YaoiyLondon-based fintech startup Yapily has joined the increasing number of UK fintechs such as Revolut, Curve and Square that chose Lithuania for its European hub. Recently, the company has announced its plans to set up its third European office in Vilnius.
Why Lithuania?
While looking for a new European hub following the Brexit decision, Yapily considered several European locations such as Portugal and Germany. It was important for the company to find a supportive regulator and fintech ecosystem. Outside of the UK, Lithuania is the second largest fintech hub in Europe. This combined with a local regulator plays a positive role in the fintech ecosystem, the reputation of the country’s regulator and expertise of the Lithuanian developers has let Yapily choose Vilnius.
It’s Lithuanian entity received regulatory license in December 2020, which is before that of the UK and Yapily is focused on its exciting expansion plans. It eyes to build a scalable platform as it accelerates testing capabilities in EU.
“Outside of the UK, Lithuania has the second largest fintech hub in Europe,” says Stefano Vaccino. “The local regulator plays a positive role in the fintech ecosystem, allowing Yapily to become a part of it.”
“Open Banking will create a more competitive landscape of tailored financial services,” Mantas Katinas, Managing Director of Invest Lithuania, believes. “Yapily’s choice to set up an office in Vilnius shows that Lithuania is an excellent base for cutting-edge fintechs.”
Open banking fintech
Founded in 2017 by Stefano Vaccino, Yapily connects businesses to banks and financial institutions using a single open API. Using the platform, companies can access their customers’ account information and gain a holistic financial view without having to build and maintain hundreds of APIs of their own. Powered by a secure and regulated service, Yapily manages and facilitates the connection to fetch information and initiate payments without compromising on PSD2 compliance.
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“Yapily makes connecting to banks easy through sharing financial data and payments infrastructure,” explains Stefano Vaccino. “We connect you to thousands of banks using an open banking API, taking care of the complexity behind the scenes”.
Notably, Yapily’s vision of open banking has attracted significant investment. Since its debut, the company 4aised $18.4M (nearly £13.5M) in VC funding rounds. Yapily’s investors include Holtzbrinck Ventures, LocalGlobe and Lakestar, an early investor in Skype, Spotify, Airbnb and Facebook along with Europe’s biggest fintechs – Klarna and Revolut.
Connects over 600 banks
Yapily now allows companies to connect to over 600 banks, providing 80% account coverage across 15 European countries. The company boasts customers ranging from innovative fintechs to Fortune 500 companies including American Express, IBM, Intuit Quickbooks, GoCardless and BUX. In the last 12 months, Yapily has tripled its headcount and currently employs 72 people in offices in the UK and Germany.
Furthermore, Yapily will also hire up to 30 people in Vilnius in the coming months. Currently, the fintech is recruiting for engineering, product, compliance, engineering, operation and product roles.
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