Oval Money acquired by spread betting firm ETX Capital

Oval Money, a fintech app helping to automates savings and investments, has been acquired by Swiss private equity group Guru Capital, and integrated into one of its portfolio companies, ETX Capital. 

Founded by former Uber Italy chief executive Benedetta Arese Lucini (pictured), Oval launched in 2017 following a seed round largely financed by the Bertoldi Group Family Office and others with a zero-interest loan that was part of an Italian government support programme for startups. Bertoldi contributed about half of Oval's €1.2m seed round, 

It then raised £1.3m through a Crowdcube campaign in January 2018 followed by a ‘significant’ investment from Italian banking group Intesa SanPaolo later that year. It also went on to raise another £1.2m through Seedrs in 2019 and then was a beneficiary of the UK government’s Future Fund cash last year.

The acquisition by ETX, sum undisclosed, is for all of the assets of Oval Money and in addition, Guru Capital is in the process of negotiating the acquisition by an associated fund of all of the shares of Oval Money Spanish regulated subsidiary, Oval Marketplace A.V., S.L.

What the acquisition means for shareholders in both equity crowdfunding rounds and the UK government was undisclosed. AltFi reached out for comment.

In a press statement, Guru Capital says the acquisitions “support ETX’s and Oval’s shared mission of making a wide range of financial services and products accessible and affordable to everyone.” 

“The combination will help accelerate business growth and client engagement by supporting clients in setting smart rules for defining their savings habits and investment goals, making payments, and tracking spending as well as trading in the financial markets through a single mobile app.” 

Oval, it says has over 100,000 active users, 

ETX is a broker providing CFD and financial spread betting in the UK and across Europe for stocks, indices, commodities, forex and cryptocurrencies.