A FinTech听software-as-a-service听startup听is planning to quadruple the size of its听team in the UK after raising 拢6.9 million.听
Toqio听was founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneurs Eduardo Mart铆nez and Michael Galvin, who previously built a small business SaaS听startup,听Geniac, which was acquired by Grant Thornton.听听
The听startup听helps businesses to accelerate and cost-effectively build new financial products through its platform and marketplace.听
Its modular approach allows customers to use pre-built products to rapidly create personalised applications and go from concept to market in just six weeks.听This听includes digital banking, card and financing solutions.听听
The marketplace acts as an orchestration听layer connecting the leading financial services and FinTech platforms directly into听Toqio. The company also provides a management portal offering clients end-to-end customer management.听
Toqio听has offices in Madrid and London and will scale the team from 19 to 100 with the new funding.听
鈥淲e initially launched to market in the听UK听and it was where our initial go-to-market efforts have been,鈥澨齅ichael Galvin, CCO and听co-founder, told听老九品茶Cloud.听
鈥淲ith the UK being such a hub for听FinTech and financial services, we have been able to rapidly grow our business from here, with over 75% of clients being acquired out of London听鈥撎齛lthough听about a third of these are European businesses operating in the UK.听
鈥淚n anticipation of the funding round, we began scaling up our London based commercial team which will encompass sales, partnerships, marketing and customer success.听The London portion of this team is currently听four, and we plan to grow the overall commercial team size to about 15 in the next 12 months.听
鈥淲e have doubled our total annual contract value [in the UK] and almost doubled our client base [there] so far this year. With this investment and scaling up our team, we expect to continue or exceed this growth trajectory.鈥�听
Existing听customers include business banking service听Wamo, alternative business lender Just Cash Flow and new Spanish online bank,听Crealsa.听听
The听seed round was raised听from leading European investors Seaya Ventures,听Speedinvest听and SIX FinTech Ventures.听It听will be used in part to enter the US market.听
鈥淎fter听exiting the last听business听we kept getting pulled towards FinTech,鈥� said co-founder and CEO听Eduardo听Mart铆nez.听听
鈥淲ith our backgrounds in SaaS and operating in the FinTech space, many opportunities came to us from banks,听startups听and big brands. We kept seeing the same problem, and no solution in the market.听听
鈥淩egulation has changed and听banking-as-a-service provided the plumbing for new solutions, but everyone was still building solutions from scratch.听听
鈥淚t felt like the same situation that has occurred again and again in the software industry before a new sector emerged,听and we had an opportunity to be a first-mover to deliver a meaningful solution, with FinTech SaaS.听
鈥溊暇牌凡鑕s听and banks are looking to innovate in the FinTech sector, but to date, they have had to create and maintain complex software solutions to do this. This has also kept smaller niche businesses out of the market.听听
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want FinTech to end up like banking just听with a new set of big incumbents trying to take control of financial services. We want to level the playing field.鈥�