The interchange is where you'll find us. Thank you for signing up and voting for confidence after you received this. If you read this as a post on our site, you should sign up here so you can receive it in the future. I take a look at the hottest news from the last week. This will include everything from funding rounds to trends to an analysis of a particular space. My job is to stay on top of the news and make sense of it so I can keep you up to date.
I'm hello! It is my first full week back in a long time. I have had a lot of rest in the past, but it was thanks to Covid that I got more. There are silver Linings.
I thought the week of Thanksgiving would be boring, but it turned out to be more interesting than I had thought.
Since it raised $6 million in a seed round, I've been covering it. I have seen it grow in many ways. I've been in touch with its CEO and co- founder. I was surprised when I heard that he was leaving the company with two of his co-founders. This is not something that happens often. It is not uncommon for co-founders to step down immediately after a company is founded and becomes a unicorns. It is extremely rare for three co-founders to leave at the same time.
After the article was published, I received a lot of messages and messages of support for the co-founders of Pipe. There were rumors that Pipe made loans to a number of companies. The outfit or outfits have gone out of business and the $80 million is thought to have been written off, these individuals claimed.
We would turn into the National Enquirer if we reported on every rumor we heard. It is irresponsible to not follow up on claims when a reporter is given the same information from multiple sources. That is what I did, that is what I did.
There were some interesting things that came to light after Pipe denied the claims against it. Despite its long list of investors, the startup's board consists of only three co-founding partners who are stepping down, and one independent director who is a general partner at a VC firm. I found out that once a new CEO is found, the board will have a new member.
I'm not here to fight. I have no idea what went down behind the scenes at Pipe. This all seemed to me to be strange. A startup that has raised $300 million and is valued at $2 billion doesn't have an independent board. Why would someone who has been the very vocal leader of the group leave the board? When the other three co-founders left, their names were not mentioned, but now it turns out there is a fourth. He's still the chief business officer.
I can only tell you what I'm told. We will see if more information comes to light.
The image is called pipe.
Pipe wouldn't reveal any details about its finances. It was refreshing to hear X1 happily share its revenue in an interview last week. The company was founded in 2020 to give consumers a credit card based on their income. The credit card was launched to the general public in September after amassing a 600,000-strong waiting list. The company's revenue has tripled over the past 6 months, from $1 million per month to $3 million per month, giving it an annual revenue run rate of $36 million. It's not terrible. It's not bad at all.
X1 decided not to raise in 2021. It might have been a good decision. After raising $25 million earlier this year in a Series B round, investors clamored to offer it another fifteen million dollars at a 50% higher valuation.
In a sector that has been full of hype, the startup feels low-key. It recently lured away an Apple executive to serve as its chief risk officer, and according to its CEO and co- founder, it is already conducting audits.
The company is getting ready to launch its own investing platform, which will give its card holders a way to buy stocks with their reward points. We are going to see how it works out. One thing that caught my attention was the fact that the firm that led X1's $25 million Series round was founded by the same person. Chan was one of the early investors in the company. X1 declined to comment on that fact, but it is one of many examples of VCs backing startup that are very similar to others that they have already backed. It shouldn't be shocking in a world where companies are constantly changing. It does feel a bit weird.
The onramp was built by the company. The company said that developers can use it in their DEX, NFT platform, wallet, or d App. The on-ramp can be integrated with just 10 lines of code, according to the company. Romain takes a deeper look at the topic here.
The co- founder of Opendoor stepped down from his position as CEO. Carrie Wheeler has been the company's CFO for just over two years. Opendoor's new marketplace offering will be called Opendoor Exclusives and will be led byWu. At the time of the launch, Wu said that Opendoor Exclusives was a new marketplace where you can directly buy and sell a home, without any of the hassle of the traditional real estate model.
Klarna has launched a platform that helps retailers reach their target markets. The creator platform promises to match retailers with the right people and then track their performance. It is available in all markets in which the firm operates, providing an additional marketing channel for the firm's 450,000 retail partners.
This news doesn't bolster the case for financial technology. More than 3,500 complaints have been filed with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about Chime Financial Inc. Some Chime customers were shocked to learn that it could take up to a month to get their money back after they complained about sudden account closings.
Financial services was the leading sector for venture investment last year with at least $131 billion going into startups in the space. The industry is still receiving large amounts of venture capital funding. Investment to startups in the space has been decreasing every quarter this year, with the fourth likely to be the lowest yet.
American Express is increasing their B2B payments. Amex launched a business link on December 1. A new B2B payments solution for network issuers and acquirers will be offered, according to a spokesman. It wants to make it easier for businesses to pay each other on the Amex network.
It was seen on a website.
Is FTX's failure a stress test for corporations? amp recently sent a message to companies using its corporate card services saying that it is lowering spending limits and adding new requirements While Ramp backtracked on the changes, its move offers a window into how corporate credit card companies could be stressed out in the current environment. Brex said there have been no changes to the spending limits.
One in every five dollars invested in venture capital was spent on fintech. The global fintech funding activity is back to pre-2021 levels. Over the last few weeks, high-profile companies like Brex and Chime have made headlines for their layoffs. fintech startups are still getting started There were more than 200 companies in the summer of 2022. Why aren't investors placing bets in the field? Anna wanted to find out more about the firm.
The lockup period for early backers of the Indian financial services firm ended last week and the shares of the company slid to an all-time low.
The ability to donate to charities through Venmo as well as a redesign of the money-sending experience were added to the peer-to- peer payments app in November. Improving the ability to pay or request multiple payments at the same time is one of the goals of the latter.
The news that got left out of the November 20 edition of our newsletter was my fault. The write-ups were drafted by Kyle Wiggers.
It is going the partnership route to get into the credit card game. The new credit card will be targeted at Square sellers on the Amex network. Square says it will reveal more about the card early next year, but the press release indicates that the card will integrate with Square's existing services.
18% of global venture dollars went to Fintechs in the second quarter of the year. In light of recent findings from Amplitude, which show that fintech apps and services continued to add new users over the last year, it is unsurprising. Nine in ten Americans now use some kind of fintech app to manage their financial lives, according to a new survey. It's clear that the economic downturn isn't keeping fintech away.
With the market on less firm ground than it used to be, some of the largest vendors are looking for other lines of revenue. The startup is positioning its price comparison tool against services such as Shopping.com. The new tool was built on top of tech acquired through Klarna's $1 billion acquisition of PriceRunner and allows users to filter product searches by criteria such as size, color, ratings, availability and shipping options. Klarna makes money by selling things to its retail customers.
The collapse of FTX may encourage financial sector regulation that will make it harder for fintech firms to compete against traditional banks. He said that he was concerned that the debacles would prolong the large profitability of the banking industry. There isn't a lot of evidence to support this, but it's definitely true that regulators are going to take a long, hard look at cryptocurrencies. According to the Washington Post, the Treasury Department has placed calls to large exchanges to assess the risks of a broader contagion, as well as a House inquiry that could see FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried testify.
It was seen on a website.
The consumer finance app is looking to expand.
CreditVidya is acquired by Cred.
Taktile raised $20 million to help companies test their models.
The concept of 'banks aren't going anywhere' is leaned into by the startup.
Igloo's Series B has increased to $46 million.
AirTree and Greycroft are back.
Azim Premji's Premji Invest is one of the funders of India's Kredit Bee.
It was seen somewhere else.
Pre-seed funding is raised by the neo bank for Native Americans.
TreeCard is a tech company that plants trees when you spend money.
Buckzy raised $14.5 million in a financing.
Seedfi will be acquired by Intuit.
She said that companies that are announcing funding in this market should do it in a way that is constructive for other entrepreneurs. What did you know? What time did it take? What metrics were you looking for? What number of convos do you think? It's not helpful as other people are struggling.
The way I cover funding rounds has changed in the last few years. The people who are most interested in reading about a company's raise are those who have invested in the company. It wasn't doing our readers a favor to continue covering 10 rounds a week. I try to focus on companies that are doing something unique or novel and different from existing tech, as well as companies that are willing to share revenue figures or specifics around their financials.
The bottom line is that we are bombarded with pitches. You can't imagine. We have to be very careful about what we write about. By committing to a lot of funding stories, we are leaving less room and time to cover breaking news and write profiles, features or trends. When I say thanks, but no thanks, I can't cover your funding round, so please don't follow me again. It's not about you.
The image was posted on the social media site.
Did you know that I co-hosted the Equity show with Alex andNatasha? We have a new episode here. I am so proud to report that Equity was one of the top 5% shared podcasts on the planet.
I was honored to be a guest on the show in September. We talked about topics such as why I love covering the startup world, how to pitch your story to tech reporters, and my idea of what good journalism really means. There is a place to listen in here.
I will finish with that. Thanks again for reading, sharing, and subsiding. Next week, see you. Good care until then.
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