Weekly update #47

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

This week I released the second episode of the series Builders. My guest was Ramneek Gupta , founder and MD of Pruven Capital , California based VC that recently raised a $379 million new fund to invest in fintech and insurtech.

With Ramneek, we talked about the current VC environment, of how hard it was to raise new funds with the current market conditions, but we also discussed how VCs can bring value to startups in the fintech industry, mostly when talking about distribution. Finally, a couple of words on some very interesting deals they made in the past, like the early stage investment in Square . If you want to take a look you can find the video here on Youtube, or the podcast here on Spotify or here on ApplePodcast.

If you are a VC manager or a founder and would like to be the next guest, feel free to drop me a line on Linkedin!

Coming back to us, this week I read a very interesting report on a topic that I have been focusing a lot on, the Indian fintech ecosystem. The report is called “State of the Fintech Union 2024 - Building sustainable long-term businesses in financial services”, by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Z47 (fka Matrix Partners India) . Here are my main takeaways.

India's Fintech ecosystem, now the third largest globally, is experiencing rapid expansion. Over the past four years, the number of Unicorns and Soonicorns has tripled, and Minicorns have quadrupled. The ecosystem has matured significantly, with more than 35 Fintech companies valued at over $500 million—up from just 13 in 2020. We are currently in the "middle journey" of growth, with a substantial roadmap ahead to stabilize and scale.

India’s fintech growth has been significantly supported by a shifting regulatory landscape that fosters innovation while ensuring security and compliance—both crucial for building consumer trust. The survey of over 60 founders and CXOs reveals that more than 65% believe regulations have helped mitigate systemic risks. This regulatory evolution has also boosted confidence among institutional and retail investors, leading to exponential growth in businesses accessing public markets through IPOs for capital raising. In just the past five years, India has seen nearly a twofold increase in IPO filings.

The combination of government support, simpler regulations and third parties capital contributed to the growth of the whole ecosystem. One of the metrics that surprised me the most, is the numbers of companies valued between $0-100M, so starting from the early stage. 200 in 2020, they nearly quadrupled in 2024 to 713, in a boom of new companies that face no equals in any startup ecosystem. This could potentially be one of the most interesting opportunities in terms of positioning for new investors.

And there is still space to grow. Over 80% Rural women have very limited data footprint, only 30-35% farmers have access to formal credit. Serving the diverse Bharat community will require a hyper-local approach, with a deep understanding of their digital and economic activity, and creation of "blended" offerings that enable users in their day-to-day lives.

A small note from my side, this week I will be present at Italian Tech Week in Torino, probably the biggest startup and tech event in Italy. I will be a judge in the “Early Bird Pitch Session” organized by Techstars , along with other investors and VCs.??

Feel free to come say hi if you are around!

Anyway we saw some very interesting news in the market this week. Revolut eyes expansion in the MENA region, where they could clash with another fintech giant, Nubank . But it's not the only new project for them, as they are also launching their own stable coin and planning to launch in India in 2025. J.P. 摩根 is in talks with 苹果 to take over the Apple Card business from 高盛 , while 亚马逊 included PayPal as payment method for its Buy with Prime feature. Many new funds in the VC market this week! Insight Partners has more than $10 billion in commitments for their 13th fund, Noteus Partners raised a $600 million fund to invest in european startups, and Headline raised $865 million to invest in growth stage global companies. But also new funds from Amity Ventures , Moderne Ventures , Fika Ventures and Capmont Technology . In the Italian market, we saw UniCredit acquiring the 9% of the German bank Commerzbank AG , and now in talks to go up to 30%, Young Platform raising $2.65 million from Azimut Italia and Snaitech been acquired by Flutter Entertainment for $2.3 billion. Finally, some very interesting funding rounds from fintech startups like Lluma , Lendorse , Pathao , Cobre , Wealth.com , Yonder , Orb , Regfyl , Upfront and many others.

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

Closed deals

• lluma Labs raises $9 Million to enhance voice verification in Banking
• Lendorse (Techstars '22) secures €10 Million to expand 'Study Now, Pay Later' student financing
• Ninth Wave secures growth funding to expand its leading open finance platform
• Fora Financial boosts liquidity with record $126.9 Million asset-backed securitization
• Colombian fintech Cobre raises a $35 million series B
• Bangladesh based startup Pathao expands into fintech with a $12 million pre-series B round
• AKUR8 raises a $120 million series B funding round led by One Peak
• Wealth.com secures a $30 million series A to modernize estate planning
• Ghent-based Timefold raises €6 million to revolutionize planning optimization
• UK based fintech Yonder raises $23.4 million at a $100M+ valuation
• Orb raises $25M series B funding to revolutionize software billing
• Kasisto, Inc. reaches $90M in total funding for its conversational AI platform for finance
• Sitewire secures $3.17M to revolutionize construction finance operations
• Upfront secures $2.5M to revolutionize real estate agent payments
• fal raises $23M to revolutionize AI-generated media
• Nigerian fintech startup Regfyl raises $1.1 million to revolutionize fraud detection and compliance
• Sydney based fintech Primary raises $3.5m seed round
• AtoB secures $130M to revolutionize the trucking industry with cutting-edge payment solutions

Insights on the VC industry

• Insight Partners nears $10B in commitments for 13th fund amid major portfolio exits
• Noteus Partners launches €600 Million fund to propel european tech startups
• Salesforce Ventures unveils a new $500 million AI fund , bringing its total commitment to AI to $1 billion
• Fika Ventures closes on $160 million for Fund IV
• Moderne Ventures closes MV Fund III at over $230 Million
• Headline raises $865 million to invest in global growth-stage companies
• Amity Ventures aims to raise $250 million for two new funds
• Capmont Technology closes €100M fund to boost early-stage B2B startups in Europe and the US

News on the market

• Revolut eyes expansion into the Middle East, targets UAE and Saudi Arabia
• Dubai's Mashreq bank sells 65% stake in NeoPay to Arcapita and Dgpays for $385 Million
• Revolut plans to launch its services in India in 2025
• Apple in talks with J.P. Morgan to take over Apple Card from Goldman Sachs
• European Union nominates Ekaterina Zaharieva as first-ever commissioner for startups
• EverBank to acquire Sterling Bank in a $261 million deal
• UniCredit seeks European Central Bank approval to potentially acquire up to 30% of Commerzbank AG
• Revolut reportedly planning to launch Its own stablecoin
• BlackRock and Microsoft want to launch a $30 billion AI fund to invest in DC and infrastructure
• Amazon adds PayPal as a payment option to 'Buy with Prime'

A special look in the Italian market

• Young Platform secures additional €2.65 Million investment from Azimut Italia and appoints new president
• Flutter Entertainment acquires Italian company Snaitech for $2.3 billion

And here some useful resources for everyone involved in the ecosystem:

Events you don’t want to miss

• Italian Tech Week | Turin - 25-27.09.2024 (Link to the invite or website )
• Newport investor summit | Newport (RI) - 26-27.09.2024 (link to the invite or website )
• Bits & Pretzels founders festival | Munich 29.09-01.10.2024 (Link to the invite or website )
• Milan Fintech Summit | Milan - 08-09.10.2024 (Link to the invite or website )
• VDS+ | Valencia 23-24.10.2024 (Link to the invite or website )

You have a cool event you want to mention or to sponsor? Feel free to send me a DM.

Startups raising funds

• Loyyal - Loyalty platform from the MENA region, with entities in the US and South East Asia, provides a B2B2C platform to handle multiple loyalty programs and earn rewards all over the world. Raising a $6M Series A
• Freedhome - Proptech and fintech platform, enabling people to be able to gain profit from real estate by renting them to intermediaries. Raising a $1M seed round

• 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.
• 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.
• Shoppy Code :Gift card platform that offers a points based loyalty program. They share part of the profits coming from marketing budgets with their customers. Raising $500k.

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #46