Dutch fintech startup Blanco raises € 2 million for roll-out in Germany and France
Blanco, the startup that develops an all-in-one technology platform for asset managers, raised € 2 million in a second financing round to roll out their Digital Asset Management Platform in general and to accelerate the roll-out of their Know Your Customer (KYC) Solution in Germany and France.
Blanco started at the end of 2016 with the development of an all-in-one technology solution for asset managers. The Blanco Digital Asset Management Platform has since been sold to around 40 Dutch and Belgian asset managers. An important part of this platform is the Know Your Customer (KYC) Solution. Blanco has succeeded in simplifying the often lengthy and annoying KYC Process – the legally required procedure to establish the identity of a customer and to create a customer profile. Whereas the typical KYC process used to take several days, Blanco’s KYC Solution can complete the entire KYC process for simple accounts in a few minutes and for more complex accounts in 60 minutes. Bernadette Wijnings, CFO of Blanco: “Instead of a legal obligation that leads to a complex process with a high chance of customers dropping out, we made the KYC process so simple that it actually becomes a chance for companies to really get to know their customers better.”
Dutch Founders Fund has taken care of the largest part of this financing round. Eric Veeneman, co-founder and managing partner of Dutch Founders Fund, says about the investment in Blanco: “The legal KYC obligation is a lot of hassle not only for financial organizations, but also for regulated companies in general, such as law firms. We are impressed by the KYC Solution that Blanco has developed: there is a real need for this. This investment will enable an accelerated rollout of the KYC Solution in Germany and France, in addition to the Netherlands and Belgium”.
Other participants in this financing round are a number of strategic investors, plus Volta Ventures and KBC Start IT Fund, who have previously invested in Blanco. A representative of Dutch Founders Fund will join the Blanco Supervisory Board. This Supervisory Board consists of Conny Dorrestijn, Founding Partner BankiFi, former Marketing Director FIS; Koen Schrever, KBC Start IT Fund; Sander Vonk, General Partner Volta Ventures; and Hidde Hoogcarspel, Managing Director Dutch Founders Fund.
