Hello Fintech Friends,

We announced yesterday that we’ll be closing out the year at The Fintech Formal, a black tie charity gala in New York on December 2nd. Will we see you there?

Please find another week of fintech financings and exits below.

Editor’s Note: If you’re an early-stage startup founder raising equity or debt, I may be able to help - reach out to nik@thisweekinfintech.com.

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💸 Venture Financing

European fintech funding hit €15 billion in the first half of 2021.

• N26, the pan-European neobank, raised a $900 million Series E at a $9 billion valuation.
• Deel, a remote worker payroll platform, raised a $425 million Series D at a $5.5 billion valuation.
• FTX, one of the largest and most active digital currency exchanges, raised $420 million at a $25 billion valuation.
• Brex, the corporate card platform, raised $300 million at a $12.3 billion valuation.
• Zopa, one of the original peer-to-peer lenders in the UK that pivoted into banking last year, raised $300 million at a $1 billion valuation.
• CRED, an Indian credit card rewards platform, confirmed its $251 million fundraise at a $4 billion valuation.
• Republic, a democratized private equity investment platform for retail investors, raised a $150 million Series B.
• Pismo, a Brazilian banking and payments infrastructure provider, raised a $108 million Series B.
• Primer, a merchant payment flow provider, raised a $50 million Series B at a $425 million valuation.
• Hash, a Brazilian payment infrastructure provider, raised a $40 million Series C.
• Pomelo, an Argentinian fintech-as-a-service platform for Latin America, raised a $35 million Series A.
• Element Finance, a decentralized fixed rate lending protocol, raised a $32 million Series A at a $320 million valuation.
• XanPool, a Hong Kong decentralized payment network, raised a $27 million Series A.
• Clyde, an extended purchase warranty company, raised a $25 million Series B.
• Sommelier, a decentralized finance protocol for automated portfolio management, raised a $23 million Series A.
• Embed, an embedded investment API for nimble financial products, raised a $20 million Series A.
• UpEquity, an online mortgage platform, raised $20 million in equity and $30 million in new debt financing.
• Resistant AI, a financial anti-fraud platform, raised a $16.6 million Series A.
• B12, a startup focused on payments and digitization for small businesses, raised $15.7 million.
• Sequence, a UK “developer-friendly finance software’ company, raised $15 million at a $70 million post-money.
• Plum, a UK money-management app, raised $14 million of an expected $24 million Series A.
• Chip, a UK money management app, raised an £11.5 million crowdfunding round.
• SMBX, a small business bond marketplace, raised $11.5 million.
• Kevin., a Lithuanian account-to-account payment startup, raised a $10 million seed.
• Volante, a cloud payments platform, raised $10 million from Wells Fargo.
• Asante, an African small business impact lender, closed the first tranche of a $7.5 million Series A.
• BondAval, a platform that specifically insures B2B supply chain payments, raised $7 million.
• Ando, a sustainable banking service, raised a $6 million seed round.
• Ziglu, a UK banking, exchange, and investment app, crowdfunded £5 million.
• CollateralEdge, a banking risk-mitigation tool, raised $3.5 million in seed funding.
• Reworth, a Mexican API solution for financial institutions cashback, raised a $2.8 million seed round.
• Brass, a Nigerian provider of digital banking services to small businesses, raised $1.7 million.
• Ilumoni, a UK borrower financial wellbeing app, raised £1.63 million.
• Updraft, a UK financial wellness app, raised £72 million in combined equity and debt.
• Roaring, a Nordic financial data service provider, raised strategic funding from bank SEB’s venture capital arm.
• Daxko, a wellness industry payment provider, raised strategic funding in a recap by Genstar Capital.
• PaySika, a neobank for Cameroon, Benin, and Gabon, raised $350,000.
• Copper, a UK crypto custodian, is raising a $500 million investment round.

☯️ Exits

💻 IPOs

• Kakao Pay, the South Korean financial services agglomeration app, raised $1.28 billion in its IPO at a $10 billion valuation.
• Asset management software Enfusion saw its stock jump 18% in its market debut, raising $260 million at a $2.3 billion valuation.
• Texas alternative asset manager P10 priced its IPO at $1.4 billion, below its target range.
• 12-branch Texas bank Third Coast Bancshares filed for a $75 million IPO.
• Russia’s second-largest equities exchange, SPB, filed for a US IPO.

📈 SPACs

Have fintech SPACs fully saturated the market’s demand?

• Newcourt Acquisition, a SPAC targeting fintech and financial services, raised $220 million in its IPO.
• McLaren Technology Acquisition, a fintech SPAC, lowered its target size from $200 to $175 million.
• Chardan NexTech Acquisition, a SPAC targeting a health or fintech company, also lowered its target from $200 to $150 million.
• InFinT Acquisition, a fintech-focused SPAC, also lowered its target size to $150 million.
• Fintech Ecosystem Development, a SPAC targeting a South Asian fintech company, priced a $100 million SPAC.

🤝 M&A - Fintech

• Stripe acquired Recko in India, a payments reconciliation provider.
• Financial services giant Ally Financial will acquire credit card provider Fair Square Financial for $750 million to enter the credit card business.
• Intercontinental Exchange sold its 10% stake in clearing and settlement platform Euroclear to private equity firm Silver Lake for €709 million.
• Elsewhere, Silver Lake acquired Spanish mortgage management software Grupo BC.
• Dispersion, a defi incubator, acquired Accru Finance, a crypto trading platform, for £8.75 million.
• Capital markets software developer Options Technology will acquire market data provider ACTIV Financial.
• The Chicago Board Options Exchange, one of the major US futures and derivatives market, acquired crypto exchange ErisX.
• Fiserv will acquire digital marketing and commerce platform BentoBox.
• Private equity consortium Gilde Buy Out Partners made a takeover attempt at Italian fintech group TAS.
• Private equity firm LEA acquired German banking software B+M Group.

🏦 M&A - Bank

• Neobanking provider M1 Finance acquired Minnesota’s 11-person First National Bank of Buhl.
• Cardif Pinnacle, a UK pet insurer owned by bank BNP Paribas Cardif, sold a majority stake to investor JAB Holding Co.
• Japan’s Shinsei Bank opposes rival SBI Holdings’ $1.1 billion takeover bid for it.

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🌎 Fintech Around the World

Crypto adoption in Africa continues to grow

Prepaid payments volume in Canada is growing.

📚 Deeper Reads

Climate Fintech: Handprints vs Footprints

Nearly 90% of Americans now use fintech—with boomers the fastest-growing demo

Building an economic infrastructure for a new era of self-employment

How fintech will eat into banks’ business

Here’s How Real-World Assets Are Unlocking Defi’s Full Potential

Adventures in De-Fi Land

Buy Now, Pay Later’s bill is coming due

Inside Expensify’s IPO filing

Jane Fraser Has a Plan to Remake Citigroup While Tormenting Rivals

Searching for Mana: A Unicorn in the Fragmented World of Payments

Potential winners and losers line up as Plaid pushes deeper into payments

What has Paystack done one year after joining Stripe?

What’s next for Worldpay’s fast-expanding crypto business?

Golden Retriever's Reaction to Seeing Cartoon Dog on TV Is Melting Hearts Online

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