Google Ventures Makes its First Big European Fintech Investment

Google Ventures is investing 20 million into London fintech firm CurrencyCloud, a five-year-old startup that allows online companies to take cross-border payments, the Financial Times’ Madhumita Murgia reports.

This is the first fintech investment in Europe for Google Ventures, which is the venture capital operation for Google. As Financial Times notes, the investment in CurrencyCloud breaks with the original mission of focusing on life sciences established by founder Bill Maris who left Google last year.

More per the FT:

About a third of the fund’s investments are in life sciences companies, according to London-based partner Tom Hulme.

However, since new managing partner David Krane took up his role in August last year, the fund seems to be shifting gears, although it says it will continue to invest in life sciences companies.

“A core area of investment for us is fintech, reflected in deals like Stripe in November last year, and Align Commerce which was renamed Veem, announced this week,” Mr Hulme said.

CurrencyCloud is experiencing 60-percent annual growth, bringing in $1 million in revenues in December alone, according to the FT. The five-year old startup's other investors include Japanese e-commerce titan Rakuten and Sapphire Ventures, a subsidiary of software company SAP, the FT reports.

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