Fintech Highlights - 11/7/2023
Origin hopes to be the new Mint. Klarna is profitable in Q3. Charlie raises a round. Here's what we've been watching this week 👇
Pinned to the Top
Origin had a well-timed launch on November 3.
The startup claims it is “the first personal finance platform to provide holistic tracking of net worth, AI-powered financial guidance, automated investing, easy tax filing, estate planning and the option to meet with a Certified Financial Planner.”
Well timed - because if you didn't hear - Intuit is shuttering Mint.
It’s too early to know if Mint’s closing will affect user sign-ups and drive engagement with the platform. But competitors like Copilot are reporting uptick in downloads / signups already.
The end of PFM? Or a new season ahead? We'll see.
The BFD
Klarna was profitable on an operating basis in the third quarter, the company said on Monday, the first time the buy now, pay later firm has posted a quarterly operating profit since 2019. The company’s operating profit totaled around $12 million during the quarter, up from an operating loss of around $184 million during the same period last year.
Why this is the BFD: The results could bode well for the buy now, pay later sector as a whole, which has largely been unprofitable.
What that looks like: Between April and June of this year, Affirm reported a $244 million operating loss, and in 2021, the final year before Block acquired it, Afterpay reported an operating loss of around $107 million. Klarna’s most recent reported valuation, in 2022, was $7 billion, down from a peak valuation of $46 billion in 2021.
What's next? The firm is preparing for an IPO as soon as the first half of 2024, Sky News reported earlier this month.
M&A
Canadian Tire Corp. (TSX: CTC) bought back a 20% stake in its financial services unit from Scotiabank (TSX: BNX) for C$895m. More here ->
Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV) agreed to buy Corvus, a Boston-based provider of commercial insurance products, for $435m. Corvus had raised $260m from firms like Insight Partners, .406 Ventures, Telstra Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures. More here ->
Embedded Fintech
Railsr, a British embedded finance startup, raised $24m from insiders D Squared Capital and Moneta VC, six months after becoming insolvent. More here ->
Finerio Connect, a Mexico City–based fintech startup, raising $6.5 million in new funding.Finerio works with over 120 financial institutions and fintechs and also launched an API hub with Visa and Ozone API last year for products and services, including digital payments, credit and personal finance management. It also provides a place for financial institutions to comply with new open banking regulations. More here ->
Embedded Insuretech
Inclusivity Solutions, a South African insurtech startup, raised $1.5m. Inclusivity Solutions is an Inclusive insurtech leveraging Open APIs to deliver embedded insurance solutions to make insurance accessible to consumers in emerging markets via platforms and services that consumers already use. More here ->
Fintech
Candidly has raised a $20.5 million in Series B funding round to continue developing its employee benefit offering for student debt relief. This week, the company expanded its solutions to include emergency savings, also as a workforce benefit. Employees can set up payroll deduction, auto-enroll and the ability to round up daily transactions to go into an emergency fund. More here ->
Charlie, an LA-based banking startup for people aged 62 and over, raised $16m in Series A funding (plus $7m in debt). Charlie helps retirees and soon-to-be-retirees make the most of their limited resources with features including faster access to their Social Security check, competitive 3% earnings on average balances and no monthly fees or minimums. More here ->
Payroll Integrations, an Encinitas, Calif.-based SaaS for building financial wellness tools, raised $20m. Payroll Integrations provides an IntegrationPlatform as a Service with a SaaS front end that connects benefits providers to hundreds of payroll providers. More here ->
Unit, which raised $100 million at a $1.2 billion valuation, has launched a white label app, which it says allows software companies to embed banking and lending into their platform “with only one line of code.” More here ->
Atom Bank, a British digital challenger bank, raised £100m in a down-round. More here ->
QI Tech, a Brazilian banking-as-a-service startup, raised $200m in Series B funding. This was a big deal, besides just being a lot of cash, because it also marked the largest venture round in Brazil so far this year — not just in fintech, but across all industries. More here ->
Tabby, a Riyadh-based BNPL startup, raised $200m in Series D funding at a $1.5b valuation. With Tabby, "you can split your purchases into 4 interest-free payments at your favourite stores." More here ->
Verqor, a Mexican lender targeting the agricultural sector, raised $7.5m in pre-Series A funding. Verqor provides a single platform for farmers to access formal credit, quality inputs, and produce buyers. More here ->
Investtech
EarlyBird, a Chicago-based investment gifting app, raised $4.5m in new seed funding. EarlyBird simplifies the process for parents to kickstart their child's financial future by opening a custodial investment account, while allowing family and friends to remain connected to the children they love by gifting meaningful and sustainable financial contributions for all life's milestones. More here ->
Realized, a real estate wealth management platform, raised $1.8M of venture funding in the form of convertible debt from undisclosed investors. The company has raised approx. $7.8M to date. Realized helps transform wealth from individual investment properties into diversified real estate portfolios, customized to clients unique income needs, risk appetite, tax situation, and investment goals. More here ->
Accelex, a London-based provider of AI automation for private markets data, raised $15m in Series A funding. More here ->
Crypto
Bitstamp, a London-based crypto exchange, is seeking to raise $50 million. It is the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchange. It allows trading between fiat currency, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such as USD, EUR, GBP, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Algorand, Stellar, and USD Coin. More here ->
Insuretech
NEXT Insurance, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based small business insurer, raised $265m from Allstate and Allianz X. As reported by CNBC, Next “is nearing $1 billion in premium revenue but remains unprofitable.”More here ->
Layr, an Atlanta-based small biz insurtech, raised $10m. Layr is using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to help brokers and agencies efficiently sell and service small business insurance. More here ->
Cowbell, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of cyber insurance for SMEs, raised $25m. More here ->
Health and risk insurance firm Hoggo has raised $11m from a Series A round led by venture capital firm Partech. Founded in 2018, Hoggo is focused on tackling group health and risk insurance – a market with a valuation over €34bn in France – for SMEs. More here ->
Sprout.ai, a London-based insurance claims automation startup, raised £5.4m. Their innovative technology assists insurance carriers and third-party administrators (TPAs) in amplifying their operational efficiency. By automating significant segments of the claims procedure, they have been able to reduce claim handling costs by a whopping 50%. More here ->
Flitter, a Paris-based pay-by-mile car insurance startup, raised €3.5m in seed funding. More here ->
Proptech
GreenLite, an Austin, Texas-based construction and development permitting startup, raised $8m in seed funding. GreenLite is a vertical SaaS platform that serves as the backbone of city planning, construction and real estate development. More here ->
Samara, a maker of tiny homes, raised $41m. The company has developed its first product backyard, a flexible solar-powered dwelling unit that unlocks the potential of your courtyard. More here ->
Funnel Leasing, a Tampa, Fla.-based provider of renter management software, raised $32m in Series B2 funding. Funnel optimizes all renter interactions in one platform, from inquiry through renewals. More here ->
Kasa Living, an SF-based provider of flexible accommodations for travelers, raised $70m in Series C funding. Citi Ventures and FirstMark Capital co-led, and were joined by New York Life Ventures, Fireside Investments and insiders RET Ventures, Zigg Capital, and Ribbit Capital. https://axios.link/3MmpMwo More here ->
Radius Agent, an SF-based real estate brokerage platform, raised $13m in Series B funding. More here ->
Nomad Homes adds software for real estate agents following $20M capital infusion. The company is creating its own MLS for the regions and applies technology to the expertise provided by local customer services experts who assist from the initial search to closing on the home. More here ->
Massachusetts-based startup Boundless Rider has successfully raised US$4.25 million in a recent funding round, led by American Family Ventures. Boundless Rider provides motorcycle insurance information, powersport and e-bike insurance info and rider perks for all kinds of riders. More here ->
From the Stash
Apple is now making its Apple Pay Later product available to all users in the U.S. - Users are able to split payments into four installments and have six weeks to pay without penalty. More here ->
Car-leasing platform Rodo teams up with Google Bard - Online car-leasing platform Rodo is looking to Google’s Bard for an AI-powered vehicle product. Rather than focusing on maintenance-driven technology, Rodo is working on “forward thinking technologies,” Nathan Hecht, founder and chief executive at Rodo, said at Auto Finance Summit 2023 on Monday More here ->
Q3 earnings roundup: Tech spend jumps, headcount falls - Major U.S. banks invested in AI and automation while pulling back on headcount as cost reductions remained a priority during the third quarter. Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Citibank, Citizens Bank, Fifth Third, and JPMorgan Chase, all reported higher tech spend year over year. More here ->
Klarna employees were set to strike next week in the fintech’s home country of Sweden - But by the end of last week, the strike was called off. Via email, Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski told TechCrunch on Friday that “after an intense week of negotiations,” the company had reached an agreement to join the Banks Employer Organisation by January 1, 2024. More here ->
Wise, a global fintech company, announced it is expanding its Austin operations and moving its office to The Domain Tower II - Wise has announced plans to increase its Austin-based workforce by 50 percent in 2024. More here ->
Digital wallet, Paze, to be launched by the big bank-owned fintech, Early Warning - Early Warning is a fintech jointly owned by some of the biggest US banks including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. They recently announced the launch of Paze, a new digital wallet to rival Apple Pay, Google Pay, and others, in an effort to stave off competition from the big tech companies. More here ->
Now that Intuit says it is discontinuing its personal finance app Mint in January, the company hopes most of Mint’s customers will stay on and join Credit Karma - However, some Mint competitors told me they were already seeing a bump in new customers. Monarch Money, a subscription-based money manager app, was one of them. The company shared via email that over the past week it saw “twice the number of users” since the news broke. After the story went out, Monarch’s execs got back to me to say that the normal sign-up rate jumped to 10x and ended the day at 20x higher. More here ->
More from the Stash
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Isaac M. O’Bannon
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Reports / Webinars
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