4 minute read
Transatlantic: Leaders urged to reopen travel corridor
Greater Birmingham Transatlantic
Chamber of Commerce
Contact:
Mandy Haque T: 0121 725 8994
Monavate secures USbacked seed funding
New-to-market payment solutions provider Monavate has secured seed funding of £5m from a major US institutional investor, signalling one of the largest seed funding rounds for a UK fintech in the last 12 months.
Monavate provides a technology-enabled, compliance and card scheme sponsorship platform that simplifies the way companies create, manage and grow financial products.
The funding will support investment in Monavate’s expertise and pioneering technology platform, allowing companies to launch financial products quickly, easily and cost-effectively. It will also enable the Cambridge-based fintech to accelerate its global expansion in the card issuing and ATM space.
Leeandrajae Vaile, chief executive officer of Monavate, said: “There’s no shortage of great ideas to help consumers and businesses spend, save and invest smarter. And no shortage of investment in fintech either. However, getting great ideas to market is still a major pain point. That’s why Monavate was formed, and why we’re already making a difference.”
Scott Lucas, chief commercial officer of Monavate, said: “Bringing good financial ideas to life can be complex and time-consuming. This is tough for start-ups, who suffer more under the weight of red tape and other people’s legacy. Yet even for more established firms, the status quo is unscalable.
“At Monavate, we’re combining expert guidance and fit-for-purpose technology to help clients launch real financial solutions fast.”
Leaders urged to reopen travel corridor
Transatlantic business leaders have written to both the UK prime minister Boris Johnson and US president Joe Biden urging them to restart travel between the two countries.
US citizens entering the UK are currently required to quarantine, while UK citizens are banned from entering the United States.
But BritishAmerican Business (BAB), of which the Greater Birmingham Transatlantic Chamber is part, is calling on both leaders to revise those restrictions in order to boost trade between the two nations.
BAB says the UK and US have achieved ‘world-leading success’ with their vaccination programmes, which puts them in a position to demonstrate to the safe reopening of a crucial air-corridor.
Both letters are signed by BritishAmerican Business CEO Duncan Edwards, KPMG’s chair of board and New York office managing partner Bob Garrett, American Express’ president of global commercial services Anna Marrs and Marsh McLennan president and CEO Dan Glaser.
The letters read: “The UK and the US are two of the world’s greatest trading nations, and air travel is a vital ingredient in ensuring this source of prosperity for both countries.
“Estimates of the economic losses for both countries from the continued closure of the air corridor are staggering.
“The impact is felt most severely by smalland medium-sized businesses that do not have extensive teams in the other market. These companies rely heavily on traveling to see their customers and their suppliers, and are most likely to delay or cancel investment if they are unable to visit in person. Both countries have done a remarkable job in getting their populations vaccinated and now have the chance to lead the world again in demonstrating how safely to re-open a crucial air corridor.”
Ready to resume: United is one of the main airlines operating flights between the UK and the US
Key appointment welcomed
Transatlantic business leaders have welcomed a key appointment at the US Embassy in London.
Yael Lempert has taken up the role of chargé d’affaires – having previously served as deputy chief of mission at the embassy.
The position of chargé d’affaires is effectively the deputy to the US ambassador to the UK, a role which is currently vacant with president Joe Biden yet to appoint a successor to Robert ‘Woody’ Johnson.
Ms Lempert took up her assignment as deputy chief of mission at the embassy in London in 2019.
She is a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, and served as acting deputy assistant secretary of State for Egypt and North Africa from June 2017 to December 2018.
Ms Lempert was the senior director for the Levant, Israel and Egypt at the National Security Council from 2014 to 2017, and also served as Special Assistant to the president from 2015 to 2017. Prior to her assignment at the NSC, she served for three years as the deputy principal officer at the US Consulate General in Jerusalem. She also worked at the US Embassy in Libya from 2009 to 2011, where she spent more than half of her tour as the acting Deputy Chief of Mission.
Mandy Haque, international director at the Chamber and vice-president of the BritishAmerican Business Council, said: “Yael is a familiar figure to the Transatlantic Chamber having served as Deputy Chief of Mission since 2019 and I had the pleasure of meeting her during past visits to the Embassy in London.
“The Transatlantic Chamber’s close links with the US Embassy are vitally important in our aim to develop trade between Greater Birmingham and US businesses and we look forward to working closer with Yael to build on those links.”
