Prosus N : Ventures leads USD 50m Series A investment in Australia-based banking platform Constantinople

April 2, 2024, Sydney, Australia - Constantinople, the Sydney-based tech and operations platform for banks, has raised a A$50m (US$33m) Series A round. The round was led by Prosus Ventures, the venture capital arm of Dutch-listed global tech firm Prosus, alongside existing investors Square Peg Capital, Airtree Ventures and Great Southern Bank.

Constantinople enables banks to focus more on customer relationships and banking business by using Constantinople's tech and operations platform.

Constantinople's platform covers both retail and business banking, supporting a full product suite across transaction banking, payments and lending, and mobile and web apps for improved customer experiences. Constantinople also handles operational activities on behalf of client banks, using software and AI for customer onboarding, financial crime monitoring, fraud detection, payment and lending ops, and automated compliance and controls. The company's platform is an entirely new software category aiming to fundamentally change and improve a bank's operating model.

Constantinople's platform is currently supporting its first client bank, Great Southern Bank, which recently launched its new Business Bank in the market. Constantinople is partnering with other clients in Australia and has recently expanded its team into New Zealand.

Constantinople currently has around 100 employees and plans to use the new capital to build its team and expand platform capabilities. It has recently hired two new executives to its team.

Krishna Atkurujoins Constantinople as CTOand is responsible for Product and Engineering. He was most recently Head of Engineering at Binance and, before that, head of Engineering at Grab Pay and CTO of Grab's digital banks, where he managed payments, digital wallets, and banking services for over 200 million customers. Earlier, Krishna worked at Google, Apple, Goldman Sachs, and Standard Chartered in San Francisco, London, and Singapore. He has extensive experience running global platforms at scale.

Craig Reesjoins Constantinople as COOand is responsible for Operations (including customer onboarding, financial crime and fraud detection, banking and lending product operations), Risk, Compliance and People. Craig was most recently at global fintech Airwallex, responsible for platform and scaling across multiple markets, and held roles including Global Head of Platform, SVP Solutions Engineering, SVP Product & Engineering, and Head of Engineering. Previously, Craig held roles at Atlassian and BCG Digital Ventures.

Constantinople previously raised an A$32m (US$22m) seed round from Square Peg, Airtree, and Great Southern Bank in April 2022.

Commenting on Constantinople's Series A raise:

Sachin Bhanot, Head of Investments, SEA & ANZ, at Prosus Ventures, said: "We are delighted to lead Constantinople's Series A round. From the first time we met Mac and Di, we were convinced that Constantinople is solving one of the largest problems in financial services, namely how incumbent banks can transform themselves to better meet the needs of their customers in a digital and AI world. Constantinople's track record of execution is remarkable, and we are thrilled to partner with Constantinople as it sets its sights on transforming the global banking landscape."

Paul Bassat, Co-founder and Partner at Square Peg Capital, said: "We are incredibly excited to continue backing Mac and Di on their ambitious vision for the future of banking. Constantinople is a standout company with all the ingredients for global success: amazing founders, an incredible team with experience scaling global platforms, and a phenomenal track record of disciplined and fast execution."

James Cameron, Partner at Airtree Ventures, said: "With Mac and Di at the helm, Constantinople is building an exceptional team with deep domain expertise and technical know-how. This team, which has executed with incredible rigour and speed, continues to be their greatest advantage as they transform and simplify how banks run and operate. They've got a big and bold vision that has our backing, going above and beyond the existing point solutions in the market to fundamentally change a bank's operating model through software."

-ENDS-

About Constantinople:

w:www.cxnpl.com

e:[e-mail]

Contact:

Constantinople:Ned Loneragan | [e-mail]

Investors:

Prosus Ventures:Poonam Thakur | [e-mail]

Square Peg:Maria Catanzariti | [e-mail]

AirTree:Bree Fedele | [e-mail]

Great Southern Bank:Michael O'Toole | [e-mail]