Budapest Letters #43
π Hi All! Great to have you back. This is Budapest Letters, my newsletter covering startup and small business stories from the CEE region, or interesting developments that might have something to do with this part of Europe. Hope you will enjoy it!
Before we jump into edition #43, big shout out to our new subscribers, good to have you here. And one more thing before we roll, if you like what you read, subscribe + share ππ»
Cheers, Aron
π’ TL;DR
Top stories this week: βπ» Nexo, a digital-asset platform from π§π¬, issued one of the biggest loans in crypto history backed by NFTs βπ» kevin., Minka and Druid raised πΆ βπ» Polandβs DonateWise aims to bring a seemless charity donation experience to the global e-commerce space βπ» European and global financial markets are entering stormy waters with rising inflation and increasing interest rates that very much affects startup financing and their operations (i.e. π)
π₯ Story of the Week
Nexo, a global digital-asset platform hailing from π§π¬, announced that it has issued one of the largest loans backed by NFTs in crypto history, using two CryptoPunk Zombies as collateral. According to the company, the 2 month, 1.2k Ether loan (est. $3.3 million) carries an annualized interest rate of 21 per cent; which, by the way, seems pretty steep but hey, maybe the mark up includes history making π
Nonetheless, this is a big one for the crypto lending space and the acceptance of digital collaterals in traditionl lending so it will be interesting to see what kind of deals and in what numbers follow this one, in the coming months and years.
Although crypto ethusiasts, including Team Nexo, already believe thatβ¦
Show Me Da πΆ
ππ» kevin., a fintech startup from π±πΉ, raised β¬61.5M, led by π«π· private equity fund Eurazeo, with participation from existing investors, including Speedinvest (π¦πΉ) and OTB Ventures (π΅π±). The startup, that operates a cutting-edge account-to-account payment platform, will use the fresh funding to expand internationally.
ππ» Minka, another fintech startup this time from π¨π΄ with a co-founder from ππ· and presence in Zagreb, bagged β¬22.7M, co-led by Tiger Global (πΊπΈ) and Kaszek (π¦π·). The company, that operates a payment network which helps to move money securely, instantly and without the need for reconciliation, will use the fresh funding for expansion within Latin America and strengthening its team.
ππ» Druid, a chatbot startup from π·π΄, snatched β¬14M, co-led by Karma Ventures (πͺπͺ) and Hoxton Ventures (π¬π§), with participation several old and new investors, like re-known local VC GapMinder. The startup, that develops AI-powered virtual assistants, will use the funding to expand in Europe and North America.
ππ» Additional investment news that you should know about:
Solid World, a decentralized carbon derivatives marketplace from πͺπͺ, raised β¬2.5M from a sleuth of investors; more on this via ArcticStartup
Reiterate, a cost and revenue intelligence automation startup from πͺπͺ, bagged β¬1.25M, led by Hummingbird Ventures; more via ArcticStartup
Vestberry, a portfolio management and reporting software startup from πΈπ°, received ca. β¬800k from various business angels; more via CzechCrunch
Rating Captain, a customer service automation startup from π΅π±, snatched β¬228k from Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder; more via MamStartup
π₯ to all teams on the fresh raises!
π¨ Startup Alert
This weekβs alert on DonateWise, a digital donation startup from π΅π±, founded by Filip Jaraczewski, Martin SoboΕ and Piot Szpak to enable e-commerce business and their clients to seemlessly donate - via the normal purchase process - to charities they care about. According to the company, their solution is not only beneficial for charities (i.e. having a new donation stream) but for partnering businesses (i.e. increase in sales conversions) as well. So a win for all sides. And how it works?
Businesses that join need to activate DonateWise in their online stores. Then they need to set a percentage (or part of it) per transaction that will go to the charity of their choice. And the startup will do the rest (i.e. calculate invidual donations / charity / transactions and transfer the funds to named charities). Pretty sweet.
π§ Food
No brainfood from me this week because Jakob Steinschaden put my exact thoughts down via TrendingTopics much more eloquently than I ever could on the current global / European financial market developments. Folks, if you do not have time, the main takeaway is that it looks bad. Real bad. Inflation, recession, stagflation, interest rate hikes, you name it, it is either already here or coming.
And this, of course, will not spare startups. Just look at these πΊπΈ numbers.
So buckle your seatbelts friends, the road will get bumby.