Fintech Highlights - 10/25/2022

Fintechs

Uplinq Announces $1.25 Million Investment From ATX Venture Partners

Uplinq Financial Technologies - the first global credit assessment and scoring platform for SMB lenders - today announced a $1.25 million raise. This announcement comes after Uplinq raised $3.5 million in a pre-seed funding round in April

Kudos raises $7M for Honey-like credit card rewards extension — www.axios.com

The company is taking a new approach to one-click checkout. And has raised $7M to recommend the right credit card for shopping rewards.

Credit Key, an LA-based B2B BPNL startup, raises $15m in equity funding — www.axios.com

It also secured a $150m credit facility from Fortress Investment Group.

Starbucks CEO, Slauson & Co. back Bags, a LendingTree for minority-led businesses — www.axios.com

The loan marketplace, focused on underrepresented businesses, has raised $3 million in seed funding

Ordo, a British open banking startup, raised £10m in a Series A funding round led by Equinox Systems. More here ->

Uils wants to lend LatAm's rideshare drivers cash based on their driving record — techcrunch.com Uils is a startup taking a unique approach to the ridesharing fintech market: funding vehicle purchases by evaluating drivers' behaviors.

Banyan raises $43M to grow its network of item-level purchase data — techcrunch.com Banyan, a startup offering a network of item-level data for retailers, merchants, banks and fintechs, has raised millions in venture capital.

Thunes integrates with Visa Direct's digital payments network — techcrunch.com Cross-border payments startup Thunes is partnering with Visa in a move that will add more than 1.5 billion new endpoints to Visa Direct’s digital payments network.

Egypt’s Nexta to launch 'next-gen banking' app with fresh $3M — techcrunch.com Egyptian fintech Nexta gets $3 million from eFinance, a state-owned provider of digital payments solutions.

Investtech

Staax thinks peer-to-peer payments can onboard a new generation of stock investors • TechCrunch — techcrunch.com Staax, which pitched at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield 200, is building Robinhood-meets-Venmo for the social investing generation

Super Advisor, a Toronto-based platform for financial advisors, raised C$2m in seed funding from Rhino Ventures. More here ->

Crypto

N26 adds crypto trading with new Bitpanda integration — techcrunch.com Startup bank N26 is launching a new feature — N26 Crypto. Users will be able to easily trade crypto assets using money in their N26 account.

Insuretechs

General Atlantic eyes increasing stake in Amazon-backed insurtech Acko — techcrunch.com

Acko, a Bangalore-based digital insurer, is in talks to raise around $100m at a flat $1.2b valuation. The company previously had discussed a larger and richer round led by PayU.

Limit, a Walnut, Calif.-based digital insurance wholesale broker for the cyber market, raised $14.5m in Series A funding. More here ->

Proptech

Landis grabs $40M to turn renters into homeowners — techcrunch.com Here's how it works: Landis buys the home in an all-cash offer on behalf of the client, who then rents the home.

Holidu pockets $102M to keep growing its vacation rentals business in Europe — techcrunch.com Munich-based vacation rental startup, Holidu, has topped up with an oversubscribed €100 million Series E funding round of equity and debt.

Breezeway, a Boston-based vacation rental property management platform, raised $15m in Series B funding. Catalyst Investors led, and was joined by insider Schooner Capital. More here ->

From the Stash

One month after entering the spend management space, Rippling goes after global payroll — techcrunch.com At TechCrunch Disrupt, Rippling unveiled what Parker Conrad describes as the “biggest launch” of his career – its new global payroll product.

Recently Public Real Estate Startups Shed Over $42B In Value — news.crunchbase.com Venture-backed real estate startups that went public in the past two years are down an average 85% from their offering price.

Goldman Sachs tech spend climbs 16% — bankautomationnews.com Goldman Sachs increased its technology and communication spend 16% year over year in the third quarter by investing in digital platforms. The $1.6 trillion bank spent $459 million on technology and communication in Q3, up 3% sequentially and 8% from Q1. Total operating expenses for the quarter dipped 6% YoY to $737 million as the

Goldman Sachs, Apple team up for savings accounts — bankautomationnews.com Goldman Sachs and Apple have launched Apple Card, a savings accounts that allows clients to add funds through a linked bank account or directly from Apple Cash. “Just last week we introduced a new Goldman Sachs savings account for Apple Card that allows users to grow their rewards,” Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon said

Citizens to redesign mobile app — bankautomationnews.com Citizens Financial Group is building a new mobile app to meet booming customer demand. The $224 billion bank within the next 12 months will launch its app with self-service features in an effort to reduce call center volumes, according to its Q3 earnings presentation. Citizens reported for Q3: Noninterest expenses grew 21% year over year

Fifth Third to relaunch mobile app | Bank Automation News — bankautomationnews.com Fifth Third Bank increased its tech spend during the third quarter and is working toward full digitization of its mobile banking capabilities for the remainder of the year. The $205 billion bank’s noninterest expenses during the quarter fell year over year, but the bank remained committed to increasing its tech investments during the quarter, which

Klarna launches new creator features and shoppable video • TechCrunch — techcrunch.com Klarna, the buy now, pay later platform, launched a new creator platform, shoppable video and other features.

Amazon launches an insurance comparison site in the UK • TechCrunch — techcrunch.com Amazon launched an insurance comparison site today in the UK to sell home insurance with three launch partners

Allianz expands automatic accident detection service — www.insurtechinsights.com Allianz is expanding its automatic accident detection service. Dubbed the Allianz accident reporter, the digital claims service used by...

Westlake collaborates with fintech for credit card program | Bank Automation News — bankautomationnews.com Westlake Financial has launched a credit card rewards program using back-end technologies from embedded finance company Railsr. The Westlake Black Credit Card gives the financial institution’s customers 2% cash back on all qualified automotive-related purchases including vehicle maintenance and servicing, gas, oil changes and brakes, Jim Eyraud, vice president of Wilshire Consumer Credit, a wholly

Reports / Webinars

What makes super apps super? With David Barton-Grimley | 11:FS Explores — www.youtube.com Super apps. Elon Musk wants to build one and they're already hugely popular in Asia. So we all know what an app is, right? But what makes an app super? 11:FS...

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