Spiko, a fintech transforming the European cash management market through tokenised infrastructure, has today announced $22 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from White Star Capital, Frst, Rerail, Bpifrance and Blockwall. The round was supported by notable angels, including Revolut co-founder Nikolay Storonsky, Kyriba founder Jean-Luc Robert, Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams, Wise CTO Harsh Sinha, Blackstone co-CIO Lionel Assant and Pennylane’s founding team.
As of today, $25 trillion sits idly in European bank deposits, missing out on yields, capital efficiency, and essential capital protection. This stands in contrast to the US, where the ecosystem for managing liquidity is far more developed, with US businesses of all sizes routinely earning interest on their cash holdings, without sacrificing liquidity. As a result, there’s a growing trend in Europe toward better cash optimisation and an increased need for businesses to diversify their cash deposits. Spiko is addressing this need and is experiencing strong early organic market traction as a result.
Paul-Adrien Hyppolite, Spiko co-founder, commented: “In Europe, there’s a mistaken belief that your money won’t earn interest unless you lock it away or take on risk. But as long as central bank rates are above zero, sitting on idle cash means European businesses are missing out on returns that US competitors routinely receive. With Spiko, we’re changing the game by making it easy for anyone to put their cash to work.”
Soars to $400 million in assets under management in just 1 year, ramps up distribution with strategic fintech partnerships
Just a year after its launch, Spiko already has over $400 million in AUM, with more than $900 million in working capital from over 1,000 businesses having been processed through the platform. This is entirely organic growth, achieved without any dedicated sales efforts. It is projected to reach over $1 billion in AUM by the end of the year. Spiko is ramping up distribution with a platform built with API access from the ground up and has already signed partnerships with Fygr and Memo Bank to offer Spiko’s product to their customers.
Spiko’s rapid growth points to a clear market gap and strong demand from businesses overlooked by legacy banks – businesses that want to earn daily interest without compromising constant access to their cash. This was achieved with a nine-person team, led by co-founders Paul-Adrien Hyppolite and Antoine Michon, who saw the problem first-hand while working in the French Government.
Paul-Adrien is a former economist at the Treasury, while Antoine was a technology advisor to France’s Minister of Public Sector Transformation. He previously worked in the Prime Minister’s digital directorate and at Palantir, while Paul-Adrien started his career in private equity.
Julia Andre, partner at Index Ventures, the global VC firm that backed Robinhood, Bridge and Revolut, commented: “Spiko is going after a vast opportunity in treasury management and leveraging their tokenised fund infrastructure to unlock new pools of liquidity through innovative distribution. Their initial product resonates strongly with customers in Europe, and we’re excited about their vision to tap into huge distribution channels with an expansive product offering over time.”
Tokenisation: a new fintech frontier enabling disintermediated and cost-effective fund management structure
Spiko uses tokenisation to unlock demand from a large group of smaller businesses that traditional banks tend to overlook. These businesses are often ignored because they’re hard to service and expensive to reach. By acting as a transfer agent on a blockchain ledger – something usually handled by legacy custodians – Spiko cuts out the middlemen and reduces the cost of managing funds, all while opening up the possibility of 24/7 cash-equivalent transfers worldwide.
The underlying assets in Spiko’s main funds consist of Treasury Bills – short-term debt securities issued by major Eurozone governments or the U.S. Treasury that are always open for trading. The assets are widely regarded as risk-free, as central bank policy rates set the yields. Because they are non-speculative and backed by sovereign guarantees, they are among the safest and most liquid assets available.
Spiko’s tokenised architecture — the first of its kind for money market funds in Europe — also enables transfers via stablecoins, offering an alternative to traditional wire payments. Customers can fund their accounts with digital currency and withdraw in fiat, or vice versa.
The Series A funding will accelerate Spiko’s go-to-market strategy, with investments in sales, marketing, product development, and new partnership acquisitions. While initial focus will remain in Europe, with a novel take on transparency and user experience, along with unique blockchain-powered rails, the company has an eye on future US expansion.
Read the orginal article: https://ffnews.com/newsarticle/funding/spiko-raises-22m-led-by-index-ventures-to-democratise-access-to-treasury-yields-after-hitting-400m-in-aum-in-first-year/
