother, Olumide Soyombo In 2021, Verod engaged with Tosin Eniolorunda, he presented an ambitious vision that, candidly, seemed beyond typical PE growth trajectories. Fast forward to today: Moniepoint Group has processed over $182B in payments, demonstrating exceptional resilience through Nigeria's complex operating environment. What sets Moniepoint apart is their profound understanding of mass-market financial services, combining sophisticated technology with practical distribution networks. Their hybrid online-offline approach has proven crucial in a market where conventional digital-only channels fall short. Under Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike's leadership, they've built an intricate network serving over 2 million merchants through 11,000 distribution associates. Congratulations to the Verod team Adewale Odusanya, CFA Dipo Okuribido, Gbenga Abogan, Oluebube Ezeoke, ACA, Gideon Adunola, for closing this transformative partnership. Welcome to the Verod ecosystem, Moniepoint Group. Here's to building Africa's financial future together. #FinTech #Impact #AfricanInnovation #PrivateEquity #Ecosystem #Verod

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