February 17, 2026 @ 6:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Investment Fund for Wales (IFW) has achieved a significant milestone as it enters its third year, announcing its largest single investment to date: a £3.5 million equity stake in Advantiv Limited, an industrial services and procurement company based in Merthyr Tydfil and Pembroke Dock…. Read More

 Tagged british business banking, uk, united kingdom

February 17, 2026 @ 12:44 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The United Kingdom has long grappled with a productivity shortfall compared to its G7 peers, such as France and Germany. A recent analysis from UK’s Starling Bank suggests that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hold the key to bridging this divide. By embracing advanced financial… Read More

 Tagged digital banking, insights, sme's, starling bank, uk, united kingdom

February 16, 2026 @ 6:02 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Levl, a unified platform powering fiat and stablecoin global payments, announced this week it has closed $7 million in seed funding. The round was led by Galaxy Ventures with participation from Protagonist, Deus X, Blockchain Builders Fund, OpenFX, FalconX, CMCC, Variant Fund, and a strategic… Read More

 Tagged Jaisel Sandhu, Levl, payments, stablecoin, stablecoins, will nuelle

February 16, 2026 @ 2:20 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Rezolve Ai (NASDAQ:RZLV), a global facilitator of AI-driven commerce and payments infrastructure, has acquired Reward, a provider of customer engagement and commerce media, for $230 million. The acquisition brings together Reward’s engagement, intelligence and activation capabilities with Rezolve Ai’s conversational commerce and agentic AI platform… Read More

 Tagged Daniel M. Wagner, e-commerce, Gavin Dein, Jamie Samaha, payments, reward, Rezolve Ai

February 16, 2026 @ 10:11 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Provenir, a provider of AI risk decisioning, this week announced the launch of its comprehensive decision intelligence platform with new agentic AI features. Provenir’s Decision Intelligence platform brings together data, models, decisioning, and optimization in one continuous system. With the platform, organizations can transform raw… Read More

 Tagged ai, AWS Bedrock, David Mirfield, decision intelligence, provenir, risk decisioning

February 16, 2026 @ 7:25 am By Omar Faridi  |  

In a key update signaling its plans for the European market, global digital payments firm Checkout.com has named Ashley Paulus as its new Vice President and Head of Revenue for the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA). This strategic appointment, revealed on February… Read More

 Tagged checkout.com, europe, payments, uk, women changing finance

February 16, 2026 @ 1:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

LuLu Financial Holdings has joined forces with Bitpanda Technology Solutions to introduce digital asset trading to its customer network. This alliance aims to seamlessly blend crypto options into traditional financial tools, catering to a growing demand for diversified investment opportunities in emerging markets. The partnership… Read More

 Tagged bitpanda, digital assets, europe, lulu financing holdings, trading, uae

February 15, 2026 @ 10:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In a period of increasing economic uncertainty, building a secure retirement requires effective strategies to manage daily activities, market fluctuations, and tax implications. Recent analyses shared by online pension provider PensionBee highlight how everyday spending patterns, like subscription services, can undermine long-term savings. PensionBee also… Read More

 Tagged pension, pensionbee, retirement, united states, us

February 15, 2026 @ 10:07 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Bottomline, a global provider of business payments and cash management, and Koxa, an ERP-banking company, this week announced a partnership to deliver embedded banking capabilities directly inside ERP systems. The collaboration enables Bottomline’s bank clients to offer a fully integrated ERP banking experience to their… Read More

 Tagged banking, bottomline, Camellia George, embedded baking, erp, Koxa, Rodney Nilson

February 15, 2026 @ 12:41 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, ZeroDrift emerged from stealth alongside a $2 million pre-seed round to automate compliance in real time, unlocking business velocity while giving compliance teams infrastructure to scale oversight. The pre-seed round was led by a16z speedrun. The capital will support the company’s go-to-market launch,… Read More

 Tagged a16z speedrun, ai, automation, compliance, funding round, Kumesh Aroomoogan, Troy Kirwin, ZeroDrift