Two Baltic firms have attracted venture capital investments this week in a development that will further boost the competitiveness of the region’s start-up ecosystem.
The Lithuanian know your customer (KYC) service provider Ondato and Estonia’s proptech management company Moderan have snapped up 450,000 and 270,000 euros respectively from international investors.
Ondato, which has just closed its pre-seed round, got its investment from the Startup Wise Guys accelerator fund.
Founded in 2016, the company offers remote KYC and compliance solutions which helps clients identify individuals and legal entities and remain compliant with the most stringent security and AML (anti-money laundering) regulations.
Compliance with KYC and AML regulations is more important than ever, as the deadline for EU member states to implement its Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) expired in January 2020. Under the directive the EU has tightened its regulations, especially in the area of cryptocurrencies and combating terrorism financing.
Ondato offers its services to both traditional financial institutions and private fintech companies operating online.
With the new investment, the company plans to enter the Polish and German markets.
“The Startup Wise Guys accelerator fund will grant our start-up the opportunity to grow even faster and expand into other countries,” says Ondato founder Liudas Kanapienis. “We are already one of the leading KYC platforms in the Baltic States, we are trusted and our services are already used by banks such as Luminor, SEB, Swedbank, other financial and insurance companies and various start-ups.”
Dmitrij Sosunov, a partner at Startup Wise Guys, believes Ondato has huge potential.
“The decision to invest was based on the Ondato team, which has vast experience in the fintech domain and which does not limit itself to successfully operating in the Baltic States, seriously aiming for the global market. We see that Ondato is unafraid to innovate and offers its clients new products which resolve key and expensive problems related to client verification and compliance,” he says.
In nearby Estonia, it’s the proptech up-and-comer Moderan that has been snapping up the venture capital euros.
The lease and property management software company has secured 270,000 euros in funding from the Zenith Family Office, existing investors, and the Lemonade Stand Fund.
Moderan was founded in 2015 and aims to help commercial real estate owners digitalise and start managing their properties and tenants professionally.
Their integrated solution provides an overview of all the key areas of property management. Assets, spaces, contracts and deadlines are all things their clients can manage on Moderan’s platform. Additionally, users can now track and automate the calculation of incidental costs – a particular and time-consuming pain point for most real estate companies.
As of now, the company has clients in the Baltic region and Germany and its software powers the management of 350 buildings and assets that are worth more than one billion euros.
“Moderan has a clear opportunity to become a leader in the commercial real estate market,” says Siim Teller, managing partner at Lemonade Stand. “The team has a strong background in the field with previous business experience, and they have maintained a steady growth over time. In addition, they have worked very cost-effectively, making Moderan a good example for many other companies.”
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