MVO BLOG
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Dave Inc., a West Hollywood-based fintech and banking app company aimed at “leveling the financial playing field,” will go public on the Nasdaq under the tickers DAVE and DAVEW in early 2022.
In preparation for its impending business combination with Dave, the publicly traded special purpose acquisition company VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings III Inc. announced on Dec. 20 that it would withdraw the listing of its Class A common stocks and warrants.
The companies, which merged under the name Dave Inc., anticipate the Class A common stock and warrants will commence trading on Nasdaq on or about Jan. 6, the day after the combination is expected to officially take place.
The planned merger gives the company, backed by big names like Mark Cuban and Capital One Financial Corp., a $4 billion valuation.
👉 Read the full business journal article written by Steven Crighton here.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
The past year was bigger, better, and bolder for the FinTech sector. Startups and firms at all levels observed remarkable growth across segments, geographies, and business models.
Several fintech behemoths went public in 2021 and an overwhelming majority of them chose to do so before turning profitable! With this momentum, choosing the most suitable exit strategy becomes the next task at hand.
Here’s a roundup of the exit strategy trends that we witnessed in 2021.
👉 Check the full WhiteSight overview by Sanjeev Kumar and Risav Chakraborty here.
📰 ARTICLE
Alternative investments are having a moment. Their popularity has surged over the last decade, with the asset class growing from just over $3 trillion in 2008 to more than $10 trillion in 2019, according to data provider Preqin.
Institutions have fueled a large part of this growth, investing at a record pace into alternatives like crypto, private companies, and real estate.
Alto’s self-directed IRA platform provides a simpler, more affordable option for individuals to invest their retirement savings into alternatives, according to the company.
Alto hosts nearly 20,000 funded accounts representing close to $1 billion in assets, Satz said — and 40% of the accounts are dedicated to holding cryptocurrency, he added.
Alto announced it has raised $40 million in Series B funding led by Advance Venture Partners, whose founder and managing partner David T. ibnAle is set to join the company’s board of directors.
👉 Read the full Techcrunch article written by Anita Ramaswamy here.
👨💻 BLOG
💬 INTERVIEW
When Insider Intelligence talked with Carolyn Feinstein, Varo Bank’s chief marketing and advertising, expansion, and design and style officer, she plotted Varo’s expansion trajectory with the marketing funnel.
That common design depicts a customer’s journey via all the levels of intimacy with a brand name. The funnel begins with a simple recognition of the brand and ends with advocacy— if consumers like it enough, they promote the manufacturer to other folks.
“Like lots of firms at our lifetime stage, we have concentrated our marketing and advertising financial commitment at the bottom of the marketing funnel.
👉 Read the interview here.
🎤 PODCAST
The podcast recommendation of the week belongs to Cause Artist and their episode 121 of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast. Host Grant Trahant speaks with Rodney Williams, Co-founder of SoLo Funds, on building a non-predatory FinTech startup for underserved communities in America.
SoLo’s story starts the way every SoLo request begins: with someone needing a hand. Co-founders Travis Holoway & Rodney Williams were noticing that family members, friends, and roommates were asking for financial help here and there, and they understood why. There weren’t any fair, reputable options for small, short-term loans.
👉 Listen to the full episode here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🇺🇸 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Paytech Rêv has launched its X World Wallet app to US customers nationwide. Link here.
⭐️ Financial institutions can now access Unifimoney's digital wealth management services via Q2 Innovation Studio. Link here.
⭐️The NFT auction marketplace OpenSea had a blockbuster 2021 and as a result is seeing its private valuation grow more quickly than almost any other startup. Link here.
⭐️Why Chime Should Keep Bankers Up at Night in 2022. Link here.
DIGITAL BANKING
FinTech challenger bank Chime can continue using terms like “no overdraft fees” and “no hidden fees” after the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs determined that the advertising for its “SpotMe” program disclosed the necessary information.
NAD found that Chime’s homepage contains adequate wording. However, it took issue with the size of the font that qualifies the “no fees” claim, and also noted that Chime’s television commercials “could more clearly qualify the ‘no hidden fees’ claim”.
👉 Read the full Pymnts article here.
VC FUNDS
Ribbit Capital, a venture firm best known for its fintech investments, has raised $1.15 billion in new capital in what appears to be a close of its seventh fund, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The new fund, dubbed Ribbit Capital VII LP, is believed to be the final close of the fund. The amount is significantly higher than the $750 million the firm was said to be raising in March of 2021. It is also more than double the $420 million it raised in its sixth fund in January of 2020.
👉 Read the full Techcrunch article written by Mary Ann Azevedo here.
PAYMENTS
In recent years, there has been a growing number of startups trying to make credit more accessible to consumers. One such startup, Petal, announced today that it has raised a $140 million Series D round of funding. The company’s new valuation is $800 million — more than triple what Petal was valued at when it announced a $55 million Series C round in September of 2020, according to a source familiar with the transaction. Link here.
Skio, a startup that aims to take the pain out of selling subscriptions for brands on Shopify, has raised $3.7 million in a seed funding round. Kennan Davison, an engineer who previously worked at Hulu and Pinterest, founded the startup in April. He describes Skio as a fintech and an infrastructure company as a pivot from a previous idea that had gone through Y Combinator. Link here.
INVESTMENT
In 2021, Wefunder published an “Impact Report” that highlighted the value created by the online investment platform. At that time, Wefunder reported that it had funded 1759 founders, originating $386 million from 1.35 million investors, while creating more than 24,000 jobs. Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.