Weekly update #14

Welcome to this edition of the weekly newsletter. The idea behind this activity is to gather all the information in the startup ecosystem in one place, with a special focus on the fintech market.

The beginning of this 2024 has some very strong 2022 vibes. Less investments in the ecosystem, startups struggling to raise funds and, more recently, a new wave of layoffs.

As you can see from the graph, we had a huge wave of layoffs starting in the summer of 2022, with some very big name like 亚马逊 and 谷歌 along with a long list of startups. The trend kind of returned to normal level during the spring of 2023, but now we saw again a spike in number of companies conducting rounds of layoffs.

Among the most important names in 2024 we can find 微软 , that let go 1,900 employees from Blizzard Entertainment , eBay that let go 9% of the workforce, SAP with 8,000 voluntary buyout. But also PayPal , Brex , 谷歌 and many others.

Now, while in 2022 this trend could have easily been explained by the downturn, this one is harder to explain, but many are pointing fingers to one main reason: the advent of AI. Many tech companies are replacing human labour with automation and systems based on the latest technologies, that are able to optimise processes and reduce costs. If this trend is entirely on AI shoulders is yet to be determined, but still we can see an impact in that direction.

Anyway we saw some very interesting news in the market. Bending Spoons raised a crazy $200 million round and acquired Meetup , Allianz finalised the acquisition of Luko , Speedinvest was able to raise another fund of $350 million, and Giant Ventures was very near to that target with the closing of a $250 million fund.

But let's take a closer look at the main news of the last seven days:

Closed deals

• Targeted Lending Co., LLC, leader in the equipment finance industry, secures $50 million from Wells Fargo;
• Bastille, a wireless security network, secures a crazy $44 million series C funding round from Goldman Sachs;
• Porch Group secures $25 million and a strategic collaboration from Aon;
• Doppel, active in the digital risk management industry, closed a fantastic $14 million series A;
• Rainbow raises $12 million to revolutionise the underwriting process in the restaurant industry;
• Sunbit secures a $310 million debt facility to boost the BNPL market;
• Sequence Raises $5.5M to revolutionize personal finance management;
• Trinity Capital invests $15 million in Kafene for his point of sales solution;
• Kriya secures a $50 million credit facility from Viola Credit;
• Amplifi Capital secured $22.5 million to boost products like Reeve Money;
• Metronome raises $43 Million in Series B funding to revolutionize billing for software companies;
• DataSnipper raises $100 million series B and achieve unicorn status;
• Gevulot secures $6 million seed round for his blockchain focused on zero-knowledge proofs;
• Axiom secures a $20 million series A to innovate the smart contract infrastructure.

Strategic moves on the market

• Finally, we can see the end of Luko soap opera: Allianz Direct is set to buy the French insurtech startup for $5 million;
• So PayPal announced that on January 25th they would have shocked the world. They didn't, instead they released some very interesting products;
• Chime is IPO ready, but no one knows which could be the valuation now;
• HeavyFinance reaches $50 million founded to innovate financial services in the agricultural industry;
• Ramp acquires Venue and enhances procurement product;
• Amazon partners with fintech startup Kueski to introduce BNPL in Mexico;
• Objectway acquires the Canadian wealth solution provider Nest Wealth;
• PayPal initiated a company wide wave of layoffs, impacting about 9% of the workforce;
• Another fintech company joins the tech layoffs wave. Block is cutting 10% of his workforce;
• a.s.r. agreed to sell his online banking unit Knab to BAWAG Group;
• Paytm loses $2.1 billion in market cap in India after regulatory headwinds from Reserve Bank of India (RBI);
• National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI) partners with Lyra to offer UPI in France, starting from the ticketing system at the Eiffel Tower.

A special look in the Italian market

• Bending Spoons closes a new $200 million round and acquires Meetup;
• Ventive raised $2.4 million to accelerate the italian startup ecosystem.

Insights on the VC industry

• A very interesting news from the VC market. Lightspeed is looking to sell a stake of his portfolio valued at $1 billion;
• Ubiquity Ventures raises $75 million for his Fund III;
• Speedinvest closed a fourth fund at $350 million to invest in early stage startup;
• Giant Ventures raises $250 million to invest transatlantically.

Startups raising funds

• PopulaRise - The platform that allows companies of every dimension to promote themselves on social media through the collaboration with their clients. B2B2C SaaS. Raising $1M.
• Cents - Fintech companies that allow corporate to include charity payments on their checkout. B2B SaaS. Raising $1M. Round closed!
• Bitcoin People - Fintech company focused on crypto payments between corporate and cross countries. B2B, SaaS. Raising $500k.
• Tutornow - Edtech that provides an online tutoring platform for students with learning disorders. Raising $500k to $1M.
• Recivu - Fintech? startup trying to digitize the receipt flow by getting rid of papers. Looking for $150k in SAFE, already $50k committed.
• Weagle - B2B Tech startup that provides the very first browser designed for company, with total security for sensitive data. Raising $6 millions for their seed round.
• Reach Finance - Reach is the fintech platform for wealth accumulation for the Y&Z generations, they provide users with the tools to build wealth such as a budget tracker, a financial plan and a systematization of investments. Looking for $700k, with already $500k committed;
• wrapp.ai - A fintech startups that offers a virtual accountant and CFO that can help SMEs scale globally. Looking for $1 million, $750k already granted from public funds, looking to close the last $350k.
• Viewit - Fintech startup, providing smart solution to boost management and performances, get more financing and innovate. Raising $500k.

If you are a startup and want to be present in this list, please contact me directly.

If you are an angel investor or a VC interested in those companies, contact me for an intro!

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #13.