All posts tagged: Fintech

Infighting among fintech players has caused TabaPay to ‘pull out’ from buying bankrupt Synapse

Infighting among fintech players has caused TabaPay to ‘pull out’ from buying bankrupt Synapse

Published by skeptic

TabaPay has abandoned its plans to purchase the assets of troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse, TabaPay confirmed to TechCrunch today. Synapse says the problem is banking partner Evolve Bank & Trust. And Evolve says it is not involved, and not to blame. Meanwhile, another player in the saga, Mercury, says Synapse’s allegations have “no merit.” Synapse’s counsel declared in bankruptcy court on Thursday that the deal would not be moving forward, Fintech Business Weekly’s Jason Mikula shared on LinkedIn. A spokesperson for TabaPay confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday afternoon that the company had “pulled out,” adding that TabaPay had sent “termination notice of the purchase agreement this morning based on failure to meet the purchase agreement closing conditions.” Synapse CEO and co-founder Sankaet Pathak, however, believes that TabaPay can still be convinced to stay in the deal. He told TechCrunch that his “understanding is that TabaPay is still interested in doing the acquisition, but Evolve has failed to meet their closing condition for TabaPay to be able to close.”  That closing condition is that Evolve Bank …

Solo GP fund Andrena Ventures hopes to carry startup talent onto its next challenges

Solo GP fund Andrena Ventures hopes to carry startup talent onto its next challenges

Published by skeptic

In the world of startups, it’s not uncommon to see talent from successful companies go on to found their own ventures. This is particularly evident in fintech in Europe, where alumni from unicorns like Monzo, N26, Revolut and others have started a flurry of new companies. Andrena Ventures, a solo GP fund based in the U.K, wants to support this startup factory snowball effect by investing in such second-generation startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. To do so, it has raised $12 million from backers including several VCs and entrepreneurs. The firm’s general partner, Gideon Valkin, told TechCrunch that while he will fund talent with roots in European and British fintech, Andrena itself is sector agnostic. He expects most of his portfolio companies to focus on other categories like AI, climate tech and B2B enterprise solutions. Andrena has already made its first investment: Nustom, an AI startup founded by Monzo’s co-founder, Jonas Templestein, whom Valkin reported to when he worked at Monzo. Nustom hasn’t publicly launched yet (which explains its succinct website), but it …

Stripe’s big changes, Brazil’s newest fintech unicorn and the tale of a startup shutdown

Stripe’s big changes, Brazil’s newest fintech unicorn and the tale of a startup shutdown

Published by skeptic

Fundid’s founder shares how rising interest rates, VCs and partners killed the business finance startup Mary Ann Azevedo 10 hours Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at Stripe’s big product announcements, a bump in valuation for a Brazilian fintech startup and much more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 7:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here.  The big story Stripe announced that it will be de-coupling payments from the rest of its financial services stack. This is a big change, considering that in the past, even as Stripe grew its list of services, it required businesses to be payments customers in order to use any of the rest. Alongside this, the company is adding in a number of new embedded finance features and a new wave of AI tools. The fintech giant also announced that after a six-year hiatus, it will let customers accept cryptocurrency payments, starting with just one currency in particular, USDC stablecoins, initially only on Solana, Ethereum and Polygon. Analysis of …

SoftBank-backed TabaPay is buying the assets of a16z-backed Synapse, after it filed for bankruptcy

SoftBank-backed TabaPay is buying the assets of a16z-backed Synapse, after it filed for bankruptcy

Published by skeptic

After a tumultuous year, banking-as-a-service (BaaS) startup Synapse has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its assets will be acquired by TabaPay, according to the two companies. The deal is pending bankruptcy court approval. Founded in 2017, Mountain View-based TabaPay is an instant money movement platform that Softbank backed in a 2022 round of an undisclosed sum.  It is not clear how much venture capital it has raised. San Francisco-based Synapse, which operated a platform enabling banks and fintech companies to develop financial services, was founded in 2014 by Bryan Keltner and India-born CEO Sankaet Pathak.  In 2019, TechCrunch reported on the company’s $33 million Series B raise led by Andreessen Horowitz after rebranding from SynapseFi. That was the company’s last known fundraise. In total, it brought in just over $50 million in venture capital. Other backers include Trinity Ventures and Core Innovation Capital. In announcing the acquisition, TabaPay pointed out that Synapse made Deloitte’s 2023 Fast, posting 650%+ growth over a five-year period. However, it had two large-scale layoffs in the past year, blaming …

Fintech startup Ramp sees 32% bump in valuation, Mercury expands into consumer banking

Fintech startup Ramp sees 32% bump in valuation, Mercury expands into consumer banking

Published by skeptic

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at Ramp’s big raise and valuation jump, Mercury’s move into personal banking, Klarna’s new credit card, global funding rounds and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 7:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here.  The big story Ramp, a spend management startup rivaling the likes of Brex, Navan and Airbase, told TechCrunch exclusively last week that it had raised $150 million at a post-money $7.65 billion valuation. Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund co-led the round, which represented a 31.9% bump in valuation from its August 2023 raise. It’s an impressive feat in a challenging market full of down rounds. Also, notably, Ramp is one of the few larger fintechs that hasn’t had to lay off staff. What’s driving all the investor interest in Ramp? CEO Eric Glyman believes it’s the company’s continued growth and emphasis on AI. Analysis of the week Business banking startup Mercury is expanding into consumer banking. The seven-year-old company today serves more than 100,000 …

Notable Capital’s Hans Tung on the state of VC and the upside to down rounds

Notable Capital’s Hans Tung on the state of VC and the upside to down rounds

Published by skeptic

To some investors, “down round” is a dirty phrase, but not to Notable Capital’s Hans Tung. Hans is a managing partner at Notable Capital, formerly GGV Capital, a venture firm focusing on investments in the U.S., Latin America, Israel, and Europe. Hans, whose portfolio includes the likes of Airbnb, StockX and Slack, sat down with TechCrunch’s Equity podcast to discuss the overall state of venture and why he still believes down rounds can make a lot of sense. Per Hans, “An IPO is actually just a milestone, not the end game. An IPO is the beginning of public investors being along for the ride. So when you think in longer-term valuations, up or down temporarily doesn’t matter as much as generating a big outcome at the end.” It’s worth noting that by September 2023, nearly 11% of the year’s VC deals were down rounds, according to PitchBook data. Hans also let us know why he’s still bullish on fintech, and what sectors in the fintech space have him especially psyched. Of course, we dug into recent …

Equities platform Midas raises M Series A as fintech retains its sparkle in Turkey

Equities platform Midas raises $45M Series A as fintech retains its sparkle in Turkey

Published by skeptic

Midas, a fintech startup that allows people in Turkey to invest in U.S. and Turkish equities, says it has raised $45 million in a funding round led by Portage of Canada. The startup is aimed at Turkey’s retail investor market and claims to have more than 2 million users. Its pitch is that it charges significantly lower transaction and commission fees for Turkish customers who want to invest in U.S. or Turkish stocks. It also offers financial content, real-time stock market data and news, and company profiles — all to educate what many consider to be somewhat of an emerging market. “If you came to Turkey three years ago, there were only 1.5 million investors. That’s in a country of 80 million,” Egem Eraslan, CEO and founder of Midas, told TechCrunch. “Capital markets’ penetration rates were very, very low. Mobile banking in Turkey is very good and widespread, but there was a lack of investment in equities products because of a lack of infrastructure.” According to Eraslan, Midas managed to change that dynamic by building …

Tesla’s newsy week, and is fintech having a moment?

Tesla’s newsy week, and is fintech having a moment?

Published by skeptic

It’s been more than a minute since Tesla went public, but the EV company was inescapable on TechCrunch this week. From layoffs to pricing changes and more, it was a week dyed deeply in Tesla colors so we had to chat through the latest. But that was just one element of what we got into on Equity this week. We also dug into Mary Ann’s reporting about Ramp’s latest round — and up valuation — that fit neatly next to Rippling’s own impending fundraise. If you are handling money, it’s a good time to be a startup. The team also dug into Cherub, which wants to connect investors and founders, Maven Ventures’ consumer investing push, and touched on what Mercury is up to. All told, we were fortunate to have Kirsten Korosec along with us this week given the sheer volume, and diversity of transportation news to chew through, especially as it relates to Tesla. Equity is back tomorrow with a special interview between Mary Ann and Notable Capital’s Hans Tung, so stay tuned! Until …

Fintech CRED secures in-principle approval for payment aggregator license

Fintech CRED secures in-principle approval for payment aggregator license

Published by skeptic

CRED has received the in-principle approval for payment aggregator license in a boost to the Indian fintech startup that could help it better serve its customers and launch new products and experiment with ideas faster. The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, valued at $6.4 billion, received the in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India for the payment aggregator license this week, according to two sources familiar with the matter. CRED didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The RBI has granted in-principle approval for payment aggregator licenses to several companies, including Reliance Payment and Pine Labs, over the past year. Typically, the central bank takes nine months to a year to issue full approval following the in-principle approval. Payment aggregators are essential in facilitating online transactions by acting as intermediaries between merchants and customers. The RBI’s approval enables fintech firms to expand their offerings and compete more effectively in the market. Without a license, fintech startups must rely on third-party payment processors to handle transactions, and these players may not prioritize such mandates. Obtaining a license …