Citi Invests in Illuminate Financial Management

Fintech-focused venture capital firm, Illuminate Financial Management announced today that it has secured a strategic investment from Citi. To date, Illuminate Financial has invested in more than 30 companies.

Through the recent investment, Citi has joined international financial giants, like JPMorgan, S&P Global and Deutsche Börse Group, as a limited partner in the venture capital strategy of Illuminate Financial. The latest announcement from Illuminate Financial came approximately 16 months after the company received backing from JPMorgan.

Founded by Mark Beeston, the venture capital firm has invested in startups across different sectors, including financial services, digital asset infrastructure, private markets, data and enterprise solutions. The company has offices in London, New York and Singapore.

“Citi has been an aggressive adopter of the innovative solutions offered by FinTechs and an active direct investor in 25% of our portfolio companies since we launched Illuminate’s first fund in 2015,” said Mark Beeston, the Founder and Managing Partner of Illuminate Financial. “We are delighted to now add Citi to our roster of strategic investors, helping further catalyze enterprise FinTech adoption to the benefit of the whole eco-system.”

Fintech and Digital Asset Ecosystem

Overall, venture capital firms have increased their investments in companies working in the fintech and digital asset space. According to a report published by KPMG, the global fintech investments topped $210 billion in 2021. The details shared by Illuminate Financial show that Citi has invested in eight of the company’s portfolio startups. To date, Citi has invested in Arteria AI, TransFicc, CloudMargin, Privitar, Genesis Global, Talos, Cosaic and Blockdaemon.

“Citi has a strong track record of partnering with FinTechs to build digital solutions for our clients and believe this strategic investment will provide earlier visibility into new technologies and complement our direct investing program,” said Sandeep Arora, the Head of Digital and Chief Investment Officer of Citi’s Institutional Clients Group.