FinTech News
Wells Fargo and Barclays Invest in OpenFin’s $17 Million Round
Two major banks are backing a FinTech startup OpenFin in their latest funding round. Not only did Wells Fargo lead the $17 million Series C but Barclay also participated alongside previous investors, including JP Morgan Chase, Bain Capital Ventures, and others. According to Reuters, the company will now put those funds to use creating a better technology ecosystem for financial institutions.
As TechCrunch explained, OpenFin has described itself as “the OS of finance.” The company’s CEO and co-founder Mazy Dar expanded on that analogy, saying “Apple and Google’s mobile operating systems and app stores have enabled more than a million apps that have fundamentally changed how we live. OpenFin OS and our new app store services enable the next generation of desktop apps that are transforming how we work in financial services.” Currently there are more than 1,000 applications that have been created for the OpenFin platform.
OpenFin says that their OS solution is helping bank employees save time and is also making it easier for institutions to deploy updates when new technologies arise. Mazy explains, “Banks know that they need to significantly reduce their cost of doing business and they need to increase productivity. All of this heavy infrastructure needs to be replaced with something that is a lot more agile and nimble.”
This latest round from Wells Fargo and company brings OpenFin’s total venture funding to $40 million. Meanwhile the companies operating system is reportedly in use at more than 1,500 banks, running on nearly 200,000 computers. Even more impressively, the company counts 15 of the top 20 largest banks in the world among its clients. TechCrunch notes that much of this growth has happened in just the past couple of years. Following OpenFin’s February 2017 Series B funding round, deployments of the OS doubled while other metrics have grown even faster.
While it may not be the most recognizable name in the FinTech industry, news of OpenFin’s funding round will certainly open some eyes. Between the big names backing them and the impressive clients they’ve landed so far, this specialized startup seems to be on to something. So while everyday investors might not know them now, rest assured they’ll grow familiar if the company ever considers an IPO.