FinTech News
Thought Machine Raises $200 Million, Earns Unicorn Status
Although 2021 is now rolling towards its finale, FinTech’s record fundraising year isn’t over yet. This week, London-based Thought Machine announced it had closed a $200 million round. The Series C was led by Nyca Partners, who were joined by some of Though Machine’s banking clients, including ING Ventures, JPMorgan Chase, and Standard Chartered Ventures. Additionally, returning investors such as Lloyds Banking Group, British Patient Capital, Eurazeo, SEB, Molten Ventures, Backed, and IQ Capital also participated in the round. To date, the startup has now raised a total of $348 million. Perhaps more importantly, with the latest investment round, the company is now valued at more than $1 billion dollars, qualifying it as a FinTech “unicorn.”
Thought Machine is a cloud native core banking platform. Since launching in 2014, the company has helped legacy banks deploy modern technological systems. One of the latest institutions to partner with Thought Machine is Ozarks-based Arvest Bank. At the time that it was announced that the bank would be utilizing Thought Machine’s Vault engine, Arvest president and CEO Kevin Sabin stated, “As modern consumers’ lifestyles and digital banking expectations change, we want to ensure we deliver a banking experience that makes their lives easier today and well into the future. A next-generation core engine powering Arvest will allow us to do just that.”
In a press release announcing the funding round, Thought Machine founder and CEO Paul Taylor commented, “We are delighted to have earned the support of our new and existing investors as we continue to move the world’s leading banks into the cloud. We set out to eradicate legacy technology from the industry and ensure that all banks deployed on Vault can succeed and deliver on their ambitions.” Taylor went on to share a bit about the FinTech’s plans for the future, noting, “These new funds will accelerate the delivery of Vault into banks around the world who wish to implement their future vision of financial services.”
Nyca Partners managing partner Hans Morris said of his firm’s investment, “Thought Machine is the leading technology among the new generation of cloud native core platforms, and as a result it has become the top choice for tier one banks looking to upgrade their core architecture,” adding, “Investing in Thought Machine is an investment in the future of banking and we are very energized to be working with them as they build a new standard for core banking technology.”
The unicorn status of Thought Machine once again shows that FinTechs can find success by working with banks instead of strictly competing against them. On that note, while a number of institutions have upgraded their digital infrastructure in recent years, there are certainly many others who have yet to do so, giving Thought Machine plenty of potential clients. With that, keep an eye on this new FinTech unicorn as it looks to soar even higher.
