Fintech Highlights - 7/12/2022
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Pinned to the Top
Canadian fintech Wealthsimple has laid off 159 members of staff due to “changes to market conditions.”
Hot on the heels of Klarna, Curve and Freetrade, it’s the latest in a long line of fintechs forced to lay off staff in recent weeks. CEO and co-founder Michael Katchen shared the devastating news in a company-wide letter following an all-hands call. “If you’ve been with us over the past two years, you know it’s been a time of immense volatility” he wrote.
…It’s a bit worrying, tbh. Wealthsimple exited the UK four years ago to hone in on its primary market - Canada - and is now on the backfoot. Could this herald a mass exodus of fintechs stepping back from international markets?
The fintech is shifting emphasis to focus on investing, banking and products that will “power financial innovation” - crypto chief among them. Again, there are similarities across the board. Just ask Brex, which has recently dropped thousands of SMB customers in favour of bigger clients.
Caution is the name of the game it seems.
The BFD
Elon Musk isn't alone in trying to back out of a deal:
The percentage of pending home sales that fell through in June shot up to a new post-pandemic high of 14.9%, - an analysis of MLS data that Redfin released yesterday.
Why it matters: This is a sign of how fast the housing market adjusted to the surge in mortgage rates that started in March. It signals the beginning of a return to sanity from the boom, where the balance of power is shifting back to home buyers. Prices are likely to cool somewhat.
What's happening: Sharp rate increases didn't just pump the brakes on the housing market — they drove it into a wall, said Taylor Marr, an economist at Redfin.
- But he expects the number of cancellations to come down as sellers adjust pricing to the new reality.
Zoom in: Cancellations in formerly hot metro areas in the Southwest are soaring. In Las Vegas they were 27%. Several Florida cities are seeing cancellations near 25%, including Lakeland, Jacksonville and Orlando.
Fintechs
Ledger Investing, a New York-based online marketplace that connects capital with insurance risk, raised $75m in Series B funding. Ledger Investing has "successfully introduced insurance securitization into the U.S. casualty market by providing sophisticated data analytics and repeatable transaction structures to the entire ecosystem, creating efficiencies for insurers and uncorrelated returns for institutional investors." More here ->
Finalis, a New York-based broker-dealer platform for dealmakers, raised $10.7m in seed funding. Finalis provides companies a broker-dealer providing regulatory affiliation solution, tech-enabled compliance support, research & analytics support, and more. More here ->
Finli, a San Marino, Calif.-based mobile payments startup, raised $6m in seed funding. Finli’s platform was developed so owners could send invoices, look up customer information and check on payment status in between gigs. Users are able to set up an account and send their first invoice via email, SMS text or other messaging app within minutes. More here ->
Wahed, a New York-headquartered Islamic investment platform, raised $50m in Series B funding. The company aims to reduce financial exclusion by encouraging ethically focused investing. The company is licensed in 9 jurisdictions through its subsidiaries around the globe, with 11 offices serving over 300,000 customers. More here ->
PayGlocal, a New Delhi-based cross-border payments startup, raised $12m. PayGlocal enables merchants to accept cross-border payments in the currency of their choice, using their cards or non-card payment options. More here ->
FinBox, an Indian credit and borrowing startup, raised $15m in Series A funding. FinBox’s B2B credit infrastructure enables both fintech and non-fintech platforms to launch digital financial products such as personal loans, working capital loans, invoice financing, and buy now, pay later services. More here ->
Thepeer, a pan-African platform for connecting digital business wallets, raised $2.1m in seed funding. Thepeer says its APIs provide an alternative network where fintechs and businesses can embed different sets of products into their applications and websites for easy money movement by their customers. More here ->
El Salvador–based fintech n1co (read: nee-koh) has raised $12 million at a post–money valuation of $64.8 million, in what it describes as a historic pre-seed round for the region. The fintech company was started by the same founders as Hugo — a super app that recently sold to Delivery Hero for $150 million — Alejandro Argumedo, Ricardo Cuellar and Juan Maceda.
Tesorio, a fintech that develops tools to automate the process of collecting payments from business-to-business suppliers, has raised $17 million in a venture financing round. Tesorio sells automation solutions designed to help customers manage their accounts receivables. More here ->
GoHenry, a British pre-paid debit card startup focused on kids and teens, bought Pixpay, a French banking app for teens. GoHenry backers include Edison Partners, Gaia Capital Partners, Citi Ventures and Muse Capital, while Pixpay raised funding from such firms as Bpifrance and GFC. More here ->
YAP, a UAE-based neobank, raised $41m. YAP launched in 2021 and is partnered with Emirati lender RAK Bank to be the UAE's first independent digital banking platform. More here ->
BKN301, a San Marino-based digital payments and banking-as-a-service startup, raised €15m in Series A funding. Launched last year, BKN301, through its BaaS and digital e-money platform model, enables third parties to offer financial, payment, and token issuance services. The company is focusing on the fast-growing markets of Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. More here ->
Xelix, a London-based accounts payable solution, raised $5m. The company has developed AI-powered software that sits alongside existing finance systems, acting as an intelligence layer to automate processes, spot payment risks and deliver meaningful insights. More here ->
Griffin, a London-based banking-as-a-service startup, raised £12.5m. More here ->
Supy, a UAE-based restaurant payments startup, raised $8m in seed funding. Supy provides software for the hospitality sector that helps businesses optimize their ordering and supply-chain processes. The software incorporates tools for invoice, cashflow and procurement management, as well as point-of-sale and enterprise resource planning integrations. More here ->
UnDosTres, a Mexico City-based digital payments company, raised $30m in Series B funding. More here ->
Lucinity, an Iceland-based banking compliance startup, raised a $17m Series B round. The startup aims to solve productivity and efficiency issues for financial institutions through the company’s ‘Human AI’ approach, a toolset that combines next-generation AI with human insights and expertise. More here ->
Crypto
Thalex, a crypto derivatives exchange, raised €7.5m in Series A funding. The company enables customers to trade Options, Perpetuals and Futures with low fees, is USDT settled and offers Portfolio Margin. More here ->
Insuretechs
Ranger, a provider of tools for insurance brokers, raised $5.25m in seed funding. Ranger is focused on giving agents (who are boots on the ground in the communities they serve) tools to respond more quickly to customers, generate better leads, maximize cross-sell to other products and personalize client services. More here ->
YuLife, a London-based life insurance startup focused on wellness, raised $120m in Series C funding at an $800m valuation. YuLife covers group life insurance, critical illness protection and income protection, but it is now rapidly expanding to new categories like dental and health, as well as financial services (pensions being one example of a category that has a strong affinity with life insurance), as well as to new markets like the U.S. More here ->
Coalition, an SF-based cyber risk insurer, raised $250m in Series F funding at a $5b valuation. As provider of what it calls “Active Insurance,” Coalition not only offers insurance coverage against cyberthreats, but also offers a real-time risk assessment tool that can provide profiles of an organization’s digital risks in real time, and incident response support in the event of a breach. More here ->
In just one year since its launch, Paris-based insurtech startup Orus has raised €5M. The company is aiming to reinvent professional insurance for small businesses, providing a tailored service to underserved players. More here ->
Insurtech startup upcover has raised $2.7M in a Seed funding alongside $2M in debt as it looks to transform the small business insurance sector. More here ->
Proptech
CrowdStreet, a real estate investing platform, raised $23M of venture funding from undisclosed investors. Named Best Overall Real Estate Crowdfunding Site by Investopedia for 2021 and 2022, CrowdStreet is the nation’s largest online private equity real estate investing platform. More here ->
HomeLister, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based online home selling platform, raised $10m in Series A funding. More here ->
Adaptive, a construction software and fintech play, has raisd $6.5m in seed round funding, lead by a16z. Adaptive has set out to give construction teams better tools to manage their back offices. More here ->
Myne, a Berlin-based startup for shared investments in holiday homes, raised €23.5m. More here ->
From the Stash
Forever21’s parent company sues Bolt but settles for becoming a shareholder — techcrunch.com In late April, Bloomberg reported that Bolt was being sued by “its most prominent customer,” ABG. Since settling, Authentic Brands Group is now a shareholder.
Binance.US hires former Acorns, PayPal exec Jasmine Lee as CFO — techcrunch.com Lee's background will help Binance.US prepare for an IPO in the next two to three years, CEO Brian Shroder said
Analysis: Tech Layoffs Are Accelerating — news.crunchbase.com June was the most active month for tech layoffs so far this year, with at least 75 reports of U.S.-based tech companies initiating layoffs.
Brazilian proptech startup Loft, which was valued at $2.9B last year, lays off 380 employees — techcrunch.com Loft, a Brazilian proptech unicorn, has let go of 380 employees in its second round of layoffs this year.
Crypto lender Nexo offers to buy embattled rival Vauld as market consolidates Vauld on Monday paused operations and said it was exploring restructuring options due to "financial challenges."
Porsche Insurance launches in Canada — www.insurtechinsights.com Porsche Financial Services Canada is proud to introduce Porsche Insurance, the customized insurance program developed for vehicles offered...
Why digitization should center insurance customers — www.insurtechinsights.com In the insurance industry, carriers are still learning to transform their business for a digital experience that benefits the customer...
Next-generation of insurtech: tips to accelerate growth — www.insurtechinsights.com Insurtech players have different ways to accelerate growth, depending on the type of insurtech they have decided to invest...
What is driving customers towards Insurtech platforms? — www.insurtechinsights.com The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of the insurance industry. Driven by industry trends, customer expectations...
Reports / Webinars
Sarah Davies from Nova Credit on using data to improve access to financial services — www.youtube.com On this special episode of Spotlight, recorded live at Fintech Nexus 2022, David M. Brear sits down with Sarah Davies, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Nova...
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