After a first seed investment round that brought BKN301 5 million euros, the fintech company closed a series A funding round worth 15 million euros. Their legal advisor in the operation were the global law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, whose team was guided by Orrick partner Attilio Mazzilli, and BNM. Investors’ legal advisors were instead Gianni & Origoni’s Bologna office, which advised on the practice area through GOP4Venture, and Allen & Overy. Thanks to this acquisition, the company gets to a valuation of 63 million euros.
The company specializing in digital payments and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) will use the raised capital to further the development of the open banking platform’s technological infrastructure and support its growth in fast-growing markets like Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Led by Swiss found Abalone Group, the capital increase expands the shareholding structure of BKN301, which is now joined by PayU, Azimut Group Digitech Fund, CRIF, GNB Swiss investment AG, Federico Ghizzoni (President of the investment bank Rothschild & Co. Italia), Fabio Nalucci (CEO and Founder of Gellify) and Gregorio Napoleone (Co-founder and Managing Partner of the London based Stirling Square Capital Partners’ PE fund). Following the operation, the board of BKN301 is hence joined by Elisa Zafferani (Banca di San Marino President), Emanuele Cesarini (Director of Banca Agricola Commerciale), Pietro Andrea Calandruccio (Abalone Group), Michele Giordani (Azimut Libera Impresa SGR), Enrico Lodi (Managing Director of CRIF) and Antonio M. Perdichizzi (Managing Director of Mediobanca Corporate and Investment Banking – Banca di Credito Finanziario).
The operation represented another significant step for Orrick in its journey as legal advisor alongside fintech companies, an area in which the contribution of the Italian Tech Group Responsible Partner Attilio Mazzilli has been crucial.
