Fintech Update, 10/31 - 11/6

Nov 07, 2022

Hi! It’s Monday, November 7, 2022.

JPMorgan announced that it is launching a pilot platform for property owners and tenants that automates online rent payments, betting that landlords and tenants are ready to ditch paper checks. The bank estimates the size of the rental market is $500B annually, with some 78% payments still being made with paper checks. The platform, called Story, aims to become an all-in-one property management solution and is a part of investment bank’s $12 million / year drive to build digital experiences and fend off fintech competition.

Amazon, in partnership with growth capital provider Parafin, launched a new financing solution for sellers. Structured as a merchant cash advance, the solution gives sellers access to capital in a matter of days in exchange for a fixed percentage of future gross merchandise sales with no minimum payments, no interest, and no collateral required. The solution, which allows eligible businesses to access capital from $500 up to $10 million, rolls out to “some U.S. based businesses today and will be available to hundreds of thousands of eligible sellers by early 2023.”

The CFPB announced that it is seeking additional public comments on its inquiry into big tech payment platforms. In October 2021, the CFPB issued orders to six large U.S. technology companies, requesting information on their payment system and how they manage payments data.

Layoffs continued to impact high profile fintech firms:
- Stripe laid off 1,120 employees, some 14% of its workforce.
- Chime laid off around 160 employees, some 12% of its workforce.
- Lending platform Upstart laid off 140 employees, some 7% of its workforce.
- European spend management company Pleo laid off around 150 employees, some 15% of its workforce.
Digital asset platform Bakkt announced that it will acquire crypto trading infrastructure company Apex Crypto for up to $200 million. Bakkt will “initially pay $55 million in cash at the closing of the deal, and up to $145 million in Bakkt stock and seller notes upon achievement of some financial targets.”

Private equity firm Cinven announced that it will acquire preparation software provider TaxAct for $720 million in an all cash deal.

Goldman unveiled a classification system for crypto assets called Datonomy that aims to clarify the expanding universe of tokens for institutional investors.

Fidelity is launching commission-free crypto trading for retail investors (limited to Bitcoin and Ethereum).

The Reading Nook

Digital family office Arta publicly announced that it has raised $90 million across seed and Series A funding rounds.
Loop, a company at the intersection of logistics and payments tackling erroneous freight invoices, publicly announced two prior funding rounds - a $6 million seed round in 2021 and a $24 million Series A round led by Founders Fund earlier this year.
B2B payment platform Fintechture raised $26 million in Series A funding.
Haven, the homeownership platform for mortgage servicers, raised $8 million in Series A funding.
Retirement planning company Retirable raised $6 million in a funding round led by Primary.
Treasury management company Vesto raised $2.8 million in seed funding.