Non-sexy industries can appeal to investors too
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re looking at some hot fintech startups in Africa, how Mint’s closure has been Copilot’s gain and why VCs have doubled down on a particular expense management startup.
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The big story
While venture funding in Africa (like everywhere else in the world) has dropped in recent times, this past week was a good one for the region’s fintech ecosystem. TC reporter Tage Kene-Okafor reported on how Uber led a $100 million investment into African mobility fintech Moove as the startup’s valuation hit $750 million. He also wrote about how Zone raised $8.5 million to scale its decentralized payment infrastructure. And Annie Njanja reported on how Tanzanian payments company Nala’s successful pivot to offer remittance service in 2021 also led to it building a B2B payment platform.
Analysis of the week
Intuit’s decision to shutter budgeting app Mint has led to opportunity for startups in the space. Christine Hall wrote about how Copilot has grown more in the last four months than in the previous four years and the startup was able to parlay that growth into a $6 million Series A round of funding led by Nico Wittenborn’s Adjacent. TC previously reported on Copilot when it first launched with $250,000 in angel funding and then again when it added support for Apple Card. Monarch Money co-founder Ozzie Osman had also told TechCrunch that Mint’s loss was their gain.
Dollars and cents
Non-sexy industries can appeal to investors too. Expense management startup Coast is going after businesses with so-called real-world field personnel and fleets to manage. It claims to have seen 550% revenue growth last year and just attracted another $25 million in equity funding.
Digital bank Onyx Private is pivoting to B2B. The YC-backed startup raised $4.1 million last year with the goal of serving high-earning millennials and Gen Zers. But then last week, it told customers it was terminating bank operations and closing their accounts.
Swiss fintech nsave, which is making banking in Switzerland accessible to people in countries with unstable banking sectors or those facing high inflation, has raised $4 million seed funding.
What else we’re writing
Despite all the recent growth in fintech, Eric Glyman, the co-founder and CEO of Ramp, thinks that the industry, and companies like his, are just scratching the surface. Glyman recently said on the TechCrunch Found podcast that despite how much his unicorn corporate card and expense startup has grown so far, it’s only tapped in to 1% of its potential market share. Fun fact: Both Ramp and Deel turned five this week — just one day apart.
In its wide-ranging antitrust complaint against Apple and its iPhone business, the U.S. Justice Department takes specific aim against Apple’s massive financial business.
Other high-interest headlines
An unexpected pairing: Bolt and Checkout.com team for frictionless commerce
Rewards startup Fetch taps private credit boom, raising $50 million from Morgan Stanley
Wealthfront puts off IPO plans
Affirm Holdings director Keith Rabois sells shares worth over $318K
Cloud banking tech provider nCino acquires DocFox
Marco raises $12 million to support LatAm trade finance
PayPal-Backed NX Technologies raises $24 million to streamline automotive payments
Prizepool receives cease & desist from FDIC for false and misleading statements
DLocal appoints Pedro Arnt as CEO As Sebastián Kanovich steps back
Ryan Zauk has joined OMERS Ventures as a fintech investor
ICYMI: Klarna takes aim at Visa, Mastercard with open banking push
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