Cino Raises Seed Funding to Revolutionize Bill Splitting

A New Approach to Shared Payments: Cino Secures Seed Funding

Existing platforms like Venmo and Splitwise function primarily as tools for managing debts, requiring an initial full payment followed by requests for reimbursement. However, neither has yet perfected the process of splitting bills at the point of purchase. Now, European startup Cino, which has developed such a solution, has successfully raised €3.5 million in a seed funding round, spearheaded by London-based Balderton Capital.

Real-Time Bill Splitting

The Cino application facilitates real-time shared payments, enabling groups to divide expenses and contribute their respective shares directly from their preferred bank accounts or digital wallets.

Having initially launched in Tallinn, Estonia, and expanded throughout continental Europe since 2023, the company intends to utilize this new funding to extend its services into the United Kingdom.

Targeting Gen Z and Beyond

Cino is led by co-founder and CEO Elena Churilova, previously with Bumble and Booking.com, and COO Lina Saleh, an alumna of Cornell University. The platform is gaining traction, particularly among Gen Z, a demographic that often expresses discomfort with “financial awkwardness” and increasingly eschews traditional joint bank accounts for shared expenses.

Users integrate their cards with the Cino mobile app, receiving a virtual card in return. They can then participate in shared payment groups, establishing customizable split ratios applicable to scenarios like restaurant bills. The company states that any member of a group can cover a purchase, with each person’s portion automatically deducted.

Transparency and Flexibility

All transactions are visibly recorded within the group feed, and users retain the freedom to join or leave payment groups as needed.

Currently, all participants must be Cino users for the system to function. However, the company is developing a feature allowing direct integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Impressive Growth Metrics

Cino reports a consistent 100% month-over-month growth rate in markets such as Finland and Italy. Customers, on average, utilize the app 17 times per month, with an average spending limit of €3,000.

“The setup process mirrors that of WhatsApp,” explained Churilova in an interview with TechCrunch. “Groups are easily created, and we issue virtual cards. Users can be added or removed from the card, and split ratios can be adjusted accordingly.”

The Genesis of Cino

Churilova’s inspiration for Cino stemmed from her experiences while working at Bumble, where she found herself frequently managing shared expenses with colleagues. “I tested every available tool in an attempt to avoid turning my weekends into accounting tasks,” she stated. “This led me to question why no one was creating a solution for simultaneous payment.”

Leveraging the Network Effect

The application benefits from a network effect, allowing each new user to invite two to four additional individuals to join for free during their initial six months.

Investor Confidence

“For a long time, conventional bill-splitting, debt tracking, and reimbursement requests have been accepted as the standard method for managing shared costs – simply because no alternative existed,” noted Greta Anderson, an investor at Balderton Capital. “Cino’s rapid growth demonstrates a clear demand for a more user-friendly alternative.”

Connect Ventures and Tera Ventures also contributed to this funding round, alongside angel investors including Barney Hussey-Yeo, founder of Cleo.