Cino's Virtual Card App

Cino, a fintech startup and TNW community member, has secured €3.5mn in seed funding for its shared payments app. The app allows friends and family to pay together, splitting bills instantly and effortlessly. This eliminates the need to chase down mates to pay their share of a bill.

Cino is designed for tech-savvy Gen Z'ers who expect to be able to split bills instantly and effortlessly, without the awkwardness of asking others to pay their share. Unlike payment request apps like Tikkie, which is popular in the Netherlands, Cino splits bills in real-time, so users don't have to wait for others to pay their share.

The app is available across the EU, but with the fresh funding, Cino plans to expand to the UK. The seed round was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Connect Ventures, Tera Ventures, and angels including Barney Hussey-Yeo, the founder of Cleo AI.

Cino's CEO, Elena Churilova, a former product lead at Bumble, and COO Lina Saleh founded the startup in 2023 to reduce financial friction between friends and family. Churilova previously told TNW that she realized everyone was trying to solve the process of settling debt, instead of coming in earlier, at the moment of payment.

Cino users link their bank card to the app, where they get a virtual card. They can then create or join custom payment groups with fully adjustable split ratios. Everyone's share is then deducted at checkout, and every payment appears in a shared group feed for total transparency. Users can hop in or out of groups anytime.

According to Cino, the startup has seen 100% month-on-month growth in Finland and Italy. Groups use Cino 17 times a month on average, spending up to €3,000.