Tallinn-based Cino has secured €3.5 million in seed funding to expand its real-time bill-splitting technology, which allows users to pay their share of a group expense instantly at the point of sale, eliminating the IOU system.
Oct 2, 2025
Source:
TechCrunch
Fintech Startup Cino Raises €3.5M to End Bill-Splitting IOUs
European fintech startup Cino has raised a €3.5 million seed round to tackle a common social finance problem: the awkwardness of splitting bills. The Tallinn-based company is pioneering a model that allows for instant bill splitting at the moment of payment, directly challenging the "debt collection" approach used by popular apps like Venmo and Splitwise.
The funding round was led by Balderton Capital and will fuel the company’s expansion into the UK market. Cino’s core innovation is moving shared payments from a reimbursement model to a real-time transaction model.
“Traditional methods leave one person to front the cost and then chase repayments,” the company explains. Cino eliminates this step entirely, aiming to remove the social friction associated with shared expenses.
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Source:
TechCrunch
How Instant Splitting Works
Cino’s platform allows users to connect their existing bank cards to the app and create a virtual Mastercard. This virtual card is compatible with Google Pay and Apple Pay.
The Payment Process
When a group expense occurs, any member can pay using the Cino virtual card.
The app instantly deducts each person’s pre-determined share from their linked personal bank account.
The split ratio is fully customizable (e.g., 50/50, 70/30, or other specific amounts).
This system ensures no single person is left out of pocket. For transparency, all payments are recorded in a shared group feed, providing a clear history of all transactions. The platform is bank-agnostic, meaning users do not need to be with the same bank to participate.
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Source:
TechCrunch
