Greek fintech startup Plum has secured €12 million in new funding and is also launching a crowdfunding campaign on October 18. Investors include UK-based DMG Ventures, Dubai-based Ventura Capital, Japan’s Global Brain, Greek Venture Friends and California-based 500 Startups.
“Plum welcomes the support of several notable names in the fintech sector in this round. Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-founder of Truelayer, Charles Delingpole, founder and CEO of ComplyAdvantage, and Hugh Strange, VP of Product at Nubank are supporting Plum as angel investors, bringing with them a wealth of experience in everything the sector,” the company said in a press release.
The startup, founded by Victor Trokoudes, a 2017 Harvard economics graduate, has developed a smart app that helps its users manage their money using artificial intelligence. Plum’s app analyzes users’ banking transactions and then tells them how much they can save or invest each month.
Currently, Plum has around 90 employees across offices in the UK, Greece and Cyprus.
Starting next week, Plum will also begin offer customers a stake in the company through a crowdfunding campaign, aiming to triple its valuation through a mix of crowdfunding and investments.
So far, the Greek fintech startup has managed to secure over €32 million in funding, with the latest round taking place in July 2020 with investors including Global Brain, the EBRD and Adventurous friends.
Last year, Plum also signed up over a million customers in the UK and managed to secure additional funding to expand into the European market, launching in France, Ireland and Spain.
“Plum already covers 26.6% of the EU population (119 million people) and plans to cover 70.6% by the end of 2022 (316 million people) with launches in the Netherlands, in Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Austria and Germany,” the company says.
Plum’s next plans include launching a Plum debit card, as well as expanding stock operations by the end of the year. Plum also plans to launch a cryptocurrency-based product next year.
“Wealth for All is our mission and we’ve made great strides in making that reality this year, massively expanding our user base and delivering a product that feels more and more like a financial super app,” said Trokoudes in a press release. .
“The appetite for smart, intuitive investment products is huge, particularly in other parts of Europe where banks, often old-fashioned, are the only option for putting your money to work. With the help of this new investment and our upcoming crowdfunding, our app will become the natural choice for anyone in Europe looking to improve their long-term finances,” he added.
Prior to Plum, Trokoudes was part of UK fintech unicorn Wise, leading the team that helped launch the company into 25 new markets.