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BFD Expert Voices - Private Credit

BFD Expert Voices

Curbwaste, a SaaS software and payments provider to the waste management industry, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Flourish Ventures, the company tells Ryan exclusively.

Why it matters: Investors are betting on vertical-specific software players to successfully integrate fintech offerings into their platforms.

Context: New York-based CurbWaste provides a SaaS platform for managing waste and recycling operations.

Its software includes CRM, task management, route logistics, fleet tracking and data reporting, as well as online ordering, invoicing, payments and asset management.

The company recently launched an integrated e-commerce offering enabling its customers to receive orders directly through their own websites.

By the numbers: About 95% of CurbWaste's SaaS subscribers also use the company's embedded payments, CurbWaste founder Michael Marmo says.

As a result, the payments business now processes $3 million in monthly transactions for its customers.

Zoom out: According to Marmo, the company serves 70 haulers and disposal centers in 30 states across urban, suburban and rural settings.

The system therefore must be adaptable enough to accommodate different workflows, but also how different regulatory bodies approach their local markets.

"All waste is local," he says. "Not only is every state very different, but every city is very different. You have rural, suburban and urban settings, and each one of those settings has very different dynamics to it."

Of note: This is one of the first new investments to be announced by Flourish since it secured $350 million in new capital from sole LP Pierre Omidyar.

Flourish managing partner Emmalyn Shaw says that when it comes to waste management, "there's a real opportunity to take a lot of disparate, poorly constructed point solutions and create a comprehensive cloud-based solution that includes workflow, routing, billing and payments."

Flashback: CurbWaste announced a $4 million seed extension in April led by TTV Capital, with participation from existing investors Mucker Capital and B Capital.

All together, it has raised $20 million since being founded in 2022.

The intrigue: Given the recent seed extension, Marmo says the company wasn't looking to fundraise again until mid- to late 2024 but opportunistically reached a deal with Flourish.

"One thing that Flourish really brought to the table was this fundamental understanding of how vertical SaaS can add value," Marmo says.

"They have a very specific ethos, which is this idea that vertical [SaaS] takes time, and you really have to understand the customer pain in order to do it."

What's next: With the new funding, CurbWaste plans to invest more deeply in its fintech offerings to include automated billing, embedded lending and payouts.

1 big thing: $10M for waste management software

Illustration of a dollar bill being tossed in a garbage

ABN Amro has agreed to acquire Amsterdam-based online brokerage Bux for an undisclosed sum, Ryan writes.

Context: Founded in 2013, Bux was one of the earliest neobrokers to offer commission-free trading of stocks and ETFs in Europe. 

The firm claims to serve 500,000 clients across eight markets, with 90% of those based in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Between the lines: As a minority investor in Bux and as its clearing provider since 2019, ABN Amro is well acquainted with the startup's business.

Following the close of the deal, ABN Amro and Bux together will become the leading trading platform for investors in the Netherlands.

The deal is also said to include "additional growth investment" that will be used to expand its reach.

Yes, but: The deal does not include Bux's crypto trading business.

Flashback: Bux last raised venture funding in early 2021 as part of an $80 million round led by Prosus Ventures and Tencent.

The firm has faced challenges more recently, however, including a retreat from the U.K. market and mass layoffs.

Earlier this year, Bux had been linked to German neobank N26 and U.S.-based stock-trading startup Public.com as a possible acquisition target, but both deals fell through.

Of note: The deal is subject to regulatory approval, but the companies say it is expected to be finalized in 2024.

2. The BFD: ABN Amro buys Bux

Binkey, a fintech helping businesses accept FSA and HSA payments, raised $3.3 million in seed funding, CEO Obiaku Ohiaeri Axios Health Tech's Aaron Weitzman reports exclusively.

Why it matters: More than 40% of workers with FSAs forfeited at least part of their account contributions in recent years.

Details: The round was led by Wellington Access Ventures, the early venture arm of Wellington Management.

Springtide Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, and Third Culture Capital also participated.

Of note: "This round of funding will support us in increasing our revenue; the revenue we generate is really what shapes our runway," Ohiaeri says.

How it works: The D.C.-based company's name is an acronym for "benefits and incentives key." It's designed to help unlock restricted spending benefits and incentives for health care consumers.

Binkey analyzes item-level purchasing data, authenticating FSA/HSA-eligible purchases, processing payments and streamlining reimbursement.

For merchant partners, the platform allows them to offer a way for their customers to maximize their health benefits while shopping for health-related products at their store.

The company also has Binkey Rewind, which lets financial institutions and technology platforms offer their customers an automated way to analyze their historical purchases for FSA eligible products and automates the claim filing process, depositing the reimbursement funds directly back to the customer's bank account.

3. Health spend fintech seeded

Illustration of a credit card shaped like a health plus.

💳 U.K. proposes capping some Visa, Mastercard fees (Bloomberg)

The U.K.'s Payment Systems Regulator said it's concerned the payment giants have no effective competition, especially regarding interchange fees they charge U.K. merchants when cards issued by a bank in the European Economic Area are used in an online purchase.

🤝 Google Pay adds Affirm and Zip as payment options (The Information)

Users with Android phones will be able to select the buy now, pay later providers as a payment option when they check out using the apps or mobile websites for some merchants.

📈 Coinbase to offer spot crypto trading outside U.S. (Bloomberg)

Institutional investors can initially trade bitcoin and ether against the USDC stablecoin on the international platform, which currently focuses on derivatives.

4. Credit score

Illustration of a Scrabble board with letter tiles spelling "credit."

Want more fintech deals? Check out the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

• Udaan, an Indian B2B e-commerce startup, raised $340m in Series E funding led by the investment arm of the U.K. retail bank M&G. Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global also participated. https://axios.link/3RGbLN1 

• Qogita, a Dutch wholesale procurement platform for retailers in the health and beauty sectors, raised €80m in Series B funding. Dawn Capital led and was joined by Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners and LocalGlobe. https://axios.link/4agRSDz

• Andalusia Labs, an Abu Dhabi-based digital asset risk infrastructure startup, raised $48m in Series A funding at a reported valuation north of $1b. Lightspeed Venture Partners led and was joined by Mubadala Capital and insiders Pantera Capital, Framework Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures and Digital Currency Group. https://axios.link/3uYlrdb

• Kapital, a Mexico City-based bank and technology platform, raised $40m in Series B funding led by Tribe Capital, with participation from Cervin Ventures, Tru Arrow, MS&AD Ventures and Alumni Ventures. It also secured $125m in debt financing. https://axios.link/48ikA5q

• Meniga, a London-based digital bank, raised €15m in Series D funding from backers including Groupe BPCE, Crédito Agrícola and Omega. https://axios.link/3NnRKsf

• Prometeo, a fintech infrastructure startup for LatAm banks, raised a $13m Series A round led by Antler Elevate with participation from PayPal Ventures. prometeoapi.com

• Lolli, a New York-based bitcoin and cashback rewards startup, raised $8m in Series B funding. Bitkraft Ventures led and was joined by Sfermion, Ulta Beauty's Prisma Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, Rahul Pagidipati, 2 Punks Capital, and MZ Web3 Fund. Also participating were prior investors Seven Seven Six, Founders Fund, Bain Capital Ventures, Serena Ventures, Michelle Phan, Logan Paul, Pir Granoff, Night Media and Animal Capital. https://axios.link/3RHe42v

• Hyperplane, a San Francisco-based developer of customer behavior models for banks, raised $6m. Lachy Groom led and was joined by SV Angel, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, Soma Capital, Latitud, Atman Capital, Crestone VC and Norte. https://axios.link/489BUtL

• Prevu, a New York-based online real estate platform, raised $6m in Series A funding from Citi, Alpaca Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, RiverPark Ventures, Metropolis Ventures, Simplex Ventures, Liebenthal Ventures, Alpaca VC, TYH Ventures and Blue Ivy Ventures. https://axios.link/3GLjmDX

• Pave Bank, a multi-asset regulated commercial bank, raised $5.2m in seed funding led by 468 Capital with participation from Quona Capital, FT Partners, BR Capital, w3.fund, Daedalus and angel investors. pavebank.com

• Stairs Financial, a New York-based mortgage marketplace, raised $3.5m in seed funding led by Zigg Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Antler, Exceptional Capital and others. stairsfinancial.com

• Maka, an African fashion and beauty e-commerce platform, raised a $2.65m  pre-seed round led by 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital. https://axios.link/3GJwQQy

• Paynest, a financial well-being platform, raised €2m in seed funding led by Lince Capital, along with BlueCrow Capital, TechTree CTT and M4 Ventures. https://axios.link/47WzZsj

• NodeKit, developer of a shared sequencer L1 built on an Avalanche Subnet, raised $1.2m in pre-seed funding. Borderless Capital led and was joined by Avalanche's Blizzard Fund, Polygon Ventures and Wormhole Cross-Chain Ecosystem Fund. https://axios.link/3NsgiAt

• Envestnet (NYSE: ENV) is seeking to sell Yodlee, a Berwyn, Pa.-based data aggregator it acquired in 2015 for $590m, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3Ntz8qF

• TMX Group (TSX: X), owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, paid US$848m to acquire an additional 78% stake in VettaFi, a New York-based indexing and analytics firm in which it already held a 21% position. It also will assume around $100m in VettaFi debt. https://axios.link/3ToWeT1

• M2P Fintech, an Indian API infrastructure provider, acquired transaction behavior intelligence company Goals101 for around $30m. https://axios.link/3uSP6nM

5. Deals!

• Megan Cooper, former chief product officer and head of digital strategy at Barclays, joined ClearBank as chief product officer. https://axios.link/3RF1zEI

• Curtis Ting, former head of global operations at Kraken, joined Blockchain.com to help create local entities across Europe. The company also plans to expand its workforce by 25% in the first quarter as it seeks to expand into new markets. https://axios.link/41kF1w0

• Carol Haverty and Esther Krabbe Silveira joined Plooto as VP of partnerships and VP of risk, respectively. https://axios.link/41nTyqW

6. It's personnel

📈 Situational awareness: Stocks rallied yesterday after the Federal Reserve hinted significant rate cuts are coming in the new year. 

🍻 @Ryan is excited to meet some of his fellow Philly Axions tonight.

🏙️ @George is in NYC for Axios Communicators tonight. 

Thanks to Rob Reinalda for today's edits.

And thanks to you for reading. Please tell your fintech friends about this newsletter. They can sign up here.

December 14, 2023

1 big thing: $10M for waste management software