Chinese e-commerce giant Tencent is heading up a $35 million financing round for UK-based startup TrueLayer, further adding to its growing portfolio of fintech investments.
Founded in 2016, TrueLayer is one of a number of new ventures that have been launched as a result of the open banking initiative in that it provides a platform for fintechs, developers and retailers to access bank APIs and to securely share customers banking details.
Other backers in this financing round include the Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek, according to a report in The Times. The new capital, which brings TrueLayer's total funding to $47m, is expected to fund the company's expansion into Europe.
The investment comes just weeks after Tencent published its quarterly earnings which revealed that its fintech investments have helped generate a record $2.5bn profit.
It is also a further example of international investment in the UK's fintech market following a $175m financing round for digital remittance firm WorldRemit and an $800m investment in supply chain finance fintech Greensill from the SoftBank Vision Fund.