Pebble, Arteria, Hardbacon & Digital Asset

Our weekly fintech round-up for you to get the latest funding news from North America. Featuring Pebble, Arteria, Hardbacon and Digital Asset.

New York-based financial app Pebble has secured $6.2 million in funding.

Pebble raises $6.2 million

The round was led by Y Combinator and other investors including Lightshed Ventures, Soma Capital, Eniac Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Montage Ventures, East Ventures, Cadenza Capital, The House Fund, Spice Capital, Helium-3 Ventures and Bluewatch Ventures, among others.

Pebble says it plans to use the funds to accelerate its growth and expand operations into new markets.

A blockchain-powered financial product, Pebble enables users to pay, save, send and spend money.

Arteria AI, an enterprise digital documentation software, has received an undisclosed sum of funding from Citi Sprint, the bank’s investment arm, and BDC Capital.

Arteria says it uses artificial intelligence and data to make documentation processes “frictionless”.

The firm’s products can be used to draft, negotiate and analyse documentation and contracts. It claims the platform is built to the specific requirements of the institutional banking and trading sector.

Also investing in the round were Information Venture Partners and Illuminate Financial, alongside StandUp Ventures and Golden Ventures.

Arteria says the capital will be used to accelerate its growth and the adoption of its solution.

Montreal-based fintech start-up Hardbacon has raised $400,000 in an equity crowdfunding campaign via FrontFundr.

Hardbacon is a personal finance application helping people plan, budget, save and invest through one app.

The company says it has reached 85% of its $500,000 fundraising goal, bringing Hardbacon’s total financing to more than $2.35 million since its founding.

US-based firm Digital Asset has received an undisclosed amount in funding from Japan’s SBI Holdings and has also agreed to establish a joint venture in Japan.

The joint venture will be formally launched in 2022 under equal ownership and is expected to operate within the Japanese and East Asian markets.

Digital Asset is working with financial institutions and market infrastructures on blockchain-related projects, including the Australian Securities Exchange, Deutsche Börse, Hong Kong Exchanges and Goldman Sachs, among others.

Yoshitaka Kitao, president and representative director of SBI Holdings, says: “Digital Asset has excellent technology and business concepts.

“We expect to further accelerate the SBI Group’s digital-asset related businesses and digital transformation by actively introducing Digital Asset’s technology.”