With Easter week and more spring vacations behind us, last week brought a bit of a slowdown in completed deals, but there were definitely still some big ones that got completed.
- This week, our top deal came in at $650M (in debt) for a Brazilian neobank, and one we have seen raise multiple capital rounds at high levels before in this column;
- The US shared the spotlight with the international community this week, participating in 3 of the top 5 funding rounds – with international firms originating in London, the Philippines & Brazil;
- IMO, the most interesting funding round came to us from Circle. We’ve watched this firm birth, grow rapidly, hit huge headwinds, sell a division (to the team behind Voyager Digital) and now we see them back on top of the world again. A VERY interesting firm in the digital asset sector to watch with one of the top stablecoins in the world, and we’re rooting for them.
Without further ado, here are this week’s top 5 fintech VC deals for the week below, in order from highest to lowest funding levels.
$650M, Debt | Brazil | South American digital bank | Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Citi |
LinkedIn Firm Overview:
“Nubank is the leading financial technology company in Latin America and the largest independent neobank in the world, with more than 20 million clients. Its first product, launched in 2014, is a no-fee credit card that is fully managed by a mobile app and used by more than 12 million customers. Almost 36 million Brazilians have requested its products. In 2017, Nubank launched its proprietary loyalty rewards program (“Nubank Rewards”), as well as a digital account (“NuConta”) that is already used by more than 17 million people. In 2019, the company began testing its personal loan product and took its first steps in international expansion, opening offices in Mexico and Argentina. To date, Nubank has raised around US$ 820 million in seven equity investment rounds from TCV, Sequoia Capital, Kaszek Ventures, Tiger Global Management, QED, Founders Fund, DST Global, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital and Tencent. Recently, Nubank was elected as the most innovative company in Latin America and ranked no. 36 on Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies ranking.“
2Circle
$400M | Boston | Digital stablecoin & treasury platform | BlackRock, Fidelity Management and Research, Marshall Wace LLP, Fin Capital |
Firm Website Overview:
“Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle is also the principal operator of USD Coin (USDC), which has become the fastest growing, regulated and fully reserved dollar digital currency. USDC now stands at more than 41 billion and has supported about $1.4 trillion in transactions over the past year. Today, Circle’s transaction and treasury services are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value.”
3Voyager Innovations
$210M | Philippines | Financial services, media & payments platform | SIG Venture Capital, EDBI, First Pacific Company, KKR, Tencent, International Finance Corporation |
Firm Website Overview:
“No more digital divide. That is our rather Utopian vision; and proverbial “pie in the sky.” But we are genuinely grounded in reality, immersed in a representative emerging market — The Philippines — launchpad for innovations profoundly impacting lives and equalizing opportunities in these parts. Creating platforms and fusing them for every key digital activity — from Internet Access to eCommerce, Digital Marketing to Fintech — Voyager has established industry leadership in inclusive innovations, allowing millions more to participate and be productive in the new digital society. Are you looking for that rare opportunity to make a difference, while pursuing a high flying career in product development, engineering, marketing, or communications? Do hit us up! Our platforms include: Freenet, the No.1 mobile community site in the Philippines providing sponsored (free!) mobile data access to the most relevant and popular sites for news, travel, banking, shopping, sports, and social networking. PayMaya, payment app of choice for Millennials and No.1 on the Google Playstore (Financial Apps, Philippines). PayMaya Business, enabling establishments and enterprises to accept the new wave of cashless payments. FINTQ, enabler of various award winning fintech products that are providing underserved markets access to loans, savings, insurance and other financial products via the most pervasive mobile devices. Smart Padala, the country’s largest domestic remittance network with over 15,000 touchpoints nationwide. Comet, OTT and over-the-air communications solutions uniting web and mobile communities. Voyager Innovations is the digital unit of PLDT-Smart Communications.”
4Capital on Tap
$200M | London/Atlanta | SMB funding platform | HSBC, Värde Partners |
LinkedIn Overview:
“Recently listed in Forbes as one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK, Capital on Tap provides vital funding to small businesses across the UK. To date, we’ve lent over £2bn to 120,000+ SMEs. We invest in our team and infrastructure to continuously move faster in an environment that has high energy and collaboration. Far from a beige cube-farm, our corporate headquarters in Old Street provides a dynamic, relaxed and fun culture…Founded in 2012, Capital on Tap is on a mission to help small businesses thrive. We believe small business owners are the foundation for growth in our economy, and yet today’s banking system has left them behind. We have partnered with over 120,000 businesses across the UK deploying funding facilities of over £2bn to customers. We believe we still have a long way to go to make business funding truly available to every small business.“
5Newfront
$200M, Series D | California | InsuranGoldman Sachs, B Capital, Founders Fund, Meritech Capital, Y Combinator, Index Ventures, XYZ, Susa Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, PruVen Capital, Propel, Altai, Tony Xu, VetamerSmash Capital, BlackRock, Silicon Valley Bank, Northzone, Balderton |
LinkedIn Overview:
“Newfront is a modern insurance brokerage that leverages technology to vastly simplify the buying process for clients and the selling process for brokers. Our experienced insurance brokers help our clients save money and find the right coverage for their risk. Newfront is one of the fastest-growing retail insurance brokerages in the US.“
We’ll be back next week with more news on fintech VC funding.
