Nikita is a co-founder at Umi and a partner at Gauss Ventures. He brings venture capital and startup experience, alongside past board and observer roles at Briskly, Capitalise, and Traydstream.
The funding round was led by Ventura Capital and Gauss Ventures, with participation from Goldman Sachs, pushing the company valuation to $2bn.
"It’s really been phenomenal to watch customers adopt our product at such significant speed. Our entire 200+ team is truly humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve millions of customers daily and rest assured we are all working around the clock to delight them. We have been fortunate to experience such phenomenal growth over the last 14 months and today we are celebrating becoming one of Europe’s fastest unicorns.Our unique business model, which is built on regulation and places consumer financial wellness at the heart of our operations, has created a revolution in the BNPL industry. We’re excited about this major milestone but realise that the job is nowhere near done and this really only marks the beginning of our growth journey as we aim to become the best way for consumers to pay for anything, anywhere."
Experian participates in a £10m Series A round intended to fund credit protection tools for small businesses.
"Managing credit risk is central to lender activity but SME owners typically overlook it. This restricts their growth and jeopardises their survival. While the digitalisation of financial services was on course to deliver SMEs with efficient access to new capital providers, the pandemic highlighted the fragility of their supply chains. As they emerge, their ability to recover and protect capital, while boosting their appeal to the lending community will be crucial. Capital Reports will make an unprecedented and timely contribution to SMEs’ ability to survive, and grow, in the UK within the coming months, in South Africa in Q4 with more countries to follow."
The London-based financial technology firm has raised a series B round backed by Gauss Ventures and M&F Fund to scale its operations.
"This funding is a demonstration of the confidence and strength of Zilch’s mission and products. By putting the customer first and building direct relationships with each of them, we are doing something no one else in the industry has done before. Zilch is far more than a BNPL company. We will very soon be launching in a number of new countries and continue the testing and rapid rollout of alternate ways for our customers to spend with Zilch."
The London based fintech has closed a £22.3m pre Series B round led by Gauss Ventures and Simon Nixon.
"We are excited and humbled by the response our product has received by both investors and customers alike. Customers recognise our dedication to focus on their needs. This is what sets us apart from other BNPL players in the market today and what continues to drive us in creating a new category – we want and can help people during these difficult times as our systems self adapt to the socio economic conditions of the day and we feel privileged to be in a position to do so. We are just getting started and have some amazing new features coming soon, all of which track our customers’ way of life, financial constraints and aspirations!"
The London-based simulation technology firm secured backing from Barclays, Graphene Ventures, and Gauss Ventures to drive talent acquisition and product growth.
"Simudyne technology is proven to help banks solve challenges such as understanding market contagion, stress testing and simulating market execution"