This past week saw a bit of a slowdown in the massive deals we’ve been seeing since the beginning of 2021, with just two deals topping $100M this past week. Perhaps everyone was caught up watching the GameStop/Reddit/RobinHood train wreck, or eagerly glued to their TVs and laptops awaiting yet another Super Bowl victory from octogenarian Tom Brady.
In last week’s edition of this series, all five deals topped $100M, with one deal out of Brazil at $800M(!), and we didn’t even mention the $3.5B liquidity flow we saw into RobinHood to offset their capital needs after the above-mentioned train wreck. Another story for another day.
One of this week’s $100M+ deals – Stash – was also a Series G.
I just had to do a search of “Series G” online. I’ve prognosticated on these before, but I’ll let this broken English response I found on Quora do it for me this time….
What does ‘Series G funding’ mean?
“Series G is the 8th Fundraising event at a startup (first one being seed fundraising round)- or- it is the 9th Fundraising event (if there is a pre-series A between seed and series-A).
This means, Startup has already failed, and investors are trying to delay the eventuality of write-off their earlier investments. Another case would be like UBER, which would be successful but not making enough revenues to be self-sustainable therefore living on financial ventilator.“
But I digress. The point of this column is not to talk about these seemingly perpetually externally funded deals, but rather focus on the largest deals of the week, so we can better understand where the sector – and the innovation in fintech – are headed.
And interestingly, four of the five top deals this week all touched on the real estate sector in some way. So look for that sector trend to continue to unfold.
With that in mind, following are the top five fintech deals for the past week according to the Digital Wealth News research team.
- Built Technologies (Payments) | $88M, Series C | Addition, Lee Fixel’s
LinkedIn Firm Overview: “Built Technologies was founded in 2014 out of firsthand frustration with the challenges and pitfalls often associated with construction lending and the belief that technology could transform the loan management process. Built’s collaborative software streamlines the collateral monitoring and draw management process – a process widely recognized as highly cumbersome, costly, and fraught with risk. By bringing the draw management process online, Built helps lenders reduce construction loan risk, increase loan profitability, transform the borrower experience, simplify compliance, and provide unprecedented portfolio insights....” - Stash (Robo-Advisor) | $125M, Series G | NY-based platform combining banking, investing, advice | Todd Boehly (Chairman & CEO of Eldridge), Owl Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Entree Capital
LinkedIn Firm Overview: “Stash is a personal finance app that can make investing easy and affordable for millions of Americans. From budgeting paychecks to saving for retirement, we help Stashers create more financial freedom. Since launching in 2015, over 5 million people have joined Stash to increase their financial freedom. Our 250+ employees are on a mission to help you invest in yourself and build wealth.: - Leaselock (Insurtech) | $52M, Series B | Insurtech platform for real estate sector | Westerly Winds, Wildcat Venture Partners, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Vertex Ventures US, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, American Family Ventures, Moderne Ventures, Strata Equity Group, Veteran Capital, Mucker Capital
LinkedIn Firm Overview: “LeaseLock is the world’s leading insurtech platform for real estate. Our flagship lease insurance product leverages artificial intelligence to eliminate security deposits from enterprise operating infrastructure—powering a faster, simpler, more affordable rental transaction. LeaseLock seamlessly deploys within the native online leasing checkout, resulting in significant conversion lift—while instantly generating industry-leading coverage for the property on every lease…..” - Divvy Homes (Proptech) | $110M, Series C |CA-based platform for flexible home ownership | Menlo Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Cathay Innovations, Drive Capital, GreatPoint Ventures
LinkedIn Firm Overview: “We’re building a different pathway to homeownership –– one that’s more affordable, more flexible, and a better fit for the modern American family. At Divvy, we empower renters to become homeowners. We’re in the business of financial equality. Divvy represents an entirely new way to think about homeownership in America –– re-igniting the dream of homeownership and providing a real wealth-building opportunity along the way…..”
Valon (previously Peach Street) (Proptech) | $50M, Series A | Online residential mortgage servicer | Andreessen Horowitz, Jefferies (an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group), 166 2nd LLC
LinkedIn Firm Overview: “LeaseLock is the world’s leading insurtech platform for real estate. Our flagship lease insurance product leverages artificial intelligence to eliminate security deposits from enterprise operating infrastructure—powering a faster, simpler, more affordable rental transaction. LeaseLock seamlessly deploys within the native online leasing checkout, resulting in significant conversion lift—while instantly generating industry-leading coverage for the property on every lease…..”
We’ll be back next week with more news on fintech VC funding for the new year, posting from now on from our new home in Bozeman, Montana! Until then, cheers from MT!!
