Fintech Highlights - 6/22/2021

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Pinned to the Top

Stripe has announced the launch of Stripe Identity, a tool that lets online businesses securely verify user identities.

“Online businesses frequently need to verify the identities of their users to comply with age requirements or ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) laws — and to increase trust and safety by reducing fraud, preventing account takeovers and stopping bad actors" the company said in its announcement.

Stripe has completely changed the game for developers looking to run payments, and slowly has iterated to build more products that enable them to save money, time or offer killer features for their users.

It'll be interesting to see what the development community will build on top of this feature.

The BFD

Blend Labs, a San Francisco-based digital consumer banking platform, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (BLND) and reports a $75 million net loss on $96 million in revenue.

Blend’s software is used by mortgage lenders like Wells Fargo and US Bancorp to make and close loans digitally. In 2020, $1.4 trillion in mortgages were processed using Blend’s software, roughly a third of the overall market. The company’s revenues rose 90% to $96 million in 2020, according to its prospectus.

There is an aggressive movement to get full-end-to-end product acquisition available by FI's. Providers like Blend have enabled that to happen. Expect to see more of these fintech players headed to successful exits or public offerings to power the next stage of growth for themselves and their partners.

Fintechs

Freight payment platform PayCargo raised $125 million. The Coral Gables, Florida-based company offers a cloud-based network to quickly and securely pay all of the entities across the logistics chain. More here ->

10x Future Technologies, a London-based provider of fintech services to established banks, raised $187 million. 10x will be using the funds both to expand into new geographies like North America, as well as to continue building more technology for its flagship platform. SuperCore, as that platform is called, is an all-in-one system built from scratch to run a wide range of banking services such as payments, core banking, mortgages, analytics, security and marketing, which 10x’s bank customers can integrate into their existing tech by way of APIs, or 10x can use to build those clients new services from the ground up. More here ->

Novo, a Miami-based small business banking platform, raised $40.7 million. One of their key differentiators is the approach - from the point of view of running a small business. Typically SMBs are already using a lot of other finance software — on average seven apps per business — to manage their books, payments and other matters, and so Novo has made it easier by way of a “drag and drop” dashboard where an SMB can integrate and view activity across all of those apps in one place. More here ->

Mollie, an Amsterdam-based startup that provides a way for businesses to integrate payments into sites, documents and other services by way of an API, is today announcing that it has raised $800 million) in an all-equity round that values the company at $6.5 billion. More here ->

Zeller, a Melbourne-based fintech founded by former Square executives to serve small- to mid-sized businesses, has raised $50 million AUD $37.5 million USD. The company says more than 1,500 Australian businesses signed up in the month after its launch, and weekly payment volume has been growing 200%. About 80% of businesses who started using Zeller switched from Australia’s four biggest banks, citing their desire for lower fees and better customer support. More here ->

Kairos, a startup studio, is launching a new brand today called Bilt Rewards. Bilt is a rewards program that lets renters earn each time they make a rent payment. More here ->

FamPay, an Indian neobank for teens, raised $38 million. The thesis behind the startup is to "provide financial literacy to teenagers, who additionally have limited options to open a bank account in India at a young age." Through gamification, the startup said it’s making lessons about money fun for youngsters. More here ->

Majority, a Houston-based provider of mobile banking services for migrants, raised $19 million in seed funding.  The two-year-old startup operates an eponymous mobile banking service. MAJORITY, whose name is a play on bringing financial inclusion to more people, runs a subscription service where it charges $5 a month to individuals and provides them with a range of financial services including an FDIC-insured bank account with early direct deposit at no overdraft fee, a debit card, mobile credit, and at-cost international phone calls. More here ->

Mollie, an Amsterdam-based payments integration startup, raised $800 million in a mega financing round valuing the company at $6.5 billion. Unlike its American rivals, Mollie says it mainly focuses on transactions with small businesses in Europe. More here ->

Crediverso, a Los Angeles-based credit platform for the Hispanic community, closed a $3.1 million seed round to help launch its platform later this summer. They hope to connect the growing Hispanic community with the financial offerings it needs. More here ->

8fig, an Israel and Austin-based platform aiding online sellers with payments, analytics and forecasting, raised $6.5m recently. The Israeli company looks to disrupt the way online sellers scale their businesses. By implementing AI algorithms to merge payments and provide analytics and forecasting technologies, online sellers using the 8fig platform have access to tailored tools to help plan, manage, finance, and execute their supply chains. More here ->

Insuretechs

Honey Insurance, an Australian home insurance startup, raised $15.5 million in seed funding. It is underwritten by RACQ, one of Australia’s largest insurance providers, and offers home, contents and landlord coverage. Customers get $250 AUD worth of smart sensors to monitor for the top three risks to homes: flooding, fire and theft. For example, the sensors look for things like leaky water pipes, smoke and open garage doors. More here ->

Ryan Specialty Group, a Chicago-based wholesale specialty insurance brokerage backed by Onex Corp., filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (RYAN). The company revealed it grew organic revenue by more than 20% in 2020 to just over $1bn. More here ->

Handii, an Australian property claims management platform, raised US$3 million in seed funding. Handdii’s software works between insurance companies and vetted contractors, partnering with insurance companies like Hippo Insurance and Allianz. The company typically handles small claims — usually around the $20,000 mark. More here ->

From the Stash

Fintech veteran Jitendra Gupta is ready for his new inning — now he is going after banks in India — techcrunch.com For most people in India, having to engage with banks doesn’t instill a sense of joy. Banks in the South Asian market are notorious for making unannounced spam calls to upsell customers loans and credit cards, even when they have been explicitly asked not to do so. Moreover, when a customer does reach out to […]

Maybe neobanks will break even after all — techcrunch.com Revolut revenue grew by 57% in 2020

Stripe goes beyond payments with Stripe Identity to provide AI-based ID verification for transactions and much more — techcrunch.com A number of startups (e.g. here, here, here and here) have fashioned themselves as the “Stripe for identity verification”, providing an easy way for developers to integrate ID authentication into a platform. Today, Stripe is stepping in to fill that need itself: The company is launching a new product called Stripe Identity — a self-serve […]

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