Weekly update #5

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.

After all the drama around OpenAI , this week we came back talking about the fintech market. We recently discovered that 苹果 proposed to 高盛 to end their partnership on the financial services proposed through AppleWallet. There were multiple rumours about Goldman in search of a way out from this deal, that was reported costing them approximately $2 billions each year. Now the question is: what will be Apple's future partner in this market? They don't seems to retreat from fintech anytime soon.

We also saw a couple of interesting moves, with Robinhood finally lending in the UK, and N26 teaming up with Upvest to offer investment services to their users. And some steps forward in the regulations in Europe, with Swift implementing the full coverage of instant payments (24/7) in the continent, in line with the request from #EU to boost those kind of payments.

In the Italian market we saw a couple of very interesting deals, with WeRoad closing a $18 million funding round and the launch of the fintech accelerator Finnovaction . But we also saw some struggles, with Intesa Sanpaolo blocked from regulators to move customers to their new digital banks #Isybank.

But let's take a closer look at the main news.

Closed deals

• Elon Musk's Neuralink is closing a $43 millions funding round to boost the trial of his neural chip on humans;
• Atom bank and Funding Circle UK close a deal for $150 millions to boost lending for SMEs;
• Peloton Technologies closed a pre-seed of $2 millions to innovate the SMEs payment industry in Canada;
• WeeFin raised $7 millions to try to bring sustainability in the financial industry;
• mozaic.io is closing a $20 millions deal to innovate the creators economy;
• Molten Ventures acquired Forward Partners , with a deal valued $41 millions;
• The UAE based Flow48 secured a $25 millions pre-series A funding round;
• Cloudsmith closed a $11 millions series A to boost international expansion;
• The startup studio Hexa closed a $20 millions funding deal, in order to launch 30 startups by 2030;
• Paysend secured $65 millions in funding and unveil a new partnership;
• Wind.App lend a new $3.8 millions funding round;
• CapitalOS emerges from stealth with a crazy $39 millions funding round;
• PayGround secures $19.7 millions to innovate the healthcare fintech industry;
• The Berlin based Banxware closed a stunning $15 millions funding round;
• NomuPay acquires the uk based Total Processing in an undisclosed deal;
• Webull Financial acquired the Mexican Flink México to expand in the country;
• The Finland based Enfuce raised $8.5 millions from investors like Visa ;
• Rich Data Co closed a $28 millions round from investors like Westpac and nCino, Inc.

Strategic moves on the market

• Robinhood is finally opening accounts in UK;
• N26 teams up with Upvest, and target profitability in 2024;
• Swift is connecting instant payments system in Europe;
• bunq is looking to come back to the UK after Brexit;
• Apple proposed an end to their fintech partnership to Goldman Sachs;
• Mastercard is finally lending in China with is credit card coverage, after years of tries.

A special look in the Italian market

• WeRoad closed a crazy $18 millions series B;
• Finnovaction is launching their fintech focused startup studio;
• Intesa Sanpaolo is blocked by regulators to move customers to their new digital bank #Isybank;

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #4.

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.
• 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.

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!

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