UK Fintech Vitesse Raises $26M With Participation From Hannover Digital Investments

Vitesse PSP, the London-based fintech that specializes in digital solutions for global payments and counts numerous insurers among its customers, announced it has raised $26 million in Series B funding.

The Series B funding, which was led by Prime Ventures, also includes investments from Hannover Digital Investments (HDInv), the corporate venture capital fund of insurer HDI Group, and Octopus Ventures, which led the 2020 Series A funding round and is one of Europe’s most active venture capital investors.

Proceeds from the round will be used to support and accelerate Vitesse’s growth and global expansion program across Europe and the U.S.

Global payments can be processed more cost-effectively, quickly and easily with the help of Vitesse’s system which enables businesses to pay domestically in 109 currencies to 172 countries, said HDInv in a statement. Customers also get a real-time overview of their finances and transactions. In addition, Vitesse provides a treasury management platform for insurers, which enables greater capital efficiency and liquidity management.

Vitesse explained that its technology serves as the backbone of the financial infrastructure that runs throughout the insurance value chain, as well as for many corporates who use Vitesse for faster, more cost-effective payments. Its liquidity and treasury management platform is built on top of a globally distributed payments network providing control and transparency as well as improved capital efficiency and additional investment returns for its customers.

“Vitesse brings great value to insurers and their customers when it comes to improving speed, control and transparency in payments and centralizing claims payments. We see a big potential for Vitesse to become the online payment partner of choice for insurers,” said Ulrich Wallin, managing director of HDInv.

“We are thrilled to have our new investors on board. We have strong ambitions to grow, particularly in the U.S. and in the insurance market which we believe is still untapped and yet to be digitally revolutionized,” said Vitesse CEO Phillip McGriskin. In addition to the U.S., the company also wants to expand in Europe with the help of the financing.

Vitesse already serves many established blue-chip companies within the insurance sector, including over 70% of the insurers within the Lloyds of London market, supporting insurers to digitize their operations and develop new “real time” products like parametric covers. Vitesse’s platform is also rapidly being adopted by neo-insurers such as BoughtByMany pet insurance.

Additional participants to the funding round include existing angel investors and industry heavyweights such as Ron Kalifa, former Worldpay CEO and author of the Kalifa Review, and Shane Happach, CEO of Mollie, the Dutch payments unicorn.

Topics Carriers InsurTech Europe Funding