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BFD Expert Voices - Fintech Deals

Fintech Deals Thought Bubble

Jan. 9 — C14, a New York-based web3 payments firm, is coming to market having raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst, the company told Ryan exclusively.

Why it matters: With Wyre winding down, there's an opportunity for alternative crypto on-ramps — particularly in emerging markets.

Read the rest of the story and Monday's newsletter

Plus: Monday's Pro Rata, with a look at AstraZeneca's latest deal  

1. A new crypto on-ramp takes off

Jan. 9 — Montreal-based payments company Nuvei has agreed to acquire Paya for $1.3 billion in cash, the two announced Monday.

Why it matters: A string of payments companies that went public during the pandemic are now being acquired or going private, Lucinda wrote.

The big picture: The payments market was rapidly consolidating even before the pandemic, with larger players such as FIS and Fiserv snapping up smaller businesses to boost growth.

2. Nuvei heads south for growth

Jan. 10 — The Nuvei deal kicked off the payments speculation game for 2023, Lucinda wrote. 

Why it matters: More consolidation in the space is seen as inevitable, and the game is on to see which company could be the next M&A target.

Driving the news: Truist Securities analysts identified a handful of  smaller, publicly traded companies ripe for takeover.

The note lists fintechs Repay, Green Dot, Shift4, Euronet, and WEX as  the "greatest potential beneficiaries of these announced transactions as investors consider other potential acquisition targets."

Truist also pointed to Lightspeed Commerce, Affirm, Marqeta, and Flywire as potential targets.

Read the rest of this story and Tuesday's newsletter

Plus:  Tuesday's Pro Rata, with a look at the Feds' plan to crackdown on VCs

3. Who's next in payments deals? 

Jan. 10 — Boston-based insurtech startup Wunderite has raised $7.2 million in Series A funding led by existing investor Spark Capital, the company told Ryan exclusively.

Why it's important: The funding is driven in part by the insurance industry’s size and its over-reliance on both antiquated software and pen-and-paper workflows. 

4. Wunderite secures a $7.2M infusion

Jan. 11 — Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital received initial court approval to move forward with its proposed sale to Binance.US, Ryan wrote.

Why it matters: The approval brings Binance.US one step closer to closing the acquisition, and Voyager Digital customers closer to recouping funds locked up during bankruptcy proceedings.

Read the rest of this story and Wednesday's newsletter

Plus: Wednesday's Pro Rata, which looks at the FTC's noncompete crackdown

5. Voyager deal gets court approval

Jan. 11 — Fidelity, one of the country’s largest retirement-plan providers, acquired equity management software maker, Shoobx, the two entities announced.

Why it's important: Fidelity’s own equity management business, Stock Plan Services, largely focuses on publicly traded businesses. The Shoobx acquisition signals it sees opportunity in servicing even the youngest of tech businesses, despite the space’s correction, Lucinda wrote.

6. Fidelity goes early-stage

(Photo by Jb Reed/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Jan. 12 — Fintech Canary, which helps employers set up emergency relief funds for workers, raised $2.9 million in seed funding from investors including Capital One Ventures, the company told Lucinda exclusively.

Why it's important: Americans' lack of emergency savings came to the fore during the pandemic, prompting a wave of employers to offer crisis funding benefits. Venture investors have taken note.

Read the rest of this story and Thursday's newsletter

Plus: Thursday's Pro Rata, which highlights an Axios scoop on the China trade war.

7. Emergency employee money

⌨️ Editor Michael Flaherty here with the first weekly digest of 2023. A lot of activity this week, with M&A in the payments world and yet another hit to Stripe's valuation. 

To begin the year, the sector has delivered a mixed bag of positive and negative signs. 

🙏 Thank you for reading this and for tuning in each weekday to our newsletter. 

Have a great long weekend; we'll be with you again on Tuesday. Don't forget to tell your fintech fans and friends to sign up for this newsletter, and send along any payments industry takeover candidate ideas that weren't put forth in that Truist note.  

January 13, 2023

1. A new crypto on-ramp takes off