7 Innovative European Fintechs to Follow
Europe is home to numerous world-leading fintech companies, including the likes of Revolut, Klarna, and Checkout.com, companies that disrupted and dominated their respective markets in a startlingly short amount of time. In fact, Europe is home to 35 percent of the world’s unicorn companies today, riding the tailwind of digital transformation innovations in the banking and finance industry.
In this article, we look at seven Europe-based fintech companies poised for success.
1. Tide — United Kingdom
Tide is one of the UK’s fastest-growing fintechs. The company is used by more than 370,000 businesses and has secured more than $245.5 million in funding to date. Pitched as a checking account that gives time back to business owners, this London-based company is transforming the business banking sector, providing a platform that not only offers business accounts and ancillary services but also a comprehensive set of business admin tools and full integration with accounting systems. Designed with SMEs in mind, Tide utilizes advanced technology to make data-driven decisions, allowing SMEs to save time and money and fuel business success.
2. Alma — France
Headquartered in Paris, Alma was founded in 2017 with the mission of evening the playing field between the ever-growing number of entrepreneurial brands and large retailers. Alma provides businesses with access to tools that benefit consumers and merchants alike, offering pay later and installment payment solutions to help businesses boost their sales while simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction. While customers have the option of paying in installments, Alma provides the merchant with the full price at the moment of sale.
3. Moonfare — Germany
Catering to individual investors, Moonfare is a leading digital private equity investment platform. Operating in 13 countries, with more than $1.05 billion in assets under management, Moonfare has attracted $185 million in investment to date, including a secured $125 million in Series C funding in November 2021.
Moonfare enables individual investors to access select private market funds that were once previously reserved for financial institutions. The company, which has earned an international reputation as a market leader in an impressively short time, curates a selection of the world’s top venture capital and private equity funds to provide access for individual investors via its digital platform.
4. Adyen — Netherlands
Founded by Pieter van der Does and Arnout Schuijff, Adyen is based in Amsterdam, with offices across 23 countries in Europe, Australasia, Asia, the Middle East, and North and South America. Listed on the Euronext stock exchange, the company enables businesses to accept mobile, e-commerce, and point of sale payments. Today, Adyen employs around 2,000 people.
In 2020, the company benefited from the pandemic-fueled growth of the e-commerce ecosystem, launching its mobile Android point of sale devices worldwide in the second half of the year. Adyen reported net revenue of $721.5 million in 2020, an impressive 28 percent year-on-year increase. In 2021 its net revenue hit $1 billion.
5. Klarna — Sweden
Stockholm-based Klarna is an e-commerce payment solution for shoppers and merchants. Founded in 2005, the company is now valued at $2.5 billion, making Klarna Europe’s most valuable fintech company.
Klarna was founded to make online shopping easier. Over the last 17 years, technology has evolved, transforming the world around us, yet Klarna’s mission remains as relevant as ever: making payment as simple, safe, and smooth as possible.
A leading global payment and shopping service, Klarna provides smarter, more flexible purchase and shopping experiences to 147 million consumers, supporting 400,000 merchants across 45 countries. The company offers pay after delivery, installment plans, and direct payments, providing a smooth one-click purchase experience that enables consumers to choose how and when they make payments.
6. Nexi — Italy
Nexi is Italy’s leading paytech company, operating in partnership with around 150 partner banks. Nexi’s end-to-end omnichannel technology connects consumers, merchants, and banks, revolutionizing the way people and businesses pay and collect money each day while accelerating the spread of digital payments and a transition to a cashless society. Nexi operates in three main market areas: digital banking solutions, cards and digital payments, and merchant services and solutions. Today, along with its partner banks, Nexi serves a reported 900,000 merchants across Italy.
7. Ibancar — Spain
Based in Malaga, Andalucía, Ibancar specializes in providing customer loans to clients with a difficult credit history. Amassing some $13.3 million in investment to date, the company specializes in online lending to unbanked clients lacking access to conventional forms of credit. Launched with the mission of creating a solid, sustainable business that steps up to provide credit to clients experiencing temporary financial difficulties, Ibancar has developed a loan product with clear differentiating factors, zero credit losses, and a competitive advantage.
Providing flexible payment plans and transparent rates, the company has established itself as the most respected and fastest-growing secured loan platform in the sector.
