By Teresa Leno
Carnage? Not so fast. This past week’s news headlines were nothing ‘rose-y’ for tech (and VC) as Google, Microsoft, and heck, even Spotify cut workers or announced plans to do so.
Coming down from record VC funding in 2021, global FinTech VC funding steadily declined throughout 2022, dropping by 46% from 2021’s record levels. You can access the numbers from CB Insights’ report here, which may be just ‘normalizing.’
As 2022 earnings reports come out in the next few weeks, we’ll better understand just how serious (or not) things are. Q1 2023 earnings reports will be more indicative of the state of tech.
Tech layoffs may be just what the VC industry needs to help spark further innovation…and opportunity.
Now, on to this week’s To 5 VC Deals and some notable trends…
- Valar Ventures is spreading the cash, funding last week’s #5 (Mondo) and this week’s #5 (Linkpay) for VC funding in payments tech.
- Blockchain and payments are leading VC funding in 2023 (from our research), signaling old systems are ‘sun setting’ and new Paytech is HOT as more sellers look outside traditional banking for their merchant services.
- Overall, there is sizable VC funding activity in Europe, as reflected in this week’s top 5 deals and other deals not noted here.
1Tabby
$58M, Series C | Equity | UAE | Payments | Sequoia Capital India, STV, Mubadala Investment Capital, Arbor Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst | https://tabby.ai/en-AE
LinkedIn Overview:
“Tabby creates financial freedom in the way people shop, earn and save by reshaping their relationship with money. Over 3 million active users choose Tabby to stay in control of their spending and make the most out of their money.
Over 5,000 global brands and small businesses, including H&M, Adidas, IKEA, SHEIN, and Bloomingdale’s use Tabby’s technology…”
2Thrivecart
$35M | Equity | TX | Payments | LTV Saas Growth Fund | https://thrivecart.com/special-offer/?ref=linkedin
LinkedIn Overview:
“The cart, funnel & course creator for entrepreneurs. Powering your entire business sales, metrics, subscriptions, affiliates and online courses.”
3Anyfin
$32.5M, Series C | Equity | Sweden | Lending | Northzone, Accel, EQT Ventures, Fintech Collective, Quadrille Capital, Augmentum Fintech, Citi Ventures | https://anyfin.com/en_SE
LinkedIn Overview:
“Why does everyone have to pay so much for their part-payments, credit cards and loans? That was the question we asked ourselves when we started Anyfin. Anyfin was founded in 2017. With more than 20 years of experience from risk assessment, credit and technological development from some of Sweden’s leading technology companies – iZettle, Klarna and Spotify.”
4Linkpay
$30M, Seed and Series A | Equity | UK | Payments | Valar Ventures, Tiger Global | https://www.linkpay.co.uk/
Website Description:
“At LinkPay we are passionate about using technology to make banking more accessible and cost effective for businesses.
LinkPay was founded by Rob Sturgess, who has 30 years of experience in the FinTech industry…Rob is now a Director at Salt Studio, which has ongoing clients that include a Swiss bank and a German FinTech startup. In early 2021 Rob set about putting together a fantastic core LinkPay team – who are extremely excited about taking LinkPay to the next level.”
5The Nil Foundation
$22M | Equity | Cyprus | Blockchain | Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, Starkware, Mina Protocol| https://nil.foundation/
LinkedIn Overview:
“=nil; Foundation was established in April of 2018 to facilitate and support research and development in database management systems and applied cryptography. With it’s internal teams =nil; Foundation intends to create a tightly integrated set of technologies becoming a basis for secure data storages operating in insecure environments.”
