Fintech Highlights - 12/5/2023
Lightyear Capital invests in Inszone. Veev shuts down. RBC's deal with HBSC closes in Canada. Here's what we've been watching this week 👇
Pinned to the Top
Construction tech startup Veev, which builds and develops eco-friendly homes, is in the process of shutting down, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Investors in Veev, once valued at $1 billion, are not likely to recoup any of the $600 million they put in, even if the startup is able to sell some of its assets, the person said. Veev’s backers include Khosla Ventures, Brookfield Growth and Zeev Ventures.
Veev is the third “unicorn” startup—those that amassed at least a $1 billion valuation on paper—to shut down in the past month and a half, following logistics startup Convoy and healthcare startup Olive. Veev would be the second large shutdown of a construction tech startup in recent years, following SoftBank-backed Katerra’s bankruptcy in 2021.
The BFD
Royal Bank of Canada is set to close its CA$13.5 billion ($10 billion) all-cash acquisition of HSBC Canada in the first quarter of next year as the bank works through its integration plans.
Why this is the BFD: The acquisition will give RBC’s clients access to HSBC’s trade finance and cash management capabilities and create additional cross-selling opportunities.
The big picture: One of the big five in Canada - get's bigger. It’s already the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization but trailed TD Bank in total assets when this deal was announced. The Canadian arm of the multinational bank boasted 130 branches, 4,200 employees and $134 billion in assets as of September 2022. So, this deal is significant in the arms race that is Canadian banking.
M&A
Veea, a digital transformation company, agreed to go public at an implied $281m enterprise value via Plum Acquisition 1 (Nasdaq: PLMI), a SPAC whose exec chair is former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns. More here ->
Berkshire Hathaway sold its 2.5% stake in Indian mobile payments firm Paytm for $164m, taking a more than 35% loss on its investment. More here ->
NomuPay, an Irish unified payments firm formed via the 2021 purchase of select WireCard assets, acquired Manchester, U.K.-based payment services provider Total Processing. NomuPay backers include Finch Capital and Outpost Ventures. More here ->
KKR agreed to buy the 37% stake it doesn't already hold in New York-based insurer Global Atlantic for $2.7b in cash. More here ->
MobiKwik, an Indian mobile payments firm whose backers include ADIA and American Express, picked banks for a Mumbai IPO that could raise around $84m, per Bloomberg. More here ->
Webull, a New York-based stock trading app, acquired Mexican investment platform Flink, a Mexico City-based trading platform that had raised nearly $60m from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, ALLVP, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Mantis VC and Kalonia Venture Partners. Webull has raised around $240m from firms like Lightspeed, Coatue and General Atlantic. More here ->
PayU, Prosus' Indian payments and fintech unit, is seeking an IPO within the next year, according to Prosus interim CEO Ervin Tu. More here ->
Yieldstreet, a VC-backed multi-asset alternative investment platform, agreed to buy Cadre, a New York-based real estate tech firm. Cadre had raised around $130m in VC funding from backers like Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Spur Capital Partners, Khosla Ventures, Lakestar and Jaws Ventures. More here ->
Fintech
🚑 PayGround, a Gilbert, Ariz.-based health care payments startup, raised $19.7m in Series A funding. PayGround makes healthcare bill-pay simple by getting providers and patients on the same payment platform. More here ->
Mozaic.io, a payments platform for creators, raised $20m in Series A funding. Mozaic reaches creators all over the world, making it easy to collaborate with and pay creators anywhere and at scale. More here ->
Conduiit, a New York-based fintech for film and TV productions, raised $1m in pre-seed funding. The company is building a platform designed to offer a one-stop shop for boosting profitability in film and television productions. More here ->
Crezco, a British B2B invoice and bill payments platform, raised $12m in Series A fundin. The company is focused on making B2B invoice payments as simple as in-store card transactions. More here ->
Paysend, a London-based multicurrency payments firm, raised $65m. The company recently launched a fee-free mobile money account with multi-currency wallet and new payment features. More here ->
Enfuce, a Finnish card issuer, raised €8.5m. Enfuce is an award-winning, trusted, and scalable issuer processor card solutions. More here ->
CheckRewards, a Dubai-based cashback services startup, raised $1.2m. CheckRewards provides a cashback service which leverages machine learning technology to offer access to promotions, cashback rewards for everyday purchases and receipt scans, as well as expenditure tracking to help users manage their finances. More here ->
Flow48, a UAE-based SME lending startup, raised $25m in pre-Series A funding. low48 has developed a platform that stands out with its real-time functionality, integrating with major ERP providers, payment gateways, and e-commerce platforms. More here ->
Scapia, an Indian travel credit card startup, raised $23m in Series A funding. The startup, which launched in June and is based in Bengaluru, said it has distributed cards in more than 7,500 pin codes in India. More here ->
PhiCommerce, an Indian omnichannel payment startup, raised $10m in Series A1 funding. Phi Commerce operates a payments processing platform, PayPhi, for COD orders. More here ->
iPeakoin, a Singapore-based neobank, raised $10m in Series A funding. The startup, founded in 2020, is building solutions that bridge traditional finance and the crypto industry. More here ->
Investtech
Alpheya, an Abu Dhabi-based wealth tech startup, raised $300m. Alpheya is developing a customized wealth management technology platform for wealth and asset managers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). More here ->
Crypto
MYX, a crypto derivatives protocol, raised $5m in seed funding. More here ->
Mummolin, a Cheyenne Wyo.-based decentralized bitcoin mining pool, raised $6.2m in seed funding. More here ->
Acctual, a New York-based accounting platform for crypto companies, raised $3.9m in seed funding. More here ->
Coinchange, a Toronto-based DeFi yield platform, raised US$10m in funding. More here ->
Wind, a Singapore-based smart contract wallet, raised $3.8m in pre-seed funding. More here ->
Insuretech
🚑 Lassie, a Stockholm-based pet health and insurance app, raised €23m in Series B funding. The app features online courses, and other information on preventative health for pets. The funding will be used to develop Lassie’s team and products such as its in-app sale of health products for pets, and expand beyond its core bases of Germany and Sweden. More here ->
Lightyear Capital invested in Inszone, a Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based insurance brokerage. Founded in 2002 Inszone Insurance Services is a customer-centric, full-service insurance agency that has grown significantly over the past two decades. More here ->
Proptech
Revela, a Detroit-based property management software, raised $9m in Series A funding. Revela simplifies the way property and asset management companies do business by streamlining and automating processes like finances, communication, and operations. More here ->
DoorFeed, a British residential real estate investment platform, raised €7m in seed extension funding. The platform provides both unique market data and the operating system to build performing property portfolios with speed, scale and precision. More here ->
From the Stash
Citi prioritizes embedded digital payment strategy - As demand for embedded payment offerings continues to climb, Citigroup’s Citi Pay plans to keep up. Global revenue from embedded payments is expected to reach $59 billion by 2027, up from $32 billion in 2023, according to a study by Juniper Research. More here ->
Movers & Shakers: Truist names 3 C-level execs - Truist Financial continued its managerial overhaul this month with appointments to fill the new chief operating officer position as well as chief consumer and small business banking officer and chief wholesale banking officer. More here ->
What’s next for Apple Card: Fintech or traditional FI? - Apple and Goldman Sachs are parting ways on the Apple Card and the tech giant will be in the market for a new issuer — and whether that’s a traditional financial institution or card-issuing fintech is the question now. The companies have been in cahoots on the Apple Card since 2019. More here ->
SoFi Shutting Down Its Crypto Business - SoFi told customers on Wednesday that it’s shutting down its crypto trading service, which had been under mounting scrutiny from bank regulators. SoFi, which offers lending and a range of other services, received a bank charter last year, putting it under the purview of bank regulators. It had warned in its 2022 annual report that it would potentially have to stop offering crypto products by early 2024 due to guidance from the Federal Reserve. More here ->
BMO completes conversion of Bank of the West - BMO Financial Group completed the conversion of Bank of the West customer accounts to BMO operating systems during its fiscal fourth quarter. “We closed and integrated strategic acquisitions, advanced our digital-first capabilities and increased our focus on delivering interconnected one-client experiences” in Q4, Chief Executive Darryl White said during today’s earnings call. More here ->
TD’s tech spend up 18% YoY to $458M - TD Bank is investing in technology to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and restructure operations with AI efforts at the forefront. The Toronto-based bank’s total technology and equipment expenses were CA$620 million ($458 million), up 18% year over year, according to its fiscal fourth-quarter (ending Oct. 31) earnings report. More here ->
🫧 UBS chair Colm Kelleher warned about the emergence of an "asset bubble" in private credit. More here ->
🏠 Home prices were 3.9% higher in September compared with a year ago, S&P Case-Shiller Index shows. More here ->
Reports / Webinars
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The 2023 Fintech Effect Tech Talk: Reaching the next wave of consumers - What do people want from your fintech app in 2024? Plaid asked 2,000+ consumers what they had to say. And you can too - sign up for Plaid's Tech Talk on Wednesday, December 6 at11:00 am PT / 2:00 pm ET to find out the biggest takeaways from this year’s Fintech Effect report.
SVB releases its Future of Fintech 2023 report - Fintech has shown resilience amid the VC slowdown with company runway and valuations outperforming tech as a whole. SVB's Future of Fintech report examines macroeconomic conditions impacting fintechs and finding opportunity despite headwinds.
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