* Zilch, a BNPL startup, raises an additional $50M targeted at Miami/US expansion
* Aventura medtech startup btt raises $29.3M to prevent, treat a number of diseases
By Nancy Dahlberg
Buy-now-pay-later startup Zilch has raised an additional $50 million, bringing its Series C to $160 million as it plans bolster US expansion strategy from its Miami base.
The fintech, founded in London but growing in Miami, allows users to pay for everyday goods, even groceries, in installments. In total, the startup has raised over $460 million, and is a unicorn valued at $2 billion, a valuation maintained in the extension funding, Zilch said.
The additional capital will be used to further fund business growth in the US market, where Zilch recently opened its Miami office and launched with more than 150,000 pre-registered customers. The company said in its announcement that its US market is growing four times faster than the growth Zilch achieved in the United Kingdom, where it reached 2 million new customers in 18 months.
“Open Banking data shows how customers of all ages are migrating away from traditional high-cost credit cards or overdrafts in favor of services like Zilch – saving them millions. This extension is a great endorsement of our unique model as well as our investors’ belief in our ability to deliver on our mission to create the worldʼs most empowering way for people to pay for anything, anywhere,” said CEO and co-founder Philip Belamant, in a statement.
Zilch is also considering making acquisitions with the new funding, particularly in the advertising technology and open banking spaces. The 250-person startup is seeking to hire at least 50 people by the end of the year, mainly in Miami.
In May, Zilch revealed it planned to hire upwards of 100 employees in its Miami expansion. The company was approved for funds through the Miami Downtown Development Authorities Follow The Sun program in September 2021, but its identity was officially revealed last week. Zilch, which acquired Miami-based NepFin last year, was initially looking at New York or San Francisco before ultimately deciding on Downtown Miami for its US base, according to the DDA.
Zilch’s investors include Ventura Capital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Gauss Ventures, DMG Ventures, M&F Fund and Limited Ventures.
MEDTECH FUNDING
An Aventura-based medical technology startup, btt, is focused on the development of innovative devices and treatments for targeted heat shock protein induction across numerous health conditions. This includes the prevention and treatment of a wide range of neurologic disorders ranging from multiple sclerosis to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, ataxia, multiple system atrophy, and Huntington’s disease, the company said.
Today Btt announced it has closed an investment of $29.3 million from Oklahoma Rock Holdings to further development of its medical technology.
“Our unique brain-guided ability to induce heat shock proteins has the potential to restore brain function by refolding misfolded proteins and degrading toxic aggregates. Alzheimer’s alone, for example, affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide. We believe that these people, as well as the millions of people affected by neurodegenerative disorders, may be able to benefit from our brain-based technologies,” said btt CEO Robert Mogel, in a statement.
The emerging company’s brain-guided advanced cerebral hyperthermia system is based on brain thermoregulatory frequencies and the brain thermal tunnel discovered by btt’s founder Dr. M. Marc Abreu, who is also the chief scientific officer.
“Albert Einstein once said, ‘Future medicine will be the medicine of frequencies,’ and at BTT, we embody this vision in our very foundation as we strive to reduce human suffering and preserve lives,” Abreu said.
FinTech and MedTech were the No. 1 and 2, respectively, most active sectors for venture capital in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area in 2021.
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Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter and email her at [email protected]
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