Early Revolut backer Lakestar leads $40 million investment in French fintech startup Swan
European venture capital giant Lakestar, an early supporter of fintech unicorn Revolut, has emerged as a prominent backer of French fintech startup Swan.
Swan raised the funds in a series B investment led by European venture capital giant Lakestar. The latest fundraise takes Swan's total money raised to 58 million euros. Accel, another venture capital firm, previously led Swan's series A round in 2021.
Swan CEO and co-founder Nicolas Benady said that, when he started out, it was «incredibly complex» to integrate banking and other financial services into existing platforms that didn't have any financial components.
«What we had in mind with our co-founders was that it shouldn't be that complex,» he told CNBC. «If it's easy to accept payments — like the Stripes the Adyens, the Mollies of this world enable — it should be as easy to set up banking.»
"If you develop a big idea… at 2 a.m., it should be possible to come onto our website and have something up and running in the morning," Benady added.
Swan will initially use the money to expand its operations in the Netherlands in the coming months, before later expanding its operations in the Italian market in 2024.
Benady said the Dutch market has unique features that set it apart from other European countries, making it more complex as a country to launch digital banking and payment capabilities in for its customers.
For example, the Netherlands has its own payments system, called iDEAL, which lets consumers pay online through their own bank and is supported by all the country's major lenders including ABN Amro and ING Group.
Georgia Watson, a principal at Lakestar based in the firm's London office, said the firm had been tracking Swan «for about a year.»
«We really like that
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