Fintech Highlights - 3/5/2024
Robinhood’s stock got a big boost last week. Reddit plans to reward its most loyal users during its upcoming IPO. Webull files to go public. Here's what we've been watching this week 👇
Pinned to the Top
Robinhood’s stock got a big boost last week when the company posted a surprise profit in the fourth quarter “driven by higher interest income from customers paying back loans and a rebound in trading,” according to Reuters.
It also revealed that it could be breakeven or profitable by next year.
Shares climbed to their highest price last week in nearly two years and closed at $14 on last Friday, up 17% from a close of $11.94 on February 13.
The BFD
Reddit plans to reward its most loyal users during its upcoming IPO.
Zoom in: 75,000 of the platform's "redditors" will be able to buy shares at Reddit's IPO price before the stock starts trading — an opportunity generally reserved for money managers.
Why it matters: It's an unusual move that could introduce volatility in the stock, but it could also help build more loyalty
- The meme stock frenzy, after all, began on Reddit and proved the power of the platform to mobilize retail investors.
- Reddit declined to comment on the report.
Zoom out: Reddit separately announced today that it's setting aside 1% of its common stock over 10 years to fund community-related programs through the Pledge 1% nonprofit.
What to watch: The company is reportedly set to go public next month.
M&A
FTX will be allowed to sell its 7.84% stake in Anthropic, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge ruled yesterday. More here ->
FTX agreed to sell the assets of Digital Assets DA, which it acquired and rebranded as FTX Europe in 2021, back to its founders for $32.7m. FTX also settled a lawsuit that sought to claw back the $323m it originally spent to acquire the company. More here ->
Webull, the New York-based stock-trading app, agreed to go public at an implied $7.3b valuation via SK Growth Opportunities Corp. (Nasdaq: SKGR), a SPAC sponsored by South Korean conglomerate SK. Webull investors include Coatue, General Atlantic, Bojiang Capital, and Lightspeed. More here ->
Embedded
Fintech
Monite, a German SMB billing automation startup, raised $6m in additional seed funding. This funding will support the company's growth and development of embeddable financial solutions for US B2B platforms. More here ->
Insuretech
Berlin-based insurtech Embea has successfully concluded its seed funding round, securing €4 million in investments. Embea aims to revolutionize life insurance by offering affordable and easy-to-access solutions More here ->
Fintech
FlowFi, a startup creating a marketplace of finance experts for entrepreneurs, closed on $9 million in seed funding. Blumberg Capital led the investment. More here ->
Rasa, an enterprise-focused conversational generative AI platform with financial services companies as clients, raised $30 million in a Series C round co-led by StepStone Capital and PayPal Ventures. Notably, this marked PayPal’s first AI investment. More here ->
Finom, a European challenger bank aimed at SMEs and freelancers, has raised €50 million($54 million) in a Series B equity round of funding. This funding aims to support Finom in providing tailored banking services to SMEs and freelancers, helping them save time and achieve their full potential. More here ->
Monzo, the U.K.-based digital bank, is raising up to £350m at a £4b valuation. More here ->
Napier AI, a London-based provider of financial crime and compliance software, raised £45m. This funding is expected to fuel Napier AI's continued development in advanced transaction monitoring and sanction screening to address evolving threats in the financial sector. More here ->
Bold, a financial technology company building an electronic payments infrastructure in Colombia, raised $50 million in Series C funding in a round led by existing investor General Atlantic. The company offers low-cost payment terminals for small and medium businesses, experiencing significant growth with an increase in merchants and revenue. More here ->
Simetrik, a Colombian financial records automation startup, raised $55m in Series B funding. Their unique approach involves Simetrik Building Blocks (SBBs), which are scalable concepts based on no-code development and generative AI technologies. More here ->
Pulsate, an Irish community bank customer engagement startup, raised $7.75m in Series A funding. This funding will likely aid Pulsate in further developing its tools for fostering deeper and more impactful relationships with customers beyond traditional branch interactions. More here ->
Crypto
Citrea, a Bitcoin-focused company, raised $2.7m in seed funding. Citrea aims to utilize zero-knowledge cryptography to enhance Bitcoin's decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT ecosystems . More here ->
EigenLayer, a Seattle-based crypto startup, raised $100m from Andreessen Horowitz, per Bloomberg. More here ->
Insuretech
Juniper, a UK-based startup, has raised £1.5 million in pre-seed funding and emerged from stealth mode with ambitious plans to introduce reproductive health insurance as a workplace benefit. More here ->
Fixle, a technology startup specialising in simplifying home maintenance and management, has officially launched after incubation within American Family Insurance, the company has announced. More here ->
Armilla AI has successfully concluded a US$4.5 million seed funding round. The funding initiative, led by Mistral Venture Partners, garnered significant support from key players such as MS&AD Ventures, SixThirty Ventures, Morgan Creek Digital, and Y Combinator. More here ->
Proptech
Eli Technologies, a Philadelphia-based startup helping with home electrification financing, raised $6.8m in seed funding. More here ->
PermitFlow, a San Jose, Calif.-based construction permitting automation startup, raised $31m in Series A funding. More here ->
Buildstock, www.buildstock.com. More here ->
From the Stash
16 Top Austin Fintech Companies and Startups You Should Know - Austin might not be the first city you think of when you’re talking about finance. - But the truth is, Austin is emerging as a center for fintech innovation. Entrepreneurs are collaborating with the financial sector steeped in centuries-old traditions, and creating a new way to approach this age old industry. Here are some of the most prominent leaders in Austin fintech, along with a few startups worth keeping an eye on - More here ->
Rippling is continuing its ambitious international expansion - After recent launches in the U.K. and Ireland, workforce management platform Rippling is opening its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Sydney, Australia. The company also poached Eisar Lipkovitz from JPMorgan to serve as its new chief product officer. More here ->
Apple’s recent move to boost the interest rate for its Apple Card savings account to 4.5% is now prompting a competitor to do the same - Cash App announced it will now offer “up to” a 4.5% APY (annual percentage yield) for its Cash App Savings customers, with a few caveats. More here ->
✍️ HSBC wrote down $3 billion last quarter on its stake in BoCom, one of China's largest lenders. More here ->
Kin Reports Strong Financial Performance in FY23 Results - Kin, the direct-to-consumer home insurance company, has unveiled robust financial results for the full year 2023, showcasing significant growth across key metrics. More here ->
Why VCs are betting robots will build your next home - Investors have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to back startups working on construction robotics in recent years. The pitch from startups — that they can save time, money and risk by automating repetitive tasks — seems an easy sell given widespread construction labor shortages and rising building costs. More here ->
More from the stash:
Cory Weinberg
Staff Writer
PYMNTS
Maria Heeter
PYMNTS
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