Shahid Hanif

🚨 BREAKING: NVIDIA dropped £2bn on Revolut and Britain's AI darlings. Hella chess move 😳 Yesterday Jensen Huang announced that NVIDIA is investing £2bn to boost the UK's AI start-up ecosystem. The funding comes in collaboration with some of the UK's leading VC firms: - Accel - Balderton Capital - Air Street Capital - Hoxton Ventures - Phoenix Court NVIDIA said that it will participate in the next rounds of some of the UK's most exciting AI companies: - Synthesia - Oxa - Wayve - PolyAI - Basecamp Research - Latent Labs - Revolut --- One fintech in a list of AI pure-plays. Revolut. NVIDIA sees where financial services is heading - every transaction will have AI baked in. Revolut becomes the case study. Built it with Revolut. Sell it to everyone else. --- Here's what they're actually purchasing: Infrastructure dependency: - Every portfolio company builds on NVIDIA's stack. - They're creating customers, not just funding them. Talent acquisition by proxy: - These startups become NVIDIA's unofficial research labs and hiring pipeline. --- #revolut #nvidia #uktech

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🚨𝘽𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂: Stripe’s buying spree continues with the acquisition of Orum.io Here is what we know: New York City based Orum is a FinTech startup focused on frictionless money movement, using machine learning-backed APIs to enable real-time, intelligent routing of payments across various rails such as ACH, credit card networks, real-time payment networks, and potentially blockchain-based systems. Their products aim to drastically reduce bank payment transfer times from multiple days to as fast as 24 hours, maximizing financial accessibility and efficiency for businesses and consumers 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: Total funding raised: Approximately $92 million across multiple rounds: ► Seed Funding: Around $5.2 million led by Inspired Capital, Homebrew, and Acrew Capital. ► Series A: Raised $21 million (or approximately $22 million according to another source). ► Series B: Raised $56 million in June 2021 in a round co-led by Accel and Canapi Ventures, bringing total funding to over $82 million at that time; https://lnkd.in/dXhZv3ck No clear public valuation is reported. CEO and Founder Stephany Kirkpatrick, CFP®, announced the acquisition deal on here linkedin: https://lnkd.in/dEQdRxFb Where Stephany states: "Over the past six years, our incredible team at Orum has built innovative solutions that transform payment technology for businesses – revolutionizing payment speed, certainty, and orchestration. Businesses and consumers should not have to think about how their money moves from point A to point B – they should just know that it will happen with speed and certainty. After thoughtful consideration, it became clear that we have a rare opportunity to accelerate Orum’s mission and greatly increase our impact by becoming part of Stripe." The financial details remain under wraps. I’ll share more in my newsletter as soon as they surface: https://lnkd.in/eiQBxdTW Stripe is clearly on a buying spree as this is one of several acquisitions it has made over the past year. About a month ago, it acquired Privy (https://bit.ly/44W8uP6), and last year it made headlines with the blockbuster $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge (https://bit.ly/40sqL5h). What/who do you think is next for Stripe? Find this helpful? [ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 ] Anything to add about this subject? [𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁] Nice story, Marcel. Next! [ 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ] 

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A few weeks ago, I shared that Routable is now offering ⚡️ FedNow ⚡️ as an instant payment option alongside RTP 💸 What this means: we can now send instant payments across a much larger network of financial institutions. And now, the Fed has announced that it will 🔹 raise the transaction limit 🔹 for FedNow instant payments from $1 million to $10 million in November 🏆 We’re excited to offer Routable customers even more flexibility for instant payments. The number of transactions settled via FedNow is growing rapidly. Between that and RTP, our customers can access up to 80% of US bank accounts for instant payments—and now they can send even more money in real time. Learn more about the FedNow expansion here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gjdFMEMs

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Chip – your wealth app secures £6M from Channel 4 Ventures at £208M valuation UK-based #fintech app #Chip has raised £6 million from Channel 4 Ventures (C4V), marking its first institutional investment and valuing the company at £208 million. Founded in 2017, Chip has grown into a digital savings and investment platform with over 400,000 active customers and £6 billion in assets under management. Until now, Chip relied heavily on crowdfunding campaigns to finance its expansion, raising tens of millions from retail investors. The partnership with C4V not only provides fresh capital but also unlocks nationwide brand exposure through Channel 4’s media reach. According to the company, this strategic collaboration will help scale its visibility while continuing to expand services for its growing user base. To protect retail investors, Chip is working with Crowdcube to open a private investment window, ensuring holdings remain undiluted ahead of an upcoming public crowdfunding round. Additionally, Chip and Crowdcube will launch an annual sale register window, enabling investors to sell part of their shares earlier than planned. Managed by Crowdcube, the register will serve as a marketplace matching existing shareholders with potential buyers, adding liquidity to Chip’s growing investor base. The article on Finextra in the first comment.

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Connectd Secures £5.5M to Accelerate AI-Powered Fractional Executive Platform UK-based fintech Connectd has successfully raised £5.5 million in funding from leading investors Anker Capital, Stena & Swerve, MMC Ventures, and Mail Venture Partners . This funding will significantly boost Connectd’s AI-driven platform, which strategically matches fractional executives with startups and scaleups. Founded by Roei Samuel, Connectd uses advanced AI analytics to precisely identify when businesses need fractional CFOs or CMOs, streamlining leadership roles without the costs of full-time executives. The platform now serves over 3,000 startups, has completed more than 25,000 successful placements, and has seen annual recurring revenue surpass £8.6M, growing 80% in the past year. Connectd’s fractional executive model aligns with growing market demand for agile leadership. Recent Deloitte research notes that nearly 70% of startups prefer fractional executives due to cost efficiency and operational flexibility. Connectd’s innovative approach and robust compliance standards clearly set it apart from traditional recruitment agencies and freelance marketplaces. The new funding will support Connectd’s technology expansion, market growth, and compliance infrastructure enhancement. Alan Walsh Spyros Balampekos FCCA William Smith Jeremy Small James Matthews Hidai Degani Patrick Ashton Paschal Chukwuemeka Amah Oliver Tarpey Darren Sack James Bessey Cyril Le Roux Danas Viluckas Jean-Pierre Raubenheimer George Birchenough James Bridgland Alex Berry Alexander Rose Fikayo Aremu , CMC® Andy Brown Sara Danisz Vishnu Chandran Martin Clay Brian Fitzpatrick Milan Veskovic Will Collins Colin Burke Andrew Keith Mark Kettles Sanchit Mehta Terry Forsey George Dunne Samuel Morris Richard Spilsbury #Connectd #AI #Fintech #UKTech #Startups #Scaleups #Innovation

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Fintechs wanted to unbundle banks. Now they’re bundling back. When Revolut got its license, Wise expanded, and Monobank took off in Ukraine—something became clear: fintech apps weren’t just fintech anymore. They became fintech banks. In my latest Fintech Garden conversation with Dumitru Condrea, we dig into: 👉 The difference between complexity and complication in fintech scaling. 👉 Why KYC fintech compliance and EMI licenses blur the line with banks. 👉 The rise of super apps, wealth management, and crypto fintech inside digital banking. 👉 Whether the US vs EU banking gap is widening or closing. The promise was disruption. The reality looks a lot like reinvention.  Where do you see the future of fintech banks heading? 🎧 Full episode here: https://lnkd.in/deWcY9XX #FintechFuture #ChallengerBanks #DigitalTrust #FintechGarden

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