Spain-based financial services firm Santander has launched a $100m venture capital fund that will invest in financial technology startups.
The Santander Fin-tech Fund will be based in London but will invest across the world, and Santander will be the sole investor.
Santander plans to invest across four subsectors within fintech: e-commerce and payments, online lending, online investment products, and big data analytics.
The bank has made venture capital investments in the past, most notably, in online payments service Izettle, and is one of the backers of the UK-based Business Growth Fund, but its new fund represents the first instance of it pursuing a dedicated corporate venturing strategy.
Ana Botin, CEO of Santander UK, said: “Our aim is to provide fintech companies with much needed capital, whilst we gain know-how and our customers benefit from the latest thinking.
“I am immensely proud to be involved in this fund, as it will help the UK and all of the Santander Group to remain at the forefront of financial technology, whilst benefiting our customers.”
Santander’s establishment of a dedicated fund could be a sign that banks, which according to information cited by Santander in a statement are responsible for only 10% of fintech innovation, are ready to become more intimately involved in the sector.
Matteo Rizzi, general partner at Sberbank venture capital subsidiary SBT Venture Capital, told Global Corporate Venturing in May that banks are increasingly setting up their own innovation units to invest in fintech innovation.