Fintech Highlights - 9/2/2027

Here's what we've been reading and watching this week 👇

Pinned to the Top

The founder of bankrupt banking-as-a-service startup Synapse made headlines last week when he took to social media to share details on what he’s building at his latest venture — a robotics startup called Foundation.

Many people were surprised that Sankaet Pathak was so quick to move on considering that tens of millions of dollars in customer deposits (that’s Synapse’s customers, btw) remain unaccounted for.

Unabashedly unapologetic, Pathak continues to blame partner bank Evolve for the missing cash, while Evolve finger points right back at Synapse.

Meanwhile, it confirmed to TechCrunch that he has raised $11 million in pre-seed money for his new startup.

The BFD

Last week, the fintech world was abuzz with the crazy deal that Bolt had proposed to its shareholders.

It was enough to make anyone’s head spin.

TechCrunch spoke with a VC lawyer and two of the potential investors and provided a bunch of context in this piece.

The TLDR is that Bolt is trying to push investors to vote in support of a $200 million Series F raise and a $250 “marketing credits” deal. As part of that, founder Ryan Breslow would come back as CEO — and get a $2 million bonus, plus an additional $1 million of back pay, for doing so!

We’re all on the edge of our seats to see what happens next.

M&A

CVC Capital Partners is in talks to buy a significant minority stake" in Swedish residential property manager Odevo, which could be valued north of $3b, per Bloomberg. More here ->

Piper Sandler (NYSE: PIPR) completed its purchase of smaller investment bank Aviditi Advisors.  More here ->

Cinven offered to buy the Minsait Payments from Indra(Madrid: IDR) for between €500m and €600m, per Expansion. axios.link/4dLDRPQ More here ->

Banyan Software, an Atlanta portfolio company of Norwest Venture Partners, acquired Automated Systems, a Lincoln, Neb, provider of community bank tech solutions. More here ->

Cinven is in exclusive talks to buy French insurance broker Finaxy from Ardian. More here ->

Fintech

Bridge, a San Antonio, Texas-based money movement startup, raised $58m from Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, and Haun Ventures. Bridge was founded in April 2022 with the goal of creating a low-level set of APIs that would enable companies to use stablecoin rails without having to worry about the underlying complexities. The startup aims to become the "Stripe of crypto," providing a seamless integration layer for businesses looking to incorporate stablecoin payments. More here ->

Comun, a New York-based digital bank focused on U.S. immigrants, raised $21.5m in Series A funding, per TechCrunch. Founded in late 2021 by Andres Santos and Abiel Gutierrez, the company has quickly gained traction in addressing the unique banking needs of immigrantpopulation.  More here ->

Linker Finance, a Pasadena, Calif., platform for community banks, raised $3.7m in seed funding. Linker Finance offers a holistic mobile and online digital banking platform that allows community banks to deliver seamless customer experiences. More here ->

Waza, a Y Combinator-backed payment and liquidity platform, has emerged from stealth with $8 million in seed money. The startup claims to make it easier for African businesses and traders to manage and pay their suppliers globally. More here ->

Skyfire, which has created a payment network specifically for AI agents to make autonomous transactions, officially launched its payment network and announced $8.5 million in seed funding. More here ->

Brazil fintech Magie raised $4 million in a seed round led by Lux Capital, marking the firm’s first investment in Brazil. The company, which has raised $5.1 million in total, is creating an AI-powered financial assistant. The current product allows people to send money and pay bills through WhatsApp.  More here ->

Kenyan HR and payroll startup Workpay raised $5 million in Series A funding led by Pan-African venture capital firm Norrsken22 with new participation from Visa. More here ->

Ziina, a Dubai-based provider of payment solutions to small businesses, raised $22m in Series A funding. Altos Ventures led, and was joined by Activant Capital, Avenir Growth, Fintech Collective, FJ Labs, Jabbar Internet Group, Middle East Venture Partners, and YC. More here ->

Crypto

Solayer Labs, developer of a Solana restaking protocol, raised $12m in seed funding. Polychain Capital led, and was joined by Big Brain Holdings, Hack VC, Nomad Capital, Race Capital, ABCDE, and Maelstrom. More here ->

Insuretech

Padosi, an Indian insurtech startup, has announced that it has successfully raised $500,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by the global early-stage VC Antler. More here ->

KOHO, the Canadian fintech, has expanded its financial product suite by offering a new tenant insurance policy to its members in partnership with Walnut Insurance. More here ->

Proptech

HomeLight, a Scottsdale, Ariz., provider of buy-before-you-sell real estate products, raised $20m in Series D extension funding. Zeev Ventures led, and was joined by Stereo Capital and Menlo Ventures.  More here ->

From the Stash

Fintech Funding: North American firms take most of H1 investment - Fintech funding hit a four-year low globally in the first half of 2024, but nearly three-quarters of the money raised went to North America, followed by Europe.  North America firms raised 69% of the $51.9 billion in H1 global funding, followed by the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, which got 21% More here ->

Chase Customer Insights tool expanding for businesses - JPMorgan Chase will expand the accessibility of its data-driven business intelligence platform, Chase Customer Insights, to meet the demands of business clients.  “Customer Insights is currently available to Chase Payment Solutions clients and will become available to all Chase for Business clients later this year.” More here ->

PayPal is poised to take advantage of the iPhone’s newly opened-up NFC (near-field communications) capabilities by developing a mobile wallet of its own for EU users - Earlier this month, Apple announced it would allow third-party developers to access new NFC and Secure Element APIs, which today power contactless transactions and payments — like those enabled by Apple Wallet. Though PayPal has not yet explicitly confirmed it will now develop a competing wallet thanks to these new APIs, the company has broadly hinted in recent weeks that such a plan is in the works. More here ->

Stripe, now gushing money, plans new employee tender  - A source familiar with this deal confirmed to TechCrunch that Stripe is indeed self-funding the entirety of a tender offer that will allow current employees to sell up to $50,000 of eligible shares. That same source confirmed that Stripe had $615 million in free cash flow in the quarter that ended in June. More here ->

BMO bot enables 3M customer interactions - Bank of Montreal is deploying AI to improve customer experience and grow digital sales of its products to gain market share.  In its third fiscal quarter of 2024, which ended June 30, BMO reported that nearly 3 million AI-enabled customer interactions were performed by its AI-driven chatbot, BMO Assist. More here ->

FedNow nears onboarding of 1,000 financial institutions - Instant payments rail FedNow is nearing the addition of its 1,000th financial institution, and the Federal Reserve credits the growing adoption to its network of fintechs that enable the integration.   The Fed launched FedNow in July 2023 with 35 financial institutions. More here ->

Canadian earnings roundup: Banks invest in digital banking, AI - Canadian banks are continuing to invest in AI for improved client experiences and efficiencies.  There is “continuous demand for digital innovation,” Karin Kirkwood, president of fintech Broadridge Canada told Bank Automation News. “Our banking clients are talking about the type of infrastructure and technology that’s required to deliver on the promise of a good client experience. More here ->

Root Insurance Announces Partnership with Goosehead Insurance Root Insurance has announced it is partnering with Goosehead Insurance, a rapidly growing personal lines agency, aiming to redefine the agent experience. More here ->

Qover Taps Numeral and HSBC Innovation Banking Partnership to Enhance Embedded Payments - Qover has teamed up with Numeral and HSBC Innovation Banking UK to enhance its claim payout experience through advanced embedded payment solutions. Read more, 1 min read More here ->

Prize-linked neobank PrizePool shutters app ahead of acquisition - PrizePool has told customers they have until Sept. 19 to move their funds to an outside bank account, the report said, citing an email sent to users. PYMNTS has contacted PrizePool for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.  More here ->

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