Staying on the beat – August 2 – August 9 2021
From Startups to Funding
Octane raises $52m in Series D
Helping people finance large recreational purchases -and now with a $900m+ valuation led by Progressive Investment Company. CEO and co-founder Jason Guss projects that the company will see “over $100 million in revenue” this year. Its valuation is now “more than double” what it was at the time of its July 2020 $25 million raise.
Fintech-as-a-Service Rapyd raises $300 million
Catering to the global demand for digital payments infrastructure, Rapyd is planning to further invest in its product offerings and target growth opportunities through a series of strategic acquisitions.
Element Ventures closed $130 million
The London-based fund that will invest in B2B fintech startups at the Series A and B stages and is backed by NEX Group founder Lord Spencer, as well as Isomer Capital, Ullink founder Laurent Useldinger and others.
Big Beats
Square buys BNPL giant Afterpay for $29 billion
Buy Now, Pay later (BNPL) is in a boom, with many comapanies acquiring or expanding into the consumer and commercial adoption of the service. “The key to BNPL success for non-credit card issuers will be the size and strength of their merchant ecosystem – and how well they embed the product at the point of sale – and this is certainly where Square is strong” – Alyson Clarke, Principal Analyst at Forrester.
Ethereum updated – transactions fees streamlined & burned
Refroming the gas-price of transacting, The London Hard Fork are a set of five Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs). EIP-1559, a process is described as renovating your house while living in it, but is a big step toward Ethereum 2.0.
Miners no longer get compensated with user transaction fees, which are ‘burned’, but benefit from stability and potential value increases.
Regulatory
Over potential money laundering breaches – Monzo the UK bank revealed the investigation in its latest annual report, which also showed the six-year-old bank kept losses stable in its last financial year despite taking a heavy hit at the start of the pandemic.
US Senators file Crypto Broker Amendment.
On the infrastructure bill, after industry backlash, If included – the amendment would be a win for the crypto industry, whose advocates have said was at risk of losing innovators and investors interested in doing crypto business in the U.S. These advocates said that the original language could also force some companies to shut down if they can’t comply or move offshore.
More from PCN:
João Moura, Co-founder and CEO and Nathan Troussdell, Co-founder and COO of Fraudio
We’re back with In Check with Fintech! Tune into this week’s episode in which we talk to João Moura, Co-founder, and CEO, and Nathan Troussdell, Co-founder and COO of Fraudio about the impact of the pandemic on fraud patterns and behavior. Enjoy listening!
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