News flashes and media coverage

Spoko.app is a fintech that specializes in international, instant money transfers, using technology and a unique operating model. It stands out with competitive exchange rates and transparent transaction costs.

The development of the online instant money transfer market has significantly accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, you can send money from 32 to 45 countries via Spoko.app. Spoko.app users can do it thanks to a convenient mobile application. The advantage of the solution is, above all, the fact that money can be sent immediately, in the preferred way, thanks to the availability of local payment methods in a given country.
Transfers to many countries – such as Ukraine, Nigeria, Turkey or Brazil – can be made commission-free and with a very attractive exchange rate. Before making a transaction, the user sees its entire cost.

– Spoko.app has enormous potential for further growth, and the fast development of our company confirms our belief that it can become a serious global player in a short time. We believe in the team that creates Spoko.app and we will support them in the implementation of this ambitious plan – says Ivan Hanamov, president of Fintech Ventures S.A.

Thanks to financing in the amount of PLN 20 million obtained from its main shareholder, Fintech Ventures SA, Spoko.app will implement the strategy of entering new markets, as well as develop the application used by users, their number around the world in February 2020 exceeded 400 thousand

– We want to be present in every market where foreigners work and where they want to send money to their home country. We already operate globally, but with strong support from our main investor, we will be able to grow even faster – says Evgeny Chamtonau, CEO of Spoko.app – Thanks to this, millions of people around the world who travel and work outside their homeland will be able to send money in the best and most convenient way for you. Our ambition is to change the money transfer market and we have an idea how to do it – he adds.

The new financing will be used for development in the years 2021–2022. The creators of Spoko.app will focus not only on making the solution available on other markets, but also on further development of the mobile application. By acquiring new partners on local markets, Spoko.app can offer its users preferred payment methods, ensure the best conditions for sending money and that it will reach the recipient, even at the other end of the world, right away.

In February this year the company completed transactions with a total value of PLN 9,919,636. According to sales data as of February 28, 2021, Spoko.app had 427,015 active customers. For comparison, in January 2021 – the Spoko.app application was used by 389,503 active customers. Within a month, there was an increase in active users of the Spoko.app application by about 10 percent.

The company is one of the fastest growing fintechs in Poland. Its main goal is to provide affordable and convenient money transfer services with optimal commission levels, immediate execution and transparent exchange rates.
The company emphasizes that at the current stage, the priority is to acquire new customers as soon as possible, which entails the need for further investments. Currently, thanks to Spoko.app, transfers can be sent from 32 to 45 countries, including: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Spoko.app constantly optimizes and improves the application and conducts advertising campaigns to attract new users, thanks to which it intends to maintain a satisfactory growth rate.

The material cited our Strategy for 2021-2023 and mentioned Spoko.app’s goal: to increase the number of served customers to a minimum of 600,000 by the end of 2021, and to 2 million by the end of 2023.

Medium’s specialist summed up the analysis: “Spoko.app operates in the fast-growing remittance market. In order to stand out, it needs large funds for foreign expansion, which will increase its promotional possibilities in the competitive market. The fintech must rapidly increase its customer base because only then will it be able to make money from economies of scale (while keeping transaction fees low)”.

Prostaker Esports Ventures AB is a company established to take advantage of opportunities in the e-sport sector. The owner of 100% of the shares is International Gaming Systems AB – IGS AB.

In accordance with the Agreement, Besiktas Akademias grants ISG all rights to the license to conduct e-sports activities from the date of signing this Agreement. Pursuant to the provisions of the Agreement, Besiktas Akademias established and is the owner of Pro Espor İleti̇şi̇m Hi̇zmetleri̇ Li̇mi̇ted Şi̇rketi̇ (“Newco”) – a special purpose vehicle based in Turkey. The license will be transferred by Besiktas Akademias to ISG by transferring the license rights to the Newco special purpose vehicle. Until the transfer is complete, the License will remain the property of ISG, but will be kept on behalf of Besiktas Akademias.

As stipulated in the Agreement, IGS must pay Besiktas Akademias the amount of EUR 400,000. The license fee has been divided into tranches, the entire license fee is to be paid by February 6, 2022. In addition, IGS will pay Besiktas Akademias 20% of the sponsorship payments received by February 6, 2022. In return for granting the License, Newco will pay an annual license fee of 15% of all sponsorship received in each calendar year from the date of signing the Agreement through the term of the Agreement.

Actions that Besiktas Akademias, among others guarantees to be performed as a result of the conclusion of the Agreement include, among others:- establishment of a new legal entity based in Turkey, to which Besiktas Akademias will transfer the license and for which Besiktas Akademias will create a local Turkish bank account that can be used by IGS for the performance of this Agreement;- provide a list of all existing Beşiktaş esports sponsors, including their sponsorship contributions and any new potential sponsorship deals;- providing a list of all applicable contracts with the current Beşiktaş esports license and, if these contracts are transferable to Prostaker, copies of the contracts with confirmation of their transferability to Prostaker.

This Agreement is the first business step taken in order to implement the operating strategy that ISG informed about in the ESPI report 1/2021 of January 14, 2021, therefore the IGS’s Management Board considered this information important.

There is a growing investment appetite in Poland, ranking the country#1 in CEE by number of venture capital rounds and #2 by invested venture capital.

https://www.eu-startups.com/2021/02/10-promising-poland-based-startup-stars-to-watch-in-2021/

In January this year, the company completed transactions of a total value of 19,608,804 PLN. According to sales data as of January 31st, 2020, SPOKO.app had 389,503 active customers. For comparison, in December 2020, the Company made public that 317 763 people used the SPOKO.app application. This means an 22% increase in the number of the users.

The SPOKO.app brand is one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Poland. Its main goal is to provide affordable and convenient money transfer services with optimal commission rates, immediate execution and transparent exchange rates. The company emphasizes that at the current stage, the priority is to acquire new customers, which entails the need for further investments. Currently, thanks to SPOKO.app, transfers can be sent from 32 to 45 countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

SPOKO.app constantly optimizes and improves the application and conducts advertising campaigns to attract new users, thanks to which it intends to maintain a satisfactory growth rate. In January 2021 SPOKO.app held a mutual marketing promotion with PrivatBank – the largest private bank of Ukraine, which is actively helping SPOKO.app to grow in Ukrainian corridor.

Several product changes were implemented in January this year, including AI-based identity verification solution for real-time KYC process (It helps SPOKO.app to verify ID documents and Biometric checks via video-selfie), integration with Sift.com, anti-fraud systems (It helps to improve digital security for brands such as McDonalds, Western Union and Twitter), and integrations with two global Partners for e-payments acceptance around the Europe.

In January 2021, the UX of the mobile application was improved – including brand new interface and scenarios were implementations. 

The new key management staff was employed, including Maksim Worobiew joining as the CFO (Previously CFO of Glovo) and Pawel Biadala joining as the Senior Vice President of Global Business. (Previously CEO of Locon).  

https://fintechventures.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2021.02.22_FV-ESPI-SPOKO_PL.pdf

The Management Board of Intelligent Gaming Solutions S.A. with its seat in Poznań (“Company”, “Issuer”) hereby publishes the separate and consolidated report for the fourth quarter of 2020. IGS_S.A._-_Raport_za_IV_kwartal_2020

The Management Board of Fintech Ventures S.A. with its seat in Warsaw (“Company”, “Issuer”) hereby publishes the separate and consolidated report for the fourth quarter of 2020. FinTech_Ventures_S.A._-_Raport_za_IV_kwartal__2020

More than 800 million people worldwide depend solely on remittances from their relatives as their sole source of income. Money sent by expats to their homelands is an essential source of external aid and a fundamental component of economic growth in many developing countries. 

Fintech Ventures, which has been listed on the NewConnect market operated by the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2012, decided to fill this niche. 

– Reaching people who have not yet been banked may gradually minimize economic and social inequalities caused, inter alia, by lack of access to financial services. The development of technologies and fintechs such as SPOKO.app favors filling these inequalities – explains Ivan Hamanov, president of Fintech Ventures. 

Fintech Ventures specializes in acquiring and then developing companies from the technology and finance sector. Its portfolio includes, among others Swedish payment services solution PaSS, Intelligent Gaming Solutions S.A. (IGS) and known in Poland – once mainly from the offer for emigrants from Ukraine – Spoko.app. 

Currently, using Spoko.app, transfers can be sent from 32 to 45 countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. 

By the end of last year, Spoko.app had 317,763 active clients. 

– To fully understand the scale of current growth, it is good to see it in context. In November 2020, our application was used by over 253 thousand users. We are very pleased with the current pace of expansion in many markets – explains Evgeny Chamtonau, president of Spoko.app. 

Only in December 2020, Spoko.app completed transactions with a total value of PLN 22 304 924.

– It is not the end. The goal of our company Spoko.app by the end of this year is to increase the number of clients served to a minimum of 600,000, and to 2 million by the end of 2023, mainly due to further expansion in the global money transfer markets – says Ivan Hamanov from Fintech Ventures. Details are presented in the company’s development strategy for 2021-2023, mentioning, inter alia, on the development opportunities of Spoko.app in the UK, where fintech will focus on money transfers to large-volume markets such as Nigeria and India. 

“Fintech Ventures’ mission is to contribute to improving the living standards of people working abroad and wanting to send money to their home country. In addition, the Company wants to support people without bank accounts by providing them with access to banking services,”we learn from the study. 

– Due to the development and necessary investments, we do not exclude raising capital for Fintech Ventures, Spoko.app and IGS in the near future. Work is underway to convert the loans into new issue shares, says Hamanov. 

The full strategy of the listed company Fintech Ventures can be found at FintechVentures S.A._Strategy_ENG

The full document is to be downloaded, from which can be found:

• The internationalization of the Bingo Lotto format through licensing.
• Development of new lottery and game formats.
• Partnerships within E-sports via Prostaker Esports Venture AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of IGS S.A.
• Strategies for entering the gaming industry

Read the whole Report to learn about the plans in detail.

IGS S.A._Strategy_ENG
IGS S.A._Strategia_PL