News

3rd March 2022

NPIF – Maven Equity Finance invests £500,000 in Chester based Yimba

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Northern Powerhouse Investment FundNPIF - Maven Equity FinanceCheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership

NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has invested £500,000 in Yimba Ltd. Yimba has developed a digital wallet technology that allows banks to deliver personalised banking services to their consumers via mobile banking and payment wallet integrations.

The funding will enable the business to invest in product development, expand its team to service a growing number of customers, and create 10+ high value jobs in the region.

Yimba launched its product with Mastercard, Meawallet and Railsbank in Q3 2021 and has quickly developed interest from Tier 1 and challenger bank organisations with a number expected to launch in 2022.  The attractiveness of the proposition stems from Yimba’s simple to integrate software  (only three lines of code), it’s innovative product proposition, and compelling business model.

Core to Yimba’s offering is a digital personalisation tool that allows bank or card issuers the ability to customize the digital version of their card stored in payment wallets such as Apple and Google Pay.  With this simple tool, banks and financial institutions are able to deliver differentiated product propositions, compel customers to use payment wallets, generate new consumer insights, and drive marketing campaign opportunities.

The market for Yimba is large and growing, especially as mobile growth is expected to reach £2 billion within 4 years worldwide. With so many bank propositions lacking differentiation, Yimba has adapted to cater to more socially driven customers, who also demand personalization.

Yimba’s management team includes co-founder and CEO, Robert Dowd, who has previous experience as a senior manager and director at American Express, Barclaycard, Citibank and MBNA/Bank of America. Robert is joined by fellow cofounder and CCO, Lee Clarke, a serial entrepreneur who has significant experience in scalling businesses from inception to growth, most recently with Bink.

Co-founder Jonathan Allen also makes up the management team, working as CPO. Jonathan is an experienced product director having worked previously at Morgan Stanley, MBNA, and MoneySuperMarket.com and Coop digital.

Alex Rothwell, Senior Investment Manager at Maven, said: “Yimba has created a solution that is unique within the digital wallet environment, with significant market potential for growth. Robert and his team are highly knowledgeable with a wealth of experience in their fields and we are delighted to support the business at this time as it embarks on its next stage of its development.”

Robert Dowd, Co-founder and CEO of Yimba, said: “After a significant period of development and business engagement, Maven’s NPIF investment allows the company to be well positioned to support the company’s rapid growth in 2022. We are very excited to be working with such an experienced organisation as we expand our team in the North West and our client base globally”

Sue Barnard from the British Business Bank, said: “Yimba is an exciting example of the opportunities that exist in the digitial banking sector, and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is pleased to be supporting companies in the fintech sector. The funding will be able to help Yimba in its product development and support the company in growing its team. Businesses like Yimba are great examples of the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit that we have in the North of England.”

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

Maven Capital Partners UK LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Firm Reference Number 495929.

Editors Notes