Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! In this edition, I’ll take a look at a fintech being sold in a fire sale, a group of startups that are rising, and much more!
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The big story
The saga continues. In mid-May, TC’s Manish Singh reported that the founders of ZestMoney had resigned from the startup. The Indian fintech, whose ability to secure small loans to new internet customers, has already attracted the support of many high-profile investors, including Goldman Sachs. In December, ZestMoney was Stop following unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer. Then, last week, the company, once valued at $450 million, was sold to DMI in a “clearance sale.”
Analysis of the week
One of the most fun parts of being a journalist is following the growth of companies over the years. In 2020, I wrote about Briq’s $10 million, Series A and its mission to bring fintech to the construction sector. Last week, I covered its $8 million Series B expansion at a valuation of $150 million, as well as its AI-related growth plans. In 2021, I reported on Argentinian payment infrastructure startup Pomelo’s. $9 million seed drive. Last week I covered her $40 million Series B funding and the fact that its revenues grew 200% in 2023. I love looking at the companies I talked about at the beginning, still in business and growing! This is what investors should feel.
Dollars and cents
Christine Hall was busy last week!
Digital Onboarding Raises $58 Million to Help Banks Profitably Engage Customers: Communications from financial institutions are often paper-based, which often leads to 25-40% of new checking accounts being closed within the first year. This SaaS startup wants to solve this problem.
Kashable Banks $25.6 million to offer employment-based loans: More and more employers are adding financial products to their employee benefits and benefits, and many startups have jumped into this sector to help. Fintech company Kashable is the latest.
Tandem offers an app for “modern couples” to manage their finances together and separately: Meet Tandem – a new fintech startup that addresses couples’ early financial milestones and grows with the relationship – which just raised $3.7 million.
What else do we write
African neobank Kuda attempted to raise $20 million at a stable valuation in 2023, but fell short of the projection of 3 million users.: Earlier this month, Babs Ogundeyi, co-founder and CEO of Kuda, told users that the Nigerian online challenger bank had reached almost 56 trillion naira (~$60 billion) in transaction value Since its launch in 2019. Ogundeyi also said Kuda had achieved a notable milestone, with 7 million retail and business customers to date. However, this figure falls short of the fintech’s projections when it was seeking new investments last year.
Other very interesting titles
Stripe, Flexport, TikTok and other startups were investing in startups. This has largely stopped: “Stripe investments until mid-2021 has signaled plans to expand internationally and grow beyond its core e-commerce business. Stripe acquired the Nigerian company Payroll Stack in 2020 – expanding its reach in Africa – after participating in the payments startup’s Series A round in 2018.” This level of investment has slowed significantly, according to data from CB Insights.
Cross-border payments fintech Neo hits profitability after year of rapid growth: “The Barcelona-based fintech, which offers a unique multi-currency account for corporate treasurers, recorded an annual turnover of more than 5 million euros and an annual profit of 1 million euros,” reports Fintech Finance News.
Podcasts to discover
The other side of the AI hype: Alex Wilhelm and I do quick dives into Pomelo, Briq and Tandem relaunches, and much more!
Back at the Unicorn Club with Aileen Lee from Cowboy Ventures: Alex Wilhelm and I invited Cowboy Ventures’ Aileen Lee chat through her massive new article regarding the world of unicorns.
ICYMI: I had a blast interviewing pre-seed investor Jenny Fielding of Everywhere Ventures. Click below to listen!
Follow me on @bayareawriter for the latest fintech news, coffee articles and more.