Chinese tech giant Tencent snaps up stake in business finance firm Previse

Chinese tech giant Tencent has snapped up a stake in London organization finance business Previse as it accelerates its push into Uk fintech.

The £10m Sequence B funding spherical, led by Tencent, will price the company at close to £65m, Sky Information to start with claimed.

The fresh new funding for Previse follows a spate of financial commitment into United kingdom tech corporations together with backing electronic lender Monzo in a December $100m ‘top-up’ round that valued the organization at $4.5bn.

Last thirty day period Tencent led a £136m round into London company credit rating card startup Jeeves and has just lately backed Bristol-primarily based organization Ultraleap, which takes advantage of ultrasound to simulate contact.

Previse, operate by founder Paul Christensen specialises in automated invoice processing and features a host of big name backers which include MasterCard, Hambro Benefits and outlined fintech investor Augmentum Fintech.

Christensen a short while ago criticised Uk loan providers for obstructing access to finance in a letter to City A.M., professing that procedures from banking institutions had been “clunky” and outdated.

“The designs and methods employed by banking companies haven’t improved for decades,” he stated. “This is the age of embedded finance – finance should be built-in into basic business procedures.”

Christensen called on governing administration to “put its funds exactly where its mouth is”  and create tech-led alternatives for firms to obtain capital in buy for Britain to cement its position as a world tech hub.

Previse did not reply to request for comment.