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🌎 Situational awareness: In March, Bybit surpassed Coinbase to become the world's second-largest crypto exchange. Bitcoin ETFs helped bolster the company.

Fintech companies with at least one female co-founder raised 3.4% of all funding in the sector in 2023, data from venture capital firm Anthemis shows.

Why it matters: The sector has fallen significantly behind the broader startup space, where an estimated 25% of all startup funding went to companies that had at least one female founder, per Pitchbook.

Zoom in: Fintechs with at least one woman founder raised $1.2 billion in the year, including Clearco, Nova Credit and Clara Analytics.

Women-only teams raised less than 13% of that.

Context: That comes as the percentage of funding going to startups with least one female founder has been slowly gaining ground — despite a broader pushback against diversity initiatives last year.

Last year, the metric hit a new peak as investors poured funding into AI startups OpenAI and Anthropic — both of which have female co-founders.

Between the lines: 2023 was a triage year for investors, with many doubling down on existing companies or repeat founders — groups that have historically been male-dominated.

"Whenever there is a slowdown in the dip in the market, it's usually the diverse founders that suffer," says Anthemis' Bukie Adebo Umeano.

What they're saying: There are pockets of optimism, Umeano says, noting that the growing embedded finance trend is giving rise to more diverse founders. Vertical payment company GlossGenius is one example.

"It blurs the lines with other industries," she says. 

The bottom line: As it stands now, fintech holds up to its stereotype as one of the worst sectors for female co-founders, per data from Carta.

Fintech was one of the sectors with the fewest female founders, beaten only by Energy, Gaming, and Hardware/Electronics.

Carta calculated the percentage of female founders by industry creating new companies in 2023. 

Female-founded fintechs get just 3.4% of funding

Illustration of a woman with a laptop sitting on a small stack of cash next to a man with a laptop sitting on a large stack of cash.

Justin Grooms, who succeeded Maju Kuruvilla as Bolt CEO in March on an interim basis, tells Axios exclusively that his role is now permanent.

Why it's the BFD: Sticking with Grooms — a five-year-veteran of the company — brings stability to a fintech company trying to regain its footing.

Zoom in: In addition to filling the role, the new CEO will be moving to and running the remote-first company from Washington, D.C., he says.

Catch up quick: Kuruvilla exited Bolt, a facilitator of one-click online shopping checkouts, after about two years on the job.

That followed the departure of CFO Scott Stockberger in November and chief product officer Greg Greiner last September.

What they're saying: Previously head of sales, Grooms will fill the role "as long as they'll have me," he says of his tenure.

Yes, but: He declined to comment on the composition of the board of directors and its governance role.

The board's composition was notably at the center of an investor's lawsuit against the company, with former investors accusing founder and chairman Ryan Breslow of controlling the body. Bolt has shed several members over nine months.

The latest: Bolt is seeking to go through a reset by "becoming the standard for digital identity online for shoppers," Grooms says.

The company recently won several new large accounts, some of which will be announced in the coming months, he says.

The current client roster that the CEO says he is allowed to share includes Revolve, Casper, Saks Off Fifth, Shinola and Lafayette 148.

What's next: Bolt is building out its business overseas, Grooms says, where it "has some big battles to win."

💭 Our thought bubble: Bolt has been talented at winning buzzy new clients, but its challenge is keeping those partners happy. 

Client Authentic Brands Group sued Bolt in 2022 over breach of contract, asserting that Bolt's software was not ready when it was promised. The two settled the case a few months later.

Sports apparel company Fanatics also sued Bolt this year, saying the company reneged on its contract.

Bolt makes interim CEO permanent

Illustration of a pattern of leather office chairs.

❌ Judge rejects $30B swipe-fee settlement (WaPo)

U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie rejected a $30 billion settlement that would have capped the fees Visa and Mastercard charge to merchants for credit and debit card purchases.

🇭🇰 WeBank gets approval to set up subsidiary in HK (SCMP)

Tencent-backed WeBank, which received $150 million to establish a Hong Kong unit, has received regulatory approval from the mainland to set it up. The Hong Kong subsidiary will manage its overseas business.

📱 Flipkart launches payments app (TechCrunch)

The Indian e-commerce giant quietly started rolling out its Super.money app, which enables users to make mobile payments via UPI. Super.money promises cash back for paying, sending or receiving money via the app.

📈 Klarna Plus reach 100,000 subscribers in U.S. (PYMNTS)

Introduced in January, the service lets members enjoy various features and offers, such as waived service fees on the Klarna One Time Card, rewards, and access to deals with popular brands in the Klarna app.

Credit score

Illustration of a referee's hand holding a whistle and a red card that says "credit score."

Go deeper into our full database with the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

• Fetcherr, an Israeli pricing, inventory and publishing platform, raised $90m in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures. fetcherr.io

• Conduit, an on-chain compute startup, raised $37m in Series A funding. Haun Ventures and Paradigm co-led and were joined by Robot Ventures, Credibly Neutral, Coinbase Ventures and Bankless Ventures. conduit.xyz

• Norm Ai, a New York-based regulatory AI platform, raised a $27m Series A led by Coatue. Bain Capital Ventures, Blackstone, New York Life Ventures, Citi Ventures, TIAA Ventures and Tony James also participated. axios.link/3zkiPZd

• Payabli, a Miami-based payments infrastructure solution for software companies, raised $20m in Series A funding. QED Investors led and was joined by TTV Capital, Fika Ventures and Bling Capital. payabli.com

• Rainforest, an embedded payments platform for SaaS providers, raised a $20m Series A. Matrix Partners led and was joined by Accel, Infinity Ventures, BoxGroup, The Fintech Fund, Tech Square Ventures, and Ardent Venture Partners. axios.link/3xCMr3p

• Crossover Markets, a digital asset trading technology firm, raised a $12m Series A led by Illuminate Financial and DRW Venture Capital. axios.link/45DxKK5

• Covalent, a blockchain infrastructure startup, raised $5m in strategic funding led by RockTree Capital. CMCC Global, Moonrock Capital and Double Peak Group also participated. axios.link/4eAyC69

• RISR, a Philadelphia engagement platform for financial advisers, raised $1.5m from Kane Brenan, Angelo Grecco, Kevin Lucey, Scott Hildenbrand, Frank Coates and David Henkin. axios.link/4bsHisM

• Hamilton Lane made a strategic investment in Daphne Technologies, a New York platform that helps digitize the fundraising process. axios.link/4cCCbqJ

• Alliance Trust (LSE: ATST) agreed to merge with rival British investment trust Witan (LSE: WTAN), forming a company that manages £5b in assets. axios.link/3W0PRqd

• Animoca Brands, a crypto gaming conglomerate valued at $6b in 2022, is considering a public listing in Hong Kong or the Middle East as early as next year, co-founder Yat Siu told The Information. axios.link/4ct2waK

• Colosseum, a Solana-focused crypto group, raised $60m for its debut VC fund. axios.link/4bAurVv

Deals!

• Rich Rosenblum and Xin Song became co-CEOs at crypto market maker GSR. Former CEO Jakob Palmstierna will transition to president. axios.link/3RIskYs

• John Carey, former head of consumer experiences for Envestnet, joined Aquilance as CEO. axios.link/4cByUYD

It's personnel

😖 @Ryan can't believe the week is only half over.

 🤹‍♂️ @Lucinda is juggling a packed in-person meeting day.

Thanks to George Moriarty and Rob Reinalda for today's edits.

And thanks to you for reading this edition of Fintech Deals. Please tell your fintech friends and fraud preventers about this newsletter. They can sign up here.

June 26, 2024

1 big thing: Female-founded fintechs get just 3.4% of funding