Odaily Planet Daily News: Turkish fintech startup Colendi announced the completion of a $65 million Series B financing round, with a valuation of $700 million. The financing was led by Citi Ventures, the venture capital arm of Citi Group, with participation from Migros Ticaret AS, Sepil Ventures, Re-Pie Asset Management, Finberg and Hedef Holding. It is reported that the Turkish banking regulator has approved Colendi's application to establish a digital bank in 2023. Colendi currently has 17 million users in Turkey, and its goal is to expand to populous emerging markets including Pakistan and Indonesia in the future, and ultimately achieve the goal of 1 billion users. This financing will advance Colendi's mission to become a major digital banking entity in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). (Bloomberg)
