Sokin, a British FinTech powerhouse based in London, is making waves with a fresh €42.9 million funding round aimed at revolutionizing global business payments and treasury management. As an entrepreneur navigating the complexities of scaling internationally myself, I find Sokin's mission particularly relatable, breaking down financial barriers in cross-border commerce is something every modern business aspires to. Let’s dive into what this funding means.
Breaking the Barriers in Global Payments
Sokin, founded in 2019 by Vroon Modgill, has grown rapidly due to its focus on eliminating unnecessary hurdles in international financial transactions. Its platform allows businesses to transfer, hold, and exchange over 100 currencies using multi-currency accounts and streamlined payment solutions. These capabilities are especially vital for industries like freight and logistics, and even Premier League football clubs, which often deal with complex, cross-border transactions. The new funding round led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital will fuel its global scaling efforts, paving the way for wider adoption of its solutions.
How Sokin Stands Out
Here’s why this funding is significant for small and midsize businesses globally:
- Multi-Currency Accounts: Businesses often face high fees and processing delays when managing multiple currencies. Sokin’s platform gives access to over 70 currencies for transfers, exchanges, and holdings, all in a single interface.
- Efficiency for Industries: Whether it’s a logistics company ensuring smooth supplier payments or a football club navigating international player transfers, Sokin simplifies these traditionally fragmented processes.
With businesses spending billions yearly on inefficient payment systems, tools like Sokin are creating opportunities to save time and money, and that’s exactly what the €42.9 million infusion is meant to accelerate.
Lessons From A Serial Entrepreneur’s Perspective
As someone who has scaled businesses across Europe, one tip I always emphasize is prioritizing partnerships and licensing when navigating new markets. Sokin is reportedly working toward obtaining banking licenses in underrepresented economies and forming alliances in regions like South America and Asia. If you’re running a startup, or even a unicorn-level business, this focused and calculated approach to expansion is key in avoiding wasted expenditure.
Insights From Top Investors
Investors backing Sokin include PayPal alumni like Gary Marino and Mark Britto, who clearly see its potential to dominate the global payments sector. Their involvement lends credibility to Sokin’s platform, you don’t want just an innovative tool, you want systems with proven scalability. It’s one reason I look heavily at both technology and team when evaluating investments or collaborations.
Morgan Stanley’s leadership in this Series B round adds even more weight. They aren’t just injecting funds, they’re amplifying Sokin’s value as a contender in the financial tech space globally.
Funding Breakdown
Sokin’s Series B marks one of the larger mid-stage fintech rounds in 2025 for the UK. Here’s a bit of context:
- The total valuation post-funding reportedly climbed to €257 million.
- In contrast, other fintech rounds included Fremont (€36 million) for payments curation tools and Fnality (€115 million) for settlements within wholesale payments. While larger, these rounds focus on niche areas, highlighting how versatile Sokin’s offering truly is.
Common Missteps in Scaling Globally
From personal experience and observation, here are frequent mistakes fintechs must avoid when expanding internationally:
- Neglecting Regulations: Not securing a license in time can lead to delays or even legal repercussions. Startups need strong legal teams from day one.
- Skipping Localization: One-size fits-all approaches don’t work. Tailor your solution to local needs without straying from your core USP.
- Overfunding Initial Steps: Not all initiatives need heavy funding allocations upfront, test the market and scale progressively.
- Underestimating Team Requirements: Expansion isn’t just about resources; you need the right people in place who understand local nuances.
Based on Sokin’s trajectory, the company appears to be avoiding these pitfalls by focusing on licenses and cultivating partnerships early.
How Entrepreneurs Can Emulate Sokin’s Success
For founders scaling into cross-border markets, here’s how you can build a payment system comparable to Sokin’s formula:
- Market Research: Identify pain points specific to your industry and use those to drive your product development. Sokin didn’t build generic payment tools, it crafted tailored solutions for niche markets like football clubs.
- Choose the Right Investors: Find backers with proven expertise in your sector, not just heavy pockets.
- Streamline Your Expansion Plans: Rolling out in one market at a time might feel slow, but it’s far less risky and resource-draining than attempting rapid expansion.
- Keep the User Experience Front and Center: Make financial processes easy for clients to understand, ensuring adoption doesn’t require massive effort on their end.
Where Sokin’s Roadmap Could Lead
Beyond scaling its operations with this investment, Sokin has already hinted at significant future developments:
- Embedded Financial Tools: Enhanced accounts payable and receivable functionalities could provide additional revenue streams.
- Expansion in Underbanked Regions: Markets like South America and Africa are often overlooked, but Sokin’s multi-currency infrastructure seems built for these areas.
- Potential Acquisitions: The funding could support acquiring smaller complementary payment platforms internationally.
Conclusion From My Desk
Sokin’s success showcases the need for fintechs to disrupt traditional systems and focus on better-serving global businesses. If you’re an entrepreneur building a payments platform or expanding into global finance, take notes from their strategy, simplify a process, remove costs, and maintain transparency. Also, don’t skimp on building an investor team with deep sector experience.
In the end, regardless of what industry you operate in, financial agility will always offer a competitive edge. Sokin isn’t just acquiring funds, it’s setting a precedent for modern fintech scalability.
FAQ
1. What is Sokin, and what does it aim to achieve?
Sokin is a London-based FinTech company founded in 2019 by Vroon Modgill, aiming to simplify and modernize global business payments and treasury infrastructure with multi-currency accounts and streamlined payment solutions. Learn more about Sokin
2. How much funding did Sokin secure in its latest round, and who led the investment?
Sokin secured €42.9 million ($50 million) in its Series B funding round, which was led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. Read more about the Series B funding
3. What industries most benefit from Sokin’s solutions?
Industries like freight and logistics, as well as Premier League football clubs, which require efficient cross-border transactions, benefit greatly from Sokin’s payment solutions. Learn more about sector impacts
4. What makes Sokin’s platform unique?
Sokin’s platform allows businesses to manage over 100 currencies through a single interface while offering efficiency in cross-border accounts payable, receivable, and treasury operations. Discover Sokin's platform offerings
5. How will the €42.9 million be utilized?
The funding will fuel global expansion, secure regional banking licenses, develop embedded financial tools, and enhance platform capabilities for accounts payable and receivable. Understand Sokin’s roadmap
6. Which notable investors are supporting Sokin?
Sokin has backing from industry veterans like Gary Marino and Mark Britto (both formerly of PayPal), along with investment funds like Aurum Partners. See more on Sokin’s investors
7. What is Sokin’s valuation after this funding round?
Sokin’s valuation rose to €257 million following the Series B funding. Learn about Sokin’s valuation
8. How does Sokin approach global scaling?
Sokin is focusing on obtaining banking licenses in underrepresented markets and forming strategic partnerships, particularly in regions like South America and Asia. Check out their approach
9. Which regulatory challenges must FinTechs like Sokin navigate when scaling globally?
Key challenges include ensuring compliance with local regulations, obtaining licenses, localizing services, and hiring teams with regional expertise. Explore global scaling challenges
10. What are Sokin's future plans for expansion?
Sokin plans to focus on underbanked regions such as South America and Africa and explore potential acquisitions to complement its payment solutions globally. Learn about Sokin’s expansion goals
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
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Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
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Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.