Fintech/Analysis/ 2021’s hottest fintech seed deals, according to investors You've probably never heard of these young fintechs, but investors have been clambering to get in on their seed deals. By Isabel Woodford 26 July 2021 Osu cofounders Osu cofounders \Fintech 'The time is now': Monzo searches for US CEO to double down on expansion By Amy O'Brien 9 February 2023 Fintech/Analysis/ 2021’s hottest fintech seed deals, according to investors You've probably never heard of these young fintechs, but investors have been clambering to get in on their seed deals. By Isabel Woodford 26 July 2021 It’s always a good sign when startups are oversubscribed at seed stage. Take Pipe for example — it raised a competitive $6m seed in Feb 2020 and 12 months later had secured a $2bn valuation. So which young startups are investors lusting over in European fintech — a sector that’s unrivalled in hype and investment? Who’s stood out among the 200 European fintechs that have raised $234m in pre/seed funding so far this year? We’ve asked a dozen investors to nominate the ‘sexiest’ seed rounds over the past 7 months, highlighting deals that were heavily oversubscribed or were especially competitive (including those they lost out on!). We also consulted Dealroom to identify the largest seed rounds across different subsectors. The 25 startups below may not yet have a product, a C-suite or any publicity, but VCs agree they’re onto a winner. Several are based outside the UK and two are cofounded by women. These are the young fintechs that got investors’ tongues wagging: Payments Osu cofounders Osu Business management and payments for self-employed Seed funding: £2.3m (March 2021) Lead investor: Creandum Sunday QR codes for restaurants to speed up check out time Seed funding: €21.8m (April 2021) Lead investor: Coatue ScalaPay Italian third party solution that enables customers to buy now pay later Seed funding: €40m (Jan 2021). *Includes debt Lead investor: Fasanara Capital Tillit Platform that combines invoice financing with a buy now, pay later model Seed funding: €2.5m (Feb 2021) Lead investor: Sequoia Monovate 2 in 1 model for compliance and card scheme sponsorship platform Seed funding: £5m (March 2021) Lead investor: Anonymous US investor B2B Re:cap Berlin-based platform that allows subscription companies to get part of their revenue upfront by matching them with a lender Pre-seed funding: €1.3m (May 2020) Lead investor: Entrée Capital Toqio White label platform for banks to launch digital products Seed funding: €8m (July 2021) Lead investor(s): Seaya Ventures, Speedinvest and SIX FinTech Ventures Airbank Open banking platform that helps SMEs better manage their cash and financial data Seed funding: €2.5m (Jun 2021) Lead investor: New Wave VC Weavr.io Scalable platform to allow any company to add banking services via API Seed funding: £7m (July 2021, extension) Lead investor: Headline LemonMarkets Provides environment to build investing and trading tools for the stock market Seed funding: n/a (Jan 2021) Lead investor: Creandum Consumer Lightyear Investment platform to better facilitate international trading Pre-seed funding: $1.5m (June 2021) Lead investor: Mosaic Ventures StepEx Finance solution aimed at postgraduate students Seed funding: £1.1m (July 2021) Lead investor: BBVA Yonder Challenger credit card Seed funding: £4-5m (2021). Not yet publicly announced Lead investor: Northzone/LocalGlobe Hammock Technology platform that will help landlords and letting agents manage properties. Seed funding: £2m (Feb 2021, extension) Lead investors: Ascension Ventures Green finance Gary Wu, founder at TreeCard TreeCard Fintech offering spending card made out of wood that funds reforesting as you spend Seed funding: $5.1m (February 2021) Lead investor: EQT Ventures Minimum API that embeds the option to allow carbon offsetting at checkout Seed funding: $2.6m (June 2021) Lead investor: Octopus Ventures Insurance Anansi’s cofounders Anansi Risk protection for ecommerce businesses Seed funding: £1.5m (July 2021) Lead investor: Octopus Ventures Bequest Simplified wills and life insurance for the millennial market Seed funding: £1.7m (July 2021) Lead investor: Clocktower Ventures Collective Benefits Insurance, benefits and rewards fit for the future of work Seed funding: £6m (July 2021) Lead investor: NFX Financial Education Wajve Gen Z financial platform bundling banking, advice and education into one app Seed funding: €5m (June 2021) Lead investor: EQT Ventures ClearGlass Allowing pension funds to discover exactly how much their asset managers are charging them Seed funding: £2.6m (March 2021) Lead investor: Lakestar/Outward VC Crypto Ramp Open banking APIs to connect crypto with fiat, based in Poland Seed funding: $10.1m (June 2021) Lead investors: NFX and Galaxy Digital GlobeDx A crypto derivatives exchange where institutions and consumers transact digital currencies. Based across London and France. Seed funding: €19.2m (April 2021, extension) Lead investor: Y Combinator, Pantera Capital, and Draper Dragon Rvvup Next generation financial infrastructure bridging CeFi and DeFi for faster money movement Pre-seed funding: $2m (July 2021) Lead investors: HV Capital Nayms Insurance-based smart contract to provide coverage for digital assets Seed funding: $6m (Jun 2021) Lead investor: Coinbase Ventures, Spartan Ventures Did we forget anyone? Email [email protected] to chat! Isabel Woodford is Sifted’s fintech correspondent. She tweets from @i_woodford. Additional contributions by Tom Matsuda. Related Articles Fintech’s top angel investors By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more An audience with Index Ventures’ fintech team By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more The 15 most active VCs in European fintech revealed By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more Most Read 1 \Healthtech Is Daniel Ek’s new body scanner worth the hype? 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