Cino is building a way for people to split a purchase while it is being paid, rather than have one person cover the bill and chase everyone else afterward. The fintech app raised a €3.5 million seed round led by Balderton Capital, with Connect Ventures, Tera Ventures and angel investors also participating.
What Cino changes about splitting a bill
Most group spending is settled in two stages: one person pays, then asks the others to reimburse their shares. Cino’s proposition is to move the split into the first stage, so group members’ portions are deducted at checkout. CEO and co-founder Elena Churilova described the frustration behind the idea to TechCrunch: “I tried every single tool out there possible to figure out how to make my weekends not into accounting exercises,” she said. “Then I just had this moment of thinking, like, ‘Why is no one building a way to pay together?’”
How the reported payment flow works
In TechCrunch’s March 2025 description, users connect a card to Cino and receive a virtual card. They can create or join a payment group, choose adjustable split ratios, and make a group purchase. Each member’s share is then deducted at checkout, while a group feed shows payments. The report said participants could join or leave groups.
That is different from an expense tracker or a payment-request tool: those generally record a shared expense or help ask for repayment after one person has paid, whereas Cino’s stated approach allocates the shares as the purchase happens.
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The same report said all group members had to be Cino users at that time. Cino was building a way for people to join directly through Apple Pay or Google Pay, but the report does not establish that this feature launched. Neither detail should be treated as a current product rule or capability without newer confirmation.
The €3.5 million seed round
TechCrunch reported the round on March 4, 2025, naming London-based Balderton Capital as lead investor. Connect Ventures and Tera Ventures also participated, alongside angel investors including Barney Hussey-Yeo, founder of Cleo. Cino later confirmed the same €3.5 million round and named those investors in a company post displayed as dated June 1, 2026: “We raised €3.5M seed round led by Balderton Capital.” The two dates refer to different announcements; the contemporaneous reported news peg is March 2025.
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The founders identified in the 2025 report are CEO Elena Churilova and COO Lina Saleh. It described Cino as emerging from Tallinn, Estonia, and operating in continental Europe since 2023.
What the company said about growth—and what it proves
TechCrunch carried several figures attributed to Cino in its 2025 report. The company said it had recorded 100% month-over-month growth in Finland and Italy and averaged 17 app uses per month. It also described spending of up to €3,000, without specifying a measurement period in the reported account. These are historical company-reported figures, not independently verified current metrics; they do not by themselves establish lasting retention or broad demand.
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Balderton investor Greta Anderson framed the investment case this way: “For too long, people have accepted standard bill-splitting, debt tracking, and repayment requests as the only way to manage shared expenses — simply because there was no alternative,” she told TechCrunch. “Cino’s viral growth demonstrates that there is an alternative which users love.” This is an investor’s assessment, not independent evidence of market-wide adoption.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Expansion and use cases are not confirmed launches
The 2025 report said Cino planned to use the funding to expand to the UK. In its June 2026 company announcement, Cino described plans to extend shared payments to restaurant bills, shared subscriptions, and bills shared with friends and family. Those statements document announced intentions; the sources do not establish that the UK expansion or those use cases have since launched.
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For anyone considering a shared-payment service, the practical questions are whether each person pays at checkout or settles later, who needs to join, which cards or wallets work, where the service is available, and what fees or eligibility rules apply. The available reporting does not establish Cino’s current country coverage, fees, eligibility, supported banks or cards, or current Apple Pay and Google Pay functionality. Check Cino’s current official product terms before relying on any of those details.
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