ALT21, a leading hedging technology company, today announced that it has closed a USD 21mio (19.4mio EUR) million funding round, one of the largest pre-series A funding rounds in Europe so far this year, to support the next stage of its growth.
ALT21 operates an end-to-end digital hedging platform. This platform is provided to strategic partners, who use it to embed simple hedging products into their business, enabling their SME customers to easily and cost-effectively protect themselves against currency risks. In 2022, this business generated more than EUR8m in operating income, a five-fold increase over the year before.
The fundraise will help ALT21 to sustain its growth trajectory. ALT21 plans to broaden the base of strategic partners to reach a larger demographic of SMEs. It also plans to expand overseas, allowing it to work with strategic partners globally. In addition, ALT21 also plans to license its software to a broader range of fintechs and banks, enabling them to provide lower-cost FX services to their customers within their own regulated businesses.
ALT21’s continued rapid expansion has been made possible by significant investment over the last 12 months. The company has invested heavily in its platform, improving automation and user experience, its operating infrastructure and processes, and its team, nearly doubling its R&D headcount over the same timeframe, to 37 people, bringing total headcount to 68 Looking forward, the company plans to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning to bridge the gap that exists between human interaction and trading apps for SMEs, bolstering products like its hedgucation suite of education modules.
Pritesh Ruparel, ALT21 CEO commented: “I am really excited about the opportunity that lies ahead for ALT21. Our mission is to make things simple. We use technology to scale where others have added human capital, providing a highly automated service that cuts cost and complexity, and gives value back to small businesses at a time when they need it most.
When fintechs experience high demand, it’s tempting to push for growth at all costs without strengthening the foundations to scale. Making the decision last year to invest in our foundations and build scalable architecture amid rapid growth was a brave one, and one that I believe will pay off for us in the long run. We are extremely focused on creating sustainable success for our customers and believe this is exemplified by the infrastructure investments we have made, which allow us to support customer growth while rapidly gaining market share.
It’s a tough environment for raising money and, in this context, I really appreciate the continued support of our long-term investors and my Board, who recognise the size of the market opportunity as well as the progress we have made in maturing our business and platform.
I look forward to showcasing to clients and select strategic partners the upgraded technology we’ve been working on.”
Richard Hayes, Chairman, added: “This latest funding round serves as further important external validation of ALT21’s strategy, execution and market opportunity. The last 12 months have been difficult for fintech businesses in a rising interest rate environment, but the team at ALT21 has continued to execute strongly, strengthening the robustness of its platform and operations and adding world-class new talent. I’m proud to chair a talented board who will support Prit in building a team that goes on to create a scalable world-class fintech”