Similar to last week, we’re seeing our top deals come in at $200M-$250M again this week. Last week we wrote “the trend for the week appears to be MORE deals – less MEGADEALS – more in a select range of $100M-$250M – a new trend.” Very similar dynamic this week. Interesting, isn’t it? Methinks we’re seeing a new trend in the sector.
- This week, our top deal came in at $250M for a co-branded credit card platform, one of whose investors in this latest round is Goldman Sachs. Years ago, Goldman started foraying into consumer finance, and they appear to be continuing that trend.
- Our first ever VC deal out of Colombia has presented this week with habi, with some big American investors including Andreessen Horowitz (I thought they were out of the VC biz and into crypto – something changed?), Ribbit Capital and more. LatAm represents a HOT HOT sector for fintech, even though many areas in the region have no reliable internet, according to our IT lead out of Lima.
- Two deals were in the crypto sector – again a hot category in its own right.
- Finally – remember “the most interesting man in the world campaign” from recent years? That’s what came to mind when I saw the KuCoin deal, a crypto exchange based out of the Seychelles (sweet) that just raised a “Pre-Series B” round. (I remember “pre-engagement” rings before promise rings became the rage – and just have to wonder what exactly this mean?)
Anyhoo, wiithout further ado, here are this week’s top 5 fintech VC deals for the week below, in order from highest to lowest funding levels.
1Deserve
$250M | California | Credit card platform | Goldman Sachs, Cross River, Waterfall Asset Management |
LinkedIn Firm Overview:
“Deserve is powering the future of fintech through digital-first, mobile-centric, and highly configurable API- and SDK-based credit card solutions. Alongside financial institutions, fintechs, modern consumer brands, universities, and associations, Deserve powers state-of-the-art, co-branded credit card programs using machine learning and alternative data. Deserve is a venture-backed fintech company whose investors include Visa, Mastercard, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Sallie Mae, Ally Ventures, Accel, Pelion Venture Partners, Aspect Ventures, and Mission Holdings.“
2Paddle
$200M, Series D | UK | Payments infrastructure provider for SaaS Firms | KKR, FTV Capital, 83North, Notion Capital, Kindred Capital, Silicon Valley Bank |
LinkedIn Overview:
“Paddle offers SaaS companies a completely different approach to their payments infrastructure. Instead of assembling and maintaining a complex stack of payments-related apps and services, we’re a Merchant of Record for our customers. That means we take away 100% of the pain of payments fragmentation, meaning a faster, safer, cheaper, and, overall, better option. We have over 230+ talented employees serving over 3000 software sellers in 245 territories globally. Backed by investors including FTV Capital, Kindred, Notion, and 83North, Paddle aims to define the next wave of B2B SaaS leaders.“
3habi
$200M, Series C | Colombia | Home equity funding platform | WestCap, Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital, Redwood Trust, Atalaya Capital Management, DAG Ventures, Deer Park Road Management, The Palisades Group, Alpaca VC |
LinkedIn Overview:
“Via Google Translate (from Spanish to English)” “With a presence in Mexico and Colombia, habi has come to help evolve the real estate ecosystem through technology and data analytics. We provide the market with simplicity in processes and transactions in a safe and fast way.
Habi clients can sell their house in 10 days, buy their new home, know the approximate value of their property and have support to obtain mortgage loans.
Allied real estate agencies can sell us their apartments and increase their offer portfolio with our properties.
Allied Brokers can commission faster, expand their real estate portfolio and have access to technological tools and training.
We want to empower Latin American families in the most important financial decision of their lives and support our allies by democratizing access to information with transparency and trust.”
4Chainalysis
$170M, Series F | NYC | Blockchain data & analytics platform | GIC |
Firm Website Overview:
“Chainalysis offers cryptocurrency investigation and compliance solutions to global law enforcement agencies, regulators, and businesses as they work together to fight illicit cryptocurrency activity. Backed by Benchmark and other leading names in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains.”
5KuCoin
$150M, Pre-Series B (what the heck is that????) | Seychelles | Global crypto exchange | Jump Crypto, Circle Ventures, IDG Capital, Matrix Partners |
LinkedIn Overview:
“KuCoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges and already has over 8 million registered users across 207 countries and regions around the world. Known as the “People’s Exchange”, KuCoin operates in Seychelles, providing users with 24/7 multi-language customer services. Meanwhile, KuCoin has established about 19 local communities in North America, Europe, SEA, and other regions, providing users with highly localized services. As the home of crypto gems, KuCoin has supported over 420 projects with 800+ trading pairs. A number of projects like ICP, BOSON, AERGO, RNDR, and DAO had their primary listing on KuCoin. In November 2018, KuCoin announced $20 million round A funding from IDG Capital and Matrix Partners. In 2021, KuCoin has been rated the Best Crypto Exchanges by Forbes Advisor.”
We’ll be back next week with more news on fintech VC funding.
