The 7 Hottest European Fintech Companies That You Should Know About

Martyna Bobrowska on 14 November 2018

The fintech industry is growing really fast – the numbers speak for themselves. The total investment value this year has amounted to 26 billion dollars so far, which is already the highest result ever and is still growing.* So what determines such a dynamic development of companies from this sector? For sure – talented people, innovative ideas, and of course, demand. Today I will present to you seven companies which certainly have it all.

*Statista, 2018

iwoca

Year founded: 2012

Headquarters: London, UK

Website: https://www.iwoca.co.uk/

iwoca found a finance solution for small and medium businesses from Europe – it offers loans from £1,000 to £200,000 (it depends on business performance and country). Clients have to upload all their business accounts and bank statements via an online platform – it gives iwoca a detailed understanding of their business. Then iwoca analyzes the company and makes an offer within hours. The customers receives a flexible offer without long-term commitments and upfront costs. Since launching in 2012, iwoca has issued over £550 million to 21,500 businesses across Europe.

Christoph Rieche, iwoca CEO

iwoca co-founder and CEO Christoph Rieche shares Appchance his advice to small businesses:

“It’s been an insane experience over the last 7 years, a real roller-coaster with huge ups and downs, but that’s the beauty of building your own business.

We’ve started out with the mission to finance 1 million small businesses and to make business finance as simple as booking a flight ticket online. We’ve come a long way already: our all time best is to have cleared funds in our customers bank account within 3 minutes of starting the application process. With more than 20,000 small business customers funded we’re still a long way from achieving our mission but every day we get a bit closer to it and I am convinced that we’ll get there within a decade.

My advice for those looking to launch their own start-up is to choose something that you are truly passionate about. It’s a marathon of sprints, a long and hazardous uphill struggle, building an amazing team around you that is equally excited about the opportunity is really important to help you see it through.

Klarna

Year founded: 2005

Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden

Website: https://www.klarna.com/uk/

Klarna is one of Europe’s most valuable fintech firms. They provide online payment solutions for e-commerce in order to eliminate the risk for seller and buyers. They offer paying after 14 or 30 days with no fees “to make paying as simple, safe and above all, as smooth as possible”. The company processes 800,000 transactions a day and is being used by 60 million people worldwide.

Monzo

Year founded: 2015

Headquarters: London, UK

Website: https://monzo.com

Monzo offers online-only payments where accounts are fully managed through an app. The app has functionalities like managing recurring payments or sending money abroad. The company has built its own community forum where customers can exchange their experiences and give suggestions for the bank’s functions. This has become a successful solution to engage with users and build loyalty. The company has more than 1 million customers using their debit cards who have already spent more than £4 billion using Monzo. What’s interesting – the company has grown so quickly, that they have reduced operating expenses by almost 80% in just ten months.

Transferwise

Year founded: 2010

Headquarters: London, UK

Website: https://transferwise.com

This big company was founded by two guys who had a bad experience with transferring money abroad. They decided to change the traditional transfer system, which wasted their time and money, so they developed Transferwise. The platform helps people all over the world send money across borders without bank fees. About 4 million users have transfered £2 billion into accounts since Transferwise launched.

Adyen

Year founded: 2006

Headquarters: Amsterdam, UK

Website: https://www.adyen.com/

Adyen offers both online and in-store payments (with terminals). They also ensure a completely customizable and flexible payments solution for any marketplace business model. Merchants can count on 106% risk adjusted ROI – the retailers can see benefits of €5,1 million over 3 years. The company has processed payment volumes €108 billion in 2017 and it had €218 million net revenue. Adyen cooperates with some of the biggest players in e-commerce such as Spotify, eBay, Uber and Booking.com.

Funding Circle

Year founded: 2009

Headquarters: London, UK

Website: https://www.fundingcircle.com/uk/

When its founders launched Funding Circle, they had a simple idea: to let investors and companies support each other. Their business was founded in direct response to the 2008 financial crisis, when banks pulled back from lending. They provide access to finance for small businesses from the UK, US, Germany, and The Netherlands. Investors use their online account to easily lend money to businesses looking to borrow, those businesses then make fixed monthly repayments with interest. Funding Circle is a broker between them. Investors have lent more than £5.6 billion to 56,000 businesses globally.

N26

Year founded: 2013

Headquarters: Berlin, Germany

Website: https://n26.com

N26 is a full mobile bank which removes all the drawbacks of traditional banks. A client uses the application for all services and it has useful functionalities such as a login using a fingerprint, a locking bank card inside the app if it gets lost, or controlling push notifications on all account activity. In addition to a normal card, the company offers The Black Account – a premium business account for freelancers and the self-employed. This account offers competitive foreign travel insurance (including mobile phone theft), ATM cash withdrawls, and purchase protection. The personalization also engages younger customers – they can create their own personal tags to organize their transactions, for example #clothes.

People use fintech applications for different activities. A few years ago mobile transactions weren’t so popular as they are today. These days, you can manage your finances, pay contactless by smartphone, or raise funding for your business, all on your phone! What does it mean for customers? They don’t have to waste their time for trips to traditional banks and pay huge interest rates. And as we know, people love saving their money as well as their time.

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