etoro-appoints-dr.-hedva-ber,-israel’s-former-banking-supervisor,-as-deputy-ceo-and-global-coo

eToro appoints Dr. Hedva Ber, Israel’s former Banking Supervisor, as Deputy CEO and Global COO

 

Global multi-asset investment platform eToro, today announces the appointment of Dr. Hedva Ber as Deputy CEO and Global Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Dr. Ber will lead eToro’s operational infrastructure, corporate governance, compliance and regulatory affairs, legal, risk management and social responsibility.

Dr. Ber has more than 25 years of experience across the banking and finance industry. Between 2015 and 2020 Dr. Ber served as Israel’s Supervisor of Banks where she actively promoted digital transformation and the implementation of innovation and technological changes in the banking and payment sectors. Prior to that she held several senior roles at Bank Leumi, the last being Chief Risk Officer.

From 2005 to 2008 Dr. Ber represented the State of Israel on the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. She received her PhD in Economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Dr. Ber is considered to be one of Israel’s leading and influential economists who drove significant changes in the banking sector.

Yoni Assia, eToro Co-Founder and CEO said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Ber as eToro’s Deputy CEO and Global COO. Dr. Ber joined us as a consultant earlier this year and I’m thrilled that she has become a permanent, full time member of eToro’s senior leadership team. Dr. Ber brings with her invaluable experience across regulation, corporate governance and risk management. eToro has always placed a strong focus on providing the very best experience to our clients while rigorously adhering to global regulations and applying the highest standards of operational excellence. Under Hedva’s leadership, eToro will remain at the forefront of best practice as we scale the business.”  

Dr. Hedva Ber, eToro Deputy CEO and Global COO said: “As someone from the traditional banking industry, I chose to join eToro, an innovative leader in global fintech and a business at the forefront of the new world of investing, out of a belief in the company’s vision and management. I look forward to working with it’s employees and management, ensuring that eToro continues to operate at the highest level of regulatory standards. I look forward to overseeing the ongoing investment in the company’s operational capabilities to support its rapid growth and create value for its customers and investors.”

checkout.com-triples-valuation-to-$15bn-with-$450m-series-c-fundraise,-accelerating-global-expansion

Checkout.com Triples Valuation to $15bn with $450m Series C Fundraise, Accelerating Global Expansion

 

Checkout.com, the leading Connected Payments™ solutions provider, today announced that it closed a $450 million Series C fundraising round. This gives the business a post-money valuation of $15 billion, making it the fourth largest fintech globally and EMEA’s most valuable venture-backed business(1), as the business continues to expand across the globe.

The Series C was led by Tiger Global Management, LLC, a New York-based technology investor that partners with dynamic entrepreneurs operating market-leading growth companies, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Spotify, ByteDance, and JD.com. Greenoaks Capital also joined the round along with participation from existing investors Insight Partners, DST Global, Coatue Management, Blossom Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, and Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC.

Guillaume Pousaz, CEO and Founder of Checkout.com said: “Payments affect everything from the customer journey to a business’s ability to enter new markets or launch new products. This latest fundraise reflects our market-leading position and the size of our aspirations as we accelerate in our mission to empower merchants to build better products, drive more revenue and create innovative business models by reimagining interactions with financial services. Our new investors bring a wealth of experience across payments, technology and scaling companies – crucial knowledge for the next stage of our growth, as we continue to build our vision for the future of Connected Finance™.”

Investing in the Future of Payments

Research from McKinsey & Company highlights the scale of the payments opportunity, with total global payments revenue reaching just under $2 trillion in 2019(2). Meanwhile a recent report from Checkout.com in partnership with Oxford Economics(3) revealed the scale of the challenge that many merchants face, with $20.3 billion lost to false declines in payments in 2019 alone and more than $12.7 billion handed from first choice merchants to their competitors. Additionally, customers who gave up on their intended online purchase completely resulted in more than $7.6 billion of missed opportunity for merchants. Checkout.com addresses these issues by giving enterprise businesses the most proactive tools to drive best-in-class performance and more control through advanced data features, fraud management tools, and comprehensive reporting.

The fundraise comes as the global economy looks beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. While many organizations have historically relied on one-size-fits all payment systems, the need to drive improved performance, gain transparency across payments and extract valuable information from data is increasingly becoming a competitive differentiator. Checkout.com’s cloud-based unified platform enables merchants to manage payins and payouts at scale, while achieving better performance and improved acceptance rates globally. Leading ecommerce businesses such as Farfetch, Mango, Victoria’s Secret, L’Occitane and The Hut Group depend on Checkout.com for a fast, reliable, adaptable and safe platform that gives granular access to the data and pricing behind every transaction.

While Checkout.com’s profits from current operations will continue to be reinvested to power future growth, the new funding will be used to further grow its balance sheet and drive new innovative opportunities. With a total of $830 million raised within the last two years, Checkout.com’s readily available cash represents one of the strongest balance sheets across all global fintechs. This further strengthens the company’s resilience as a regulated entity in numerous markets and as the financial partner to its merchants. It also allows for continued strategic investments and product developments, like the Checkout.com Payouts solution which saw exponential growth over the last year.

Checkout.com Unveils North American Headquarters

In addition to today’s Series C funding announcement, Checkout.com is announcing the opening of its New York City office. The company first launched in the U.S. in 2017 and has operations in San Francisco. Together, the bicoastal offices will power the organization’s ability to meet the growing demand in the U.S. for Connected Payments™ solutions, as Checkout.com increases its focus on serving U.S.-based enterprises in domestic, global and cross-border payments. The company is also announcing an office in Denver. Globally, Checkout.com will hire an additional 700 people across all its locations  in 2021.

Checkout.com’s transformative approach to payments and payouts has garnered its reputation as the most trusted technology provider behind many of the most valuable fintechs and cutting-edge businesses, including Klarna, Revolut, Transferwise, Coinbase, and eToro. With a platform that can support both best-performing global payments and payouts, Checkout.com has become the backbone of the world-beating progressive business models, among the leading fintechs, streaming services, and marketplaces.

Scott Shleifer, Partner at Tiger Global Management said: “We are excited to partner with Guillaume and Checkout.com as they continue to build an innovative global payments and financial services platform trusted by leading internet companies. We believe the shift to digital commerce is still in the early stages, and Checkout.com’s focus on developing a best-in-class technology platform has positioned them to be a leader in the industry for years to come.”

In June 2020, Checkout.com announced its Series B which valued the business at $5.5bn and was led by technology fund Coatue Management. In 2020, it also announced the acquisitions of ProcessOut and PinPayments, as well as a strategic investment in Thunes.