By
Godfrey Benjamin
September 1st, 2023
The fintech unicorn Curve has finished a $2 million funding round from a number of prominent investors.
Curve, a UK-based fintech company, has announced it secured $2 million in seed funding round from a range of investors, including Taavet Hinrikus, a co-founder of the money transfer startup called TransferWise.
As TechCrunch reported, other investors included Betfair’s co-founder Ed Wray, Ricky Knox of bank Tandem and former employees of Google Wallet. Venture capital funds Seedcamp, led by Stefan Klestil, Speedinvest, led by Reshma Sohoni, and the Mayor of London’s London Co-Investment Fund also participated in the funding round.
Taavet Hinrikus became CEO of TransferWise in September, when the previous director Kristo Käärmann left his position. Since its establishment in 2011, TransferWise has turned into one of the promising startups in London.
Earlier this year, the firm was estimated at $1 billion, following the closure of a $58 million investment round led by venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz. TransferWise allows customers to transact money across different countries via peer-to-peer platform, thus eliminating costly bank fees. The company now has five offices in the US, Ukraine, Estonia and the UK.
Curve is planned to be launched in the beginning of 2016. The website is now available in closed beta, although there is only a small number of users who can sign up. By far, the company has not provided details on its services and how it works. “Reimagining the card: Meet your next generation of payments after the trusted bankcard,” the website reads.
As Steve O’Hear of TechCrunch wrote, Curve “broadly plays in the payments and loyalty space and combines the benefits of mobile payment solutions, such as Apple Pay, and the traditional bank card.”
“We can probably expect a better UI/UX in terms of how you track and account for your own spending, underpinned by some interesting fintech, and then various additional features afforded by bringing greater transparency to your spending data,” he added.
Curve was founded by three INSEAD MBA graduates, Israeli entrepreneur Shachar Bialick, COO of fintech startup Osper and Anna Mostyn Williams, who previously did UK internet marketing at Microsoft’s Xbox.
Curve CEO, Shachar Bialick, earlier told Tech City News that the company is going to use the funds to continue expanding its team and enhancing its product.
“At Curve, we’re focused on building a product that will bypass the issues that currently hinder mobile payments adoption, and are thrilled to have attracted the backing and commitment from our incredible set of investors,” he said.
