Welcome to?your?daily?FinTech?news!
- It was a crazy busy week in New York. I’m writing this very short update from JFK airport right before takeoff. I never sleep on airplanes but I’m pretty sure I can catch some sleep this time. What a trip! Definitely worth it! Link here.
- The wild life of billionaire Twitter founder and 'Block Head' Jack Dorsey, who's officially left the social network's board, eats one meal a day, and takes ice baths. Link here.
- Fintech influencer and VC Spiros Margaris is to create a basket of FinTech stocks for clients of Swiss investment management firm CAT Financial Products AG. Swiss-born Margaris is the founder of margaris ventures, a venture capital fund with investments in the likes of stcpay, wefox and Canopy. Link here.
- uPledge, a Netherlands based crowdfunding solution that helps investors improve their financial wellness, while connecting them to verified sustainable startups, announced its pre-seed capital raise of over US$300,000. The capital will support uPledge’s go-to-market strategy in the Netherlands and across Europe. Link here.
- Mastercard, a technology leader in the global payments industry, has announced a strategic partnership Saudi Arabia-based HyperPay, the fastest growing e-commerce payments services provider in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), to drive the adoption of digital payment solutions across the region. Link here.
- Mintos has finally launched its long-anticipated regulated notes that intend to bring transparency and protection to loan investing. The European lending marketplace secured the investment firm licence it needed back in August 2021 and has been working on transitioning its loan investment product into loan-backed securities since then. Link here.
- Scalapay has formed a partnership with circular economy fintech Twig to enable customers to resell products they have purchased via the buy now, pay later provider, and get paid upfront by Twig. Link here.
- Despite women adding approximately $5 trillion to the wealth pool annually, there is still a ￡15bn gender investment gap. Alpher., a female-first investment platform, is now partnering with digital investments service provider WealthKernel to further its mission to close this gap. Link here.
- A group of former executives from Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally, has created a $100 million venture fund, the team told TechCrunch on Thursday. Link here.
- Payoneer, the commerce technology company powering payments and growth for the new global economy, appointed John Caplan co-Chief Executive Officer and Director alongside current CEO Scott Galit, effective immediately. Link here.
- Not all fintech unicorns are cutting jobs. After Klarna announced plans to lay off 10% of its workforce Monday, some rival fintechs are making it clear that they have no intention of cutting jobs or freezing hiring. Revolut, the $33 billion digital banking start-up, said the company is "actively hiring," with over 250 open roles listed on its website. Link here.
- Latin American VTEX and Bitso laid off hundreds of employees on Thursday (May 26). Brazil's Vtex alone has cut nearly 200 employees, according to a person familiar with the company. That number is equivalent to 13% of the team, the person said. In Mexico, crypto exchange Bitso terminated at least 80 people in technical and commercial areas. Link here.
- Mexican financial infrastructure platform Cicada Technologies Inc. raised $3.6 million in a Seed round led by KASZEK, with participation from Geometry Ventures, BCP Securities, and Mexican financial industry angels. The fintech said it is already in negotiations for an extension of the Seed round. Link here.
- The 2016 pitch deck helped neobank N26 raise its Series B. N26 has since raised more than $900M+, with its most recent round being a Series E extension tranche in October 2021. Link here.
- WeBank of China, Ally in the US, and the retail arm of ING Group, topped The Asian banker's the inaugural global ranking of leading digital banks. Link here.
- Former Tory minister Theodore Agnew has launched a public attack on Starling Bank, dragging the online lender into the Covid loans scandal by claiming it did not run adequate checks on borrowers before handing out taxpayer-backed loans. Link here.?
This ends?Your?Daily?Fintech?News. Let me know if there are any questions or comments. Until the next!
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