From payment providers to personal finance applications, the Fintech sector is still riding the wave of popularity in the startup world. In the Czech Republic, it is not different and the country has seen several Fintech startups bringing the power of AI to disrupt or create new markets.
With the country’s strong technical-focused background, these companies are also combining big data, analytics, and industry knowledge to apply deep tech in financial solutions.
In this article, we list some startups that we think are worth keeping an eye on, based not only on investment amount but also the problem they’re looking to solve. From smart lending to combating financial fraud, the application of technology in finance continues to bring up interesting novel ideas.
Name: Lemonero
Founder: Jan Lastuvka
Established in: 2019
Lemonero is a digital lending platform, which allows payment providers to offer embedded financing services to merchants. They allow their customers to offer a solution using their brand and use AI with big data to determine the proper financing options for merchants.
In the year 2022, they raised 14 million euros in a seed round by Komerční Banka, a member of the Société Générale Group. The company, which already operates in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, plans to use the investment to expand in Western and Eastern Europe.
We believe that their focus on eCommerce, which maintains a positive trend, along with their AI and big data solution makes it one of the hottest Fintechs to watch in 2023.
Name: 4 Trans
Founder: Jaroslav Ton
Established in: 2018
4Trans is a startup that offers factoring services for small and medium-sized companies in the logistics sector. The main differentiator of their solution is that they use AI for their risk analysis process, which allows customers to receive their payments in a matter of minutes.
Their factoring service allows truckers to receive up to 80% of their invoice value in less than 5 minutes. This process could normally take up to 3 months in some cases.
The company received an investment of 18 million dollars in 2022, with 3 million dollars in equity and 15 million dollars in debt financing. Atmos, Tera Ventures, and Prague-based Lighthouse Ventures made the equity investment.
With the combination of automated services and catering to a specific financial market niche, the company will enter next year in a strong position.
Name: Resistant.AI
Founder: Martin Rehak
Established in: 2019
Resistant.AI solution protects automated systems from financial fraud attempts. It uses AI to provide document and transaction forensics, protecting customers from fraud attempts and document forgery among other financial crimes.
The use cases for their solution include recognition of document forging, anti-money laundering analysis, and buy-now-pay-later fraud. Their aim is not only to detect new threats not identified by current systems but also to reduce false alarms.
After receiving 16 million dollars in Series A round in 2021, the company kept busy this year by acquiring customers from areas like InsurTech and Crypto trading. The company closed the year announcing a partnership with a leading company in the financial crime risk data and detection technology sector.
Their Series A round was led by GV (Google Ventures) joined by Credo Ventures, Seedcamp and Index Ventures.
With the ever raising threat of financial fraud, while solidifying its customer base and partnerships, 2023 should bring even better news for the company.
