By Teresa Leno
Social media ‘tech chat’ has been dominated by ChatGPT, a chatbot that tallied up to 1M users in under a week following their Q4 2022 release. But, even more generative AI technologies are already entering the market, the vast majority with little or no VC funding, creating an opportunity for WealthTech to hop on board the VC-funding train. CB Insights breaks down this transformative technology opportunity here.
If we can sum up VC funding deals for the first month of 2023 in a few words, it would be #automation, #payments, #payments, and did we mention #payments?
Some notable trends this week:
- Barclays and Neuberger Berman dropped some serious $ in Payments dev (reflected in this week’s #1), perhaps filling an internal and industry need?
- The total in Payments VC funding for the week was just under $647M (from our research), with this week’s #1, #2, and #5 taking a sizable chuck of that ‘pocket change.’
- It was a good week for U.S.-based wealth tech firms, winning 21 of the 35 VC deals we’re following.
Next up, here are this week’s Top 5 VC Deals…
1DaileyPay
$260M Capital | Credit & Debt| NYC | Payments | Barclays, Angelo Gordon, SVB Capital, Neuberger Berman | https://www.dailypay.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“DailyPay is the leader in the on-demand pay industry with an unrivaled technology platform, an unmatched list of clients, and an extensive list of industry awards. We’re creating a financial system that is more fair, inclusive and benefits everyone. A system that helps employees get their money when they want it…”
2PayEm
$220M, Series A, Capital | Equity & Credit | Capital | SF | Payments | Viola Credit, Mitsubishi Financial Group, Collaborative Fund, NFX, LocalGlobe, Glilot+ | https://www.payem.co/
LinkedIn Overview:
“PayEm is the global spend management and procurement platform that automates the entire Request to Reconciliation process for finance and procurement teams. The PayEm platform is pre-integrated into your ERP, organically developed, and designed to meet your needs. Whether pre-approval, post-approval, or no-approval, PayEm helps to create a “culture of accountability…”
3Injectiv
$150M | Equity | NYC | Blockchain | Pantera Capital, Kucoin Ventures, Jump Crypto, Delphi Labs, Gate Labs, Flow Traders, IDG Capital, Kraken Ventures | https://injectivelabs.org/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Injective Labs is a core contributor to Injective, the blockchain built for finance. Injective is an open, interoperable network that uniquely provides solutions for DeFi developers. Cosmos IBC and Ethereum compatible, Injective is a hub for dApps shaping the future of finance…”
4Blockstream
$125M | Equity | Canada | Crypto | Kingsway Capital, Fulgur Ventures | https://blockstream.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Blockstream’s mission is to create the financial infrastructure of the future. We build crypto-financial infrastructure based on Bitcoin, the most robust and secure blockchain. Applying cutting-edge cryptography and security engineering, we’re building the products and networks that make financial markets more efficient by reducing reliance on trust…”
5Tranch
$100M, Seed | Equity & Credit | UK | Payments | Soma Capital, Founders X, Global Founders Capital, Y Combinator, Clear Haven Capital Management | https://tranch.com/
Website Overview:
“The tranch vision was born out of frustration with the lack of payment options for large invoices, like the “buy now, pay later” we see everywhere in the consumer world. These large invoices included anything from new CRM platforms, SaaS products across CX, tech, infrastructure, marketing, above-the-line campaigns, and legal fees – all the way to reserving cloud capacity…”
