More Plum, the fintech startup co-founded by early TransferWise employee Victor Trokoudes, is continuing its mission to help you manage your finances and save money. The AI-powered Messenger chatbot already offers savings functionality, including round-ups and regular savings, and today is launching an investment tool that lets you choose fund investments based on themes, such as ethical companies or technology. Similar to competitors Cleo and Chip, Plum connects to your bank accounts and its...

Viola, the Israel-based technology investment group, is launching new independent VC fund targeting fintech startups from anywhere in the world. Dubbed Viola FinTech, the "cross-stage venture fund" has an initial closing of $100 million but will extend that towards $120-150 million. It is backed by global banks, insurance companies and asset managers from North America, Europe, APAC and Israel, including Scotiabank, The Travelers Companies, Inc and Bank Hapoalim. Describing its mission as "to...

Moneyfarm, the U.K.-headquartered “digital wealth manager” has acquired the technology behind personal finance chatbot Ernest. Terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, though I understand that, along with the tech, this is an acqui-hire of sorts, seeing London-based Ernest’s CTO Lorenzo Sicilia join Moneyfarm to oversee technology integration. Founded in 2015 by Niall Bellabarba, Cristoforo Mione and Sicilia, Ernest was developing a personal finance manager powered by artificial intelligence...

Curve, the London fintech startup that lets you consolidate all your bank cards into a single card and track your spending, has partnered with accounting software Xero to remove much of the friction involved in filing expenses. The move is part of the newly-launched ‘Curve Connect’ feature that will see Curve connect to a growing list of third-party apps and services to make managing your money easier. Specifically, the Xero feature gives you the option to connect the Curve app to Xero so...

Well, GoCardless co-founder and CEO Hiroki Takeuchi knows how to work a non-denial denial. When I interviewed him a few weeks ago for an extensive profile piece we ran yesterday, he wouldn’t be drawn on if the hot London fintech was raising a new round. Today — and a little earlier than was planned, thanks to an embargo broken by a London regional paper a week early! — the company is announcing new funding. Once again, Accel, Balderton Capital, Notion, and Passion are backing GoCardless, this...