Participated · Seed · Dec 2024

Volume builds a one-click embeddable checkout widget to enable account-to-account (A2A) payments, aiming to compress bank account entry into a single click and reduce fees compared with card networks. Transactions are completed via infrastructure partner Yapily and authenticated through users' banking apps. The startup uses a flat-rate pricing model and positions its UX as the missing piece in A2A, likening itself to an 'Apple Pay' for bank-to-bank transfers. Volume has recently expanded its team with hires including Justin Sebok, Richard Frenken, and Shannon Krishna. The company cites strong traction, reporting 163x GMV growth over the past year. After the seed raise it plans to obtain FCA regulation in the U.K. and pursue international expansion. Volume offers Transparent Checkout, an online payment solution built on open banking that facilitates direct account-to-account payments between merchants and shoppers, removing intermediaries and reducing transaction fees. Once integrated, consumers can pay from any device straight from their bank account and — after a biometric check — payments are instantly settled with merchants without cards, user IDs, or passwords. The product targets both consumers and merchants by emphasizing transparency, fairness, and lower costs. Volume was founded by fintech veterans Simone Martinelli and Krzysztof Tarnawski. The company is headquartered in London and maintains an office in Kraków, Poland. It plans to use new funding to accelerate growth and expand operations and business reach.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2023

Banxware is a Berlin-based fintech founded in 2020 that provides embedded lending solutions enabling platform-based businesses, fintechs and banks to offer loans to SME customers. The company powers financing on roughly 30 platforms in Germany and the Netherlands and counts partners such as Worldline (Payone), JustEat Takeaway (Lieferando), Qonto, SumUp and Agicap. Banxware employs more than 50 people and targets the underserved long-tail SME market by delivering on-demand financing where businesses manage their operations. The startup recently raised an equity round exceeding €15 million, which will be used to expand coverage into other European markets and to launch additional products addressing more customer segments. The round also creates potential for a strategic partnership with UniCredit and HypoVereinsbank to expand SME lending in Germany and abroad. Existing investors including 13books Capital, VR Ventures, D4 Ventures and Force over Mass increased their commitment in the round. Banxware, founded in 2020 and based in Berlin, operates a lending-as-a-service platform that enables marketplaces and aggregators to offer loans to their customers. The company delivers working capital to small and medium businesses by providing revenue-based financing with repayments tied to customer revenues and risk-based pricing. Current loan sizes range from €3,000 ($3,400) to €50,000 ($57,000), with plans to offer loans up to €200,000 ($267,000) as clients grow. Banxware integrates directly with a German savings bank to deliver financing and works with partners such as Penta, Takeaway.com, and Payone. Management cites improved regulation (PSD2) and real-time credit scoring as tailwinds for customer acquisition. The startup plans to expand its product suite, grow internationally across Europe, and increase headcount to around 70 employees by year-end. To date the company has raised $20 million in total funding. Banxware provides embedded finance primarily as instant loans for SMEs through white-label APIs and partnerships with marketplaces, payments providers and other platforms. Its core product is an instant lending tool that includes AML/KYC compliance and a scoring engine analyzing historic platform data and third-party sources to enable loan decisions and payouts in less than 15 minutes. The company acts as a link between banks (lenders), digital platforms and merchants, enabling banks to reach SME customers while platforms can upsell financial products. Banxware works with both balance-sheet lenders and lending vehicles on whose behalf it executes loan decisions; merchants repay via platforms that withhold a percentage of future payouts. The startup launched in December and plans to develop additional embedded financial services, including card-based products, expand its team and pursue international expansion. It currently generates revenue by charging a one-time fee for each loan processed and a one-off customization fee.

Participated · Debt Financing · May 2023

Viceversa offers revenue-based financing to online businesses — marketplaces, B2C and B2B e-commerce, and subscription services — pairing flexible capital with an analytics and insights platform. The platform connects sales and marketing channels (Amazon, Meta, Stripe, etc.) to monitor marketing KPIs and performance. Its latest product is an embedded finance solution for eCommerce and marketplace enterprises. Launched in November 2021 by Matteo Masserdotti and Pedro Salvi, the company operates from offices in Milan and Dublin. Viceversa intends to use the new funds to expand operations and business reach. The company reports a total portfolio value of more than €25m and serves clients across six countries. Viceversa is a revenue-based financing company that provides capital to European digital businesses, investing between €10K and €1M per company to support growth without equity dilution or debt guarantees. Founded in late 2020 and based in Milan, Italy and Dublin, Ireland, the company operated in stealth until this announcement. Its leadership team includes Matteo Masserdotti (CEO), Pedro Salvi (CFO), Pietro Pogliani and Patrick David. Viceversa intends to use new funding to expand its investment portfolio from €1M to €20M over the next 12 months. The company plans to establish partnerships with marketing agencies, VC funds and eCommerce players to scale deal flow and distribution. Current operations focus on digital businesses showing clear signs of growth under a revenue-based financing model.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2022

Faire.ai is a Milan-based B2B fintech that specializes in consumer credit automation, leveraging open banking as a data source and artificial intelligence models to estimate consumer risk profiles. Led by CEO Gianluigi Davassi, the platform provides a single API enabling banks and financial institutions to offer instant loans and manage the entire loan lifecycle. Its services include a Data Analytics & Lending-as-a-Service platform that delivers real-time credit evaluations, and FairePay, which enables installment payments. FairePay allows users to access loans ranging from €2,000 to €20,000. The company raised $3M in seed funding and intends to use the proceeds to expand operations and consolidate its presence in the Italian market, with plans to expand abroad later.

Participated · Equity · Aug 2019

Penta is a digital business-banking platform that lets companies apply for business accounts with German IBANs, issue debit cards for expense management, and access other financial services. The company targets small and medium-sized enterprises and markets its product set to streamline business banking. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Berlin, Penta also maintains offices in Milan and Belgrade. CEO Marko Wenthin said the new capital will be used to accelerate growth in Germany and to continue developing the product offering for SMEs. Financially, Penta has closed its Series B at a total of €22.5 million following an additional €4 million tranche; the company previously raised more than €8 million in August 2019. Penta is a Berlin-headquartered business banking challenger that provides banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises and also operates in Italy. It offers fully digital account opening, multiple payment cards with staff-specific limits and permissions, expense management, and integrations with popular accounting tools. The company partners with SumUp to enable offline businesses to order card readers via Penta, save on setup fees, and integrate SumUp-powered payments with their Penta accounts. In April 2019 Penta was acquired by Finleap, which remains a major stakeholder; Penta is also a customer of banking platform solarisBank. The company has offices in Milan and Belgrade in addition to its Berlin headquarters and has undergone leadership change with Marko Wenthin replacing co-founder Lav Odorović as CEO. Penta continues to expand its SME banking product through partnerships and market growth efforts. Penta provides business banking services and a financial platform tailored to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The company was founded in 2016 and was recently acquired by fintech company builder Finleap. Penta has a team of more than 50 and operates from offices in Berlin, Belgrade and Milan, the latter added after a merger with Italian micro-business banking startup Beesy. Leadership changed after the acquisition, with Marko Wenthin — a former co‑founder of solarisBank — replacing co‑founder Lav Odorović as CEO. The company is thought to have had more than €18 million invested since inception, including a €7 million Series A in late 2018, and has now secured over €8 million in additional funding. Management says the new capital will be used to invest in product and partnerships and to push internationalisation, starting with Italy. Penta provides a digital business bank account targeting small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany, built on solarisBank's Banking-as-a-Platform rather than holding its own license. Its product includes features aimed at simplifying SME banking and expense management, notably multi-card support called 'Team Access' that issues multiple MasterCards with customizable rules and permissions per employee. Penta launched in Germany in December and pitches itself against incumbent banks by streamlining account opening and lowering fees for payments and international exchange. The company has grown to a team of 40 and plans to expand to 100 employees over the next year. Operating metrics in the article show 68 percent of new customers are switching from existing business bank accounts and 40 percent are newly incorporated businesses. Financially, Penta has raised funding to date and continues to invest in product and team expansion. Penta offers a digital bank account designed to meet the banking needs of small and medium-sized businesses, including startups. It runs on top of Banking-as-a-Platform solarisBank rather than holding its own banking license. The product includes features for tracking employee spending, automating accounting and invoicing, low-cost FX and multiple MasterCards with configurable limits and permissions. Penta plans to launch a marketplace integrating third-party fintechs and service providers to extend its product set. The company launched publicly in Beta to businesses in Germany in December after operating a wait list. It offers free account opening and 10 free transactions per month, with subsequent transactions charged at €0.10 each.