Estonian Cino raised €900K

Estonian fintech Cino raised €900K from UK-based investment firm @atomico Atomico and Berlin-based Heartfelt_ (previously APX, backed by German media and technology company Axel Springer and carmaker Porsche).

UPD: Estonian investment firm Tera Ventures and some business angels also participated in this deal. Thus, the total amount of the recent round was €925K. With the €500K injection from Tera Ventures and EstBAN in May 2023, Cino closed the €1,425K round.

Founded in Tallinn in 2022 by Elena Churilova, Edward Poot, and Lina Saleh, Cino is a payment method that enables couples or larger groups of people to split the bill among each other.

A virtual card Cino is available through the digital wallets of Apple and Google Pay and can be used for online payments. The card is shared with anyone invited within a group. Cino links each person’s bank account to one virtual payment card. Once a virtual card has been created, group members choose their auto-split ratio (what fraction of each transaction is paid by each member), and then each transaction is auto-split amongst the group members. The startup allows users to split the bills when they want to pay for the rent, utilities, groceries, trips, dinners, drinks, and others. The service works in most European countries, including Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia.

In May 2023, Cino raised €500K from Tera Ventures and an Estonian syndicate of business angels (EstBAN) during the Latitude59 Pitch Competition 2023. This investment was part of the € 1.4 M round, which Cino has closed with Atomico and Heartfelt_.