welcome to Fintech TechCrunch! This week, we look at Human Interest’s path to an IPO, fintech’s newest unicorn, a series of new fundraising rounds and more.
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The big story
401k provider focused on small businesses Human interest announced last week $267 million financing roundpaving the way for a public listing. No timeline was given. CFO Tripp Faix told TechCrunch, “We’re looking to become a publicly traded company when the time is right.” It’s been crazy to watch this company grow. I first covered Human Interest when it raised $40 million in Series C in March 2020. He raised a few more Sleeves before BlackRock acquired a minority stake in the company in January 2023. Impressively, the company claims that it is “approaching breakeven and has sufficient cash on the balance sheet to fund continued growth of over 70% year-over-year without additional capital.” Fun fact: Layoffs.fyi’s founder Roger Lee co-founded Human Interest in 2015 and remains a director on its board.
Analysis of the week
Fintech unicorns are becoming as rare as a four-leaf clover. According to CB Insights State of Fintech Report Q2The number of new fintech unicorns born in the second quarter stands at just two. For comparison, in the second quarter of 2021, 49 new fintech unicorns were born. Altruistica custodian for registered investment advisors (RIAs), raised $169 million in a Series E funding round in May led by investment firm ICONIQ Growth, giving it a valuation of more than $1.5 billion. And in April, the Parisian startup Pigment raised $145 million funding roundvaluing it at $1 billion just five years after its founding. The enterprise software company offers a business planning platform that allows large companies to visualize their past financial performance and forecast future quarters. Will we see more unicorns in 2024? Scroll down to learn more about one of them.
Dollars and cents
Starting a Digital Ledger API Fragment raised $9 million fintech infrastructure executives from Stripe, BoxGroup, Avid Ventures, Zach Perret (Plaid) and Jack Altman (Lattice).
Sidea startup that describes itself as “a financial services platform for the future of transportation,” has raised $40 million in Series B funding led by ICONIQ Growth — just four months after the announcement $25 million round table.
Astora free personal finance platform for women that merges community and investing in an accessible way, raised $1.4 million.
Supported by Sam Altman SlopeSilicon Valley-based B2B payments platform delivering order-to-cash workflow automation for businesses, has secured JP Morgan Payments as a leader a new strategic financing round in equity and debt of $65 million.
Materaa Brazilian company that provides instant payments, QR code payments and core banking software to financial institutions, has received an investment of 100 million dollars by Warburg Pincus.
What else do we write?
Indian Fintech Paytm’s The struggles show no sign of stopping. The company announced on Friday reported that its revenue fell 36% and its losses more than doubled in the first quarter, as it continues to face a regulatory crackdown that has significantly reduced the business of its payments banking subsidiary.
Fast growing payroll service provider Share has made another acquisition — its third this year. Deel has acquired Hofya London-based company that provides and helps manage office equipment for remote employees. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch the deal is worth more than $100 million.
African Fintech for Money Transfers Weighing is in the final stages of acquiring the required licenses for deployment in the United Stateswhich has just been launched in 27 European countries after having enjoyed success in Canada.
High Interest Securities
Tiger Global in talks to lead $500m Revolut stock deal
At the heart of fintech’s new unicorn: a credit card backed by your home
Capstack Technologies acquires Edge Tradeworks
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