Czech ZAKA Ventures joins a $2.5M seed round for the UK fintech Prograd

London-based fintech startup Prograd has raised $2.5 million in a seed round for further development of its app. The round was led by Deloitte Ventures, with the participation of Techstars, ZAKA Ventures, AGAM, Mandeep Singh founder of marketplace Trouva, and other existing angel investors. 

• Founded in September 2021 by Ethan Fraenkel and Marco Logiudice, Prograd is a credit marketplace for young people, enhancing the underwriting accuracy of lenders and the borrowing experience of consumers. Prograd’s team aims to enable the credit marketplace for young people, bringing 30+ lenders together with thousands of aspiring Gen-Zers.
• The startup claims that it offers the fastest-growing communities for young people to speak and learn about finance stuff. Since launching Prograd has helped over 15,000 users improve their financial situation by explaining and connecting them with earning, saving, and credit opportunities from the likes of Santander, Revolut, Starling, Fiverr, IndeedFlex.
• The round was led by Sydney-based corporate venture capital firm Deloitte Ventures, joined by US Techstars which recently led the seed investment for Bulgarian health tech startup FindMeCure.
• The Prague-based VC fund ZAKA Startups which focuses on early-stage software-driven investments across the whole EU with a primary focus on CEE, DACH, and Baltics with the other existing investors also participated. In its portfolio are such companies as Alpha AR, Blockmate, boam, Conntac. 
• The fresh investment will be spent to expand the team’s marketing and development capabilities, improve its digital footprint, release an app, and improve its algorithms products.