Fintech Highlights - 9/20/2022
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Here’s an investtech startup that caught my eye this month….
VALT is an asset management app that is part of Vincent, a search engine and database that allows you to discover and analyze $6B of alternative investments across 150 investment platforms.
VALT came as a response to feedback the makers received about Vincent – “I’m kind of busy with my day job and I’d like to just send you some capital and have you invest it in the best deals for me.”
The platform lets you invest in alternative assets to diversify your portfolio. It gives you access to assets typically reserved for institutions and the ultra-wealthy, like rare art, collector’s items, pre-IPO ventures, and NFTs. VALT has an in-house portfolio team that sources these and provides in-depth analysis. Investors can access private calls with the team, investment memos, weekly performance updates, and news alerts.
It’s not the first rodeo for some of the makers behind VALT. Slava Rubin and Eric Schell co-founded the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, which has helped companies raise over $1.5B in funding.
More here ->
The BFD
Bolt, the one-stop checkout company valued by VCs at $11 billion, scrapped its $1.5 billion purchase of Wyre, a blockchain-based payments company.
Why it's the BFD: This would have been the largest-ever crypto merger not involving a SPAC. Now it's just part of 2022's growing scrapheap of broken deals, and another false start for the crypto-as-payment movement.
Backstory: The official line is a mutual termination, but a source close to the deal says the final call was made by Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla, who was hired shortly before the original deal was announced, and that Bolt wasn't required to pay a termination fee.
Cap table: Bolt backers include Activant Capital, BlackRock, General Atlantic, WestCap Group and Tribe Capital. Wyre has raised around $55 million from firms like Samsung NEXT Ventures, Great Oaks VC, Ether Capital and the Stellar Development Foundation.
The bottom line: "Private equity and venture capital funding to the space clocked in at $2.7 billion in the second quarter, roughly half of the amount raised in the quarter prior based on S&P data. Another major deal, Galaxy Digital's $1.2 billion acquisition of Bitgo, was terminated in August." — Brady Dale & Lucinda Shen, Axios
Fintechs
Seattle startup ModusBox spins out PortX into new financial services company and raises $10M — www.geekwire.com
Seattle-based ModusBox is taking half of its financial services technology business and spinning it out into a separate startup called PortX, focused on financial services integration software that unlocks access to banking core data, eliminates vendor dependencies, and enables embedded banking-as-a-service solutions.
Fintech startup Power flexes its credit card muscle following $316M equity, debt injection — techcrunch.com Power’s infrastructure is designed for brands and banks to embed fintech products into existing mobile and web applications.
Allocations just got valued at $150M to help PE funds lure smaller investors — techcrunch.com Allocations provides APIs to help private fund managers streamline processes, and has crossed $1 billion in assets under administration on its platform.
Majority, a mobile bank for migrants, closes third venture round in just over a year — techcrunch.com
The company raised $30m in Series B finding. Majority has raised tens of millions in both equity and debt financing for its mobile bank for migrants.
Denim, a Des Moines, Iowa-based fintech platform for freight brokers, raised $26m in Series B funding — techcrunch.com
Denim has raised $126 million in a mix of equity and debt at a "nine-figure" valuation.
Ratio bags $411M in equity, credit for flexible subscription payment models — techcrunch.com
The company raised $11m and secured a $400m credit facility. Ratio makes the discounts unnecessary by giving SaaS companies capital upfront so they can offer customers more flexible payment options.
Payall lands $10M in a16z-led seed round to help banks facilitate more cross-border payments — techcrunch.com
Miami based Payall differentiates itself from other startups in the cross-border payments space in that rather than competing with banks, it works with them by white labeling its software.
Composer raises $6m for automated investing platform — member.fintech.global Composer Technologies, a US-focused automated investing platform, has closed a $6m investment led by Left Lane Capital.
SavvyFi, a Nashville-based college savings and student loan repayment startup, raised $4.9m in Series A funding — www.finsmes.com
The company makes college savings and student loan repayment plans accessible and a benefit for employees.
Ratio bags $411M in equity, credit for flexible subscription payment models • TechCrunch — techcrunch.com Ratio makes the discounts unnecessary by giving SaaS companies capital upfront so they can offer customers more flexible payment options.
Nigerian financial management app for merchants Kippa bags $8.4M in new funding — techcrunch.com Kippa said the investment will allow it to develop financial products that help SMEs grow their businesses and grow its team in Nigeria.
Claimer, a London-based startup for claiming financial incentives from the government, raised $4.2m in seed funding — www.claimer.com
"Hassle-free and expertly produced R&D claims for just 5% or less of what you get back. Loved by more than 350 startups with a 100% success rate."
Southeast Asian fintech Fazz raises $100M Series C to serve businesses of all sizes — techcrunch.com Fazz, the Southeast Asian digital financial services group created by the merger of Payfazz and Xfers, announced today that it has raised a total of $100 million in Series C funding.
Meghan and Harry-backed fintech Ethic raises $50 million — www.axios.com
The socially responsible investing startup backed by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, raised $50m in Series C funding
German Software Firm Candis Raises $16M to Expand AP Automation German AP automation software provider Candis has reportedly raised $16 million in funding and said it will use the new investment to continue to expand.
Splitit Drives Installments-as-a-Service Growth With A$10.5M Funding Installments-as-a-service platform Splitit raised A$10.5 million in private placement capital funding with participation from current investors and new backers.
Crypto
Ex-Citadel Securities Employees Unveil Crypto High-Speed Trading Firm — www.bloomberg.com A pair of former Citadel Securities employees are making public a market-making firm for cryptocurrencies they founded with the backing of $50 million from venture capitalists.
Teenage Founder Raises $30 Million for Crypto Startup Community Labs — www.bloomberg.com Community Labs’ 19-year-old leader is building software and developer tools on the Arweave platform.
Thai banking giants back DeFi startup Forward in $5 million seed round — www.theblock.co Some of Thailand's biggest banks — Kasikornbank and the Bank of Ayudhya — have backed DeFi platform Forward in a $5 million funding round.
Nigerian blockchain payments startup Bitmama closes $2M pre-seed as it scales to new markets — techcrunch.com Bitmama will use the pre-seed to expand its operational presence, strengthen its team, consolidate its offerings and plot market penetration across Africa.
Indonesian crypto platform Reku is built for both new and experienced traders — techcrunch.com Reku makes it platform accessible to first-time traders with educational features. It's compliant with Indonesia’s commodities future trading agency and stresses user safety.
Insuretechs
Patra, an El Dorado Hills, Calif.-based insurance processing platform, raised $146m — www.axios.com The growth equity will be used for M&A and international expansion
Federato raises $15M to help insurance customers manage risk • TechCrunch — techcrunch.com Federato, a startup providing tools for insurers to manage and evaluate risk, has raised $15 million in a venture capital round.
Fintech startup Power flexes its credit card muscle following $316M equity, debt injection — techcrunch.com Power’s infrastructure is designed for brands and banks to embed fintech products into existing mobile and web applications.
Kenya's insurtech Turaco maintains 1 billion user target as it raises $10M funding — techcrunch.com Through API integration Turaco’s partners like solar PAYGO companies (MKOPA), ride-hailing platforms (SafeBoda), fintechs and micro-finance institutions are able to bundle insurance with their core products or services.
Proptechs
Redfin CEO, DoorDash co-founder invest in new startup building portal for Mexico real estate – GeekWire — www.geekwire.com Seattle startup Far Homes aims to simplify transacting real estate in foreign markets. The company says it looks to take advantage of remote workers interested in living in tropical locations.… Read More
Codi, an SF-based flexible office lease startup, raised $16m in Series A — commercialobserver.com
Andreessen Horowitz is leading the round.
From the Stash
Modern Treasury, Goldman Sachs partner on embedded payments — bankautomationnews.com Payment operations platform Modern Treasury is partnering with Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking to provide mutual corporate customers with an integrated money movement solution. The collaboration has been in the works since the fourth quarter of 2021 and took 9-10 months to complete. Clients can streamline embedded domestic and international payments using the San Francisco-based platform’s
FIS has launched Worldpay for Platforms, an embedded finance solution aimed at SMBs — www.fisglobal.com
Businesses that use the offering “eliminate the need for SMBs to pay separate partners to help with card issuance, cash advances or faster access to cash flow.”
Most fintechs partner with banks; Varo became one, and says it's paying off — techcrunch.com Last month, Varo Bank celebrated the two-year anniversary of obtaining its national bank charter. Here's what happened since.
Adyen selected as first financial technology platform to launch Cash App Pay — www.prnewswire.com
Adyen the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses, has partnered with Cash App a mobile payment method, to Adyen's U.S. customers.
US Bank eyes growth with multilingual AI offerings — bankautomationnews.com
U.S. Bank is exploring additional language options for its voice-enabled Smart Assistant over the next three to five years. “Something we’re just getting into is multilingual,” Sierra Fontana, user experience designer of the Smart Assistant at U.S. Bank, said during the panel discussion “AI in Action: How Smart Players are Harnessing
YC batch shows founders remain optimistic about fintech — techcrunch.com Taking another look at the recent cohort of startups that went through the American accelerator Y Combinator, you wouldn’t really be able to tell that fintech had lost much of its founder favor.
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