Fasanara Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Fasanara Capital is a London-based institutional asset manager and fintech investing pioneer, founded in 2011 by Francesco Filia (a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan executive). The firm manages approximately $6 billion in fintech-focused strategies on behalf of pension funds, insurance companies, and banks across Europe, Asia, and North America. Fasanara's core business is Fintech Lending — providing alternative credit and receivables financing to tech-enabled specialist lenders that fill the SME funding gap left by retrenching traditional banks. Alongside this credit business, Fasanara operates a dedicated equity venture arm, Fasanara Ventures, launched in 2019, which invests directly in early-stage fintech, DeFi, and Web 3.0 companies. The firm frames its overall mission as building "the Digital Future of financial markets," spanning Fintech Lending, Digital Assets, Quant strategies, and Bespoke institutional portfolios.
Stage Focus
Fasanara Ventures invests globally from Pre-Seed through Series A in early-stage fintech platforms and marketplaces. The firm operates a formal Seed Program soliciting direct submissions from founders working on "disruptive FinTech" ideas via [email protected].
Check Size
No explicit check-size range is published on the website. The Ventures arm has approximately $400M in AUM dedicated to Pre-Seed through Series A fintech/DeFi/Web3 investing (per the Seed Program page), separate from the firm's much larger credit-facility deals (typically tens to hundreds of millions in debt financing, which is a distinct business line from equity investing).
Lead Tendency
Unclear from public materials for equity venture checks. On the credit side, Fasanara frequently acts as sole or lead lender on facility deals (e.g., sole $150M facility to Teylor, sole $170M credit facility to Addi alongside Goldman Sachs).
Recent Activity
Fasanara has been highly active through 2025–2026 across both its credit and venture/digital-asset businesses:
- September 2026: Launched a $400M private credit fund with Tether to expand stablecoin-enabled real-economy lending, targeting up to $3B in third-party institutional capital.
- August 2026: Expanded its Quant division with the appointment of Dr Darran Specter.
- July 2026: Named an ex-Man Group hire to lead a firm-wide AI Lab build-out; provided a $75M Shariah-compliant facility to Saudi fintech Fina.
- June 2026: Opened its first U.S. office in New York, appointing former Goldman Sachs executive Cameron Arrington to lead U.S. capital formation; appointed Marieke de Roo to expand European investor coverage; launched an investment platform for Ferrari-backed lending.
- March 2026: Launched a new MSME-focused lending strategy with the IFC (International Finance Corporation).
- Late 2025: Provided credit facilities to Addi ($71M upsize, with Goldman Sachs and BBVA Spark), Finspot (€25M), Teylor (€150M), Zvilo (€75M), and discussed private-credit trends on Bloomberg.
Portfolio Highlights
Fasanara Ventures' publicly listed equity portfolio spans fintech and Web3/DeFi: Scalapay (buy-now-pay-later, reached unicorn status via a Tiger Global-led Series A), StashFin, Outfund, ViceVersa, Novicap, InstaCarro, Accelerated Payments, Lendable, Storfund, Superchain, Utila, Morpho, Hidden Road, Mintify, Bull v Bear, and Temple. Separately, on the credit side, Fasanara's early backing helped power Cardo AI to a Series A milestone with Blackstone (Nov 2024), and the firm acquired specialist gaming/app lender Pollen VC in January 2024.
Team
- Francesco Filia — Founder and CEO
- Matteo Amaretti — Head of Investments
- Michele Conte — Venture Capital Associate
- Alessandro Panizza — Venture Capital Analyst
- Gabriel Oxley — VC Analyst
The firm also has a large supporting bench across Digital (crypto), Quant, Credit Risk, Legal, Operations, and Capital Formation, reflecting its scale as an institutional asset manager rather than a pure early-stage VC shop.
Decision Process
Given the firm's scale (~150+ staff across investment, risk, legal, operations, and capital-formation functions) and institutional-investor client base, decisions on the venture side likely run through an investment committee rather than a solo GP or small partnership, though this is not explicitly documented.
Founder Preferences
The Seed Program page invites founders "working on disruptive FinTech" ideas to submit directly via email — no stated requirement for a warm introduction. Fasanara emphasizes providing "the necessary networks... financial infrastructure and technological expertise to propel early-stage founders towards attaining speed, scale, and edge," suggesting a hands-on, infrastructure-and-network-oriented value proposition beyond capital.
Geographic Focus
Fasanara Ventures invests globally. The portfolio page lists geographic tags including Italy, Singapore, United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, Serbia, Israel, and France. The firm is headquartered in London, with a new U.S. office opened in 2026 and existing activity in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE) via its credit business.