BEIJING, Sept. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CreditEase, a Beijing-based leading FinTech conglomerate in China, announced today that its CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund (CEFIF), participated in the recent $10 million Series A funding round of Railsbank, a London-based Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform that promises to give technology companies access to financial services using its API platform. Railsbank already has several clients across the UK and Europe and is in the process of opening its Asia-Pacific office in Singapore.
Nigel Verdon, Co-Founder and CEO of RailsBank said, "We are very pleased to welcome CreditEase as an investor and be amongst the amazing companies in the FinTech portfolio. The experience and the network that the CreditEase team brings to Railsbank will help us as we set up an office in Singapore and expand Railsbank across Asia-Pacific. We look forward to this next stage in our growth with great excitement."
This follows CEFIF's investment in Curve's $55 million Series B in July 2019. Curve, the London-based "over-the-top banking platform", lets people consolidate their credit and debit cards into a single Curve card and manage it via its mobile app, making it easier to track spending and access other benefits.
Shachar Bialick, founder and chief executive of Curve said, "We are excited to have investors like CreditEase and IDC Ventures as not only investors, but true partners, with deep experience and insights in the fintech industry. This is a very strong signal that we continue to execute on our plan and are poised to take Curve through its next phase of successful development."
"We are very pleased to have Curve and Railsbank in our portfolio," said Anju Patwardhan, Managing Partner of CEFIF. "Railsbank benefits from the strong regulatory tailwinds related to open banking and digital banking licenses. Its API platform is extremely well-positioned to help banks, insurance companies, fintech companies, ride-sharing companies and others as they launch financial products and services for consumers and SMEs."
"Curve is giving power back to the consumer by enabling them to manage all their finances from a single control center held in the palm of their hands. Introducing the idea of over-the-top-banking, not only gives Curve an edge over others in payments, but also gives consumers a truly effective digital banking solution. The exponential growth in Curve's customer base to 500,000 customers in less than 18 months and a recent record-setting crowdfunding campaign are testimonials to that."
Earlier this year, Cross River Bank, a leading innovator and provider of banking services for financial technology companies in the United States, announced a transatlantic partnership with Railsbank. "CEFIF is thrilled to be an investor in both Cross River and Railsbank. We are starting to see more and more synergies across our portfolio companies and hope that we can continue to create value through more collaborations of this kind within the ecosystem," added Anju Patwardhan.
CEFIF continues to expand its global investment presence and is becoming more active in the UK and Europe. CEFIF has invested in over 60 fintech companies globally and its other investments in the UK/Europe include WeFox, Funding Circle, and Onfido.
About CreditEase
Founded in 2006, CreditEase is a Beijing-based world-leading FinTech conglomerate in China. It specializes in inclusive finance and wealth management with a dominant position in credit technology, wealth management technology, insurance technology, etc. Main business sectors of CreditEase include Yiren Digital, CreditEase Wealth Management and CreditEase Insurance. Better tech, better finance, better world.
About CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund ("CEFIF")
Founded in February 2016, CEFIF is a venture fund of USD 500 million that invests in FinTech companies globally. Since its inception, CEFIF has invested in over 60 Fintech companies across the US, the UK, Europe and China. The Fund was recently ranked the 2nd "Most Active Fintech VC Fund" globally by CB Insights and nominated for "Top Fintech Equity Investor" Award at LendIt USA Annual Conference.
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