Irish Fintech Firm Alt21 Secures €19.4M Funding

Irish fintech company Alt21, previously known as Assure Hedge, has concluded a funding round that generated $21 million (€19.4 million). The funding is intended to bolster the firm’s next growth phase.

An Overview of Alt21

Alt21 was established by Barry McCarthy in 2016 and is currently under the leadership of Pritesh Ruparel. The fintech firm has engineered automated currency hedging solutions largely utilized by SMEs. In January of this year, it was disclosed that the company had garnered an initial €15 million from investors. Owing to the round being oversubscribed, Alt21 decided to keep it open to allow additional investors to support the firm.

Significant Growth and Future Plans

The company, which underwent a rebranding from Assure Hedge in June, reported that the recent investment stems from strong growth. The operating income of the firm saw a fivefold increase to €8.3 million last year. The firm had also invested in enhancing its technology platform, operating architecture, and team to maintain its rapid growth.

Alt21 plans to widen its base of strategic partners to reach a larger SME demographic. The company also aims to expand internationally and license its software to a broader spectrum of fintechs and banks. This move will permit these entities to offer lower-cost FX services to their clients within their own regulated businesses.

Leadership’s Vision for Alt21

According to Ruparel, the future for Alt21 is promising and the company’s goal is to simplify things. The firm leverages technology to scale in places where others have invested in human capital. This results in a highly automated service that reduces cost and complexity, and delivers value to small businesses when they need it most.

Alt21, with offices in Dublin, London, and Portugal, has more than doubled its workforce over the past year to 70 individuals.

The company is presided over by Richard Hayes, who previously chaired Global Shares, a firm that was bought by JP Morgan for €665 million last year. Hayes is also the founder and ex-CEO of IFG, a financial services group. Hayes believes that the recent funding round validates Alt21’s strategy and market opportunity, despite the difficulties faced by fintech businesses in a rising interest rate environment. He praised the team at Alt21 for their strong execution, platform robustness, and the addition of top-tier talent.