REPORT
👉 Download the full Silicon Valley Bank report about The State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups: 2021 here
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Guava has received seed funding from venture capital firms Backstage Capital and Precursor Ventures. It is launching a private beta and will gradually roll it out to the approximately 1,000 people who have signed up. The Guava team will be working towards a wider public launch where essentially anyone who wants to be part of the community of Black business owners can sign up and open an account in minutes. As a founder, Kelly Ifill says she’s feeling the pressure of trying to create something new from the ground up and all the expectations that carries but is driven by her mission to help entrepreneurs.
“The racial wealth gap makes it nearly impossible for Black founders to raise a ‘friends and family round’ and we were helping them fill a gap by making introductions to strategic partners, whether they were angel investors or industry experts.”
👉 Read the full interview here.
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📊 INFOGRAPHIC
The Race To The Super App by Financial Technology Partners / FT Partners report, includes use cases and interviews with MoneyLion, Klarna, Affirm, Curve, Tinkoff, Upgrade, Inc., Revolut, N26, Monzo Bank, Chime, and more. Download the full report 👉 here
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NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🇺🇸 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Robinhood’s losses widened substantially in Q4 as tumbling average user spend hurt trading. The digital broker may be forced to expand its offerings to limit future losses. Link here
⭐️Revere, a New York-based capital markets network and deal marketplace for commercial real estate (“CRE”) brokers, developers, owners, lenders, and investors, raised $5M in funding. Link here.
DIGITAL BANKING
Upgrade, Inc., a Fintech platform that combines mobile banking, credit, payments, and more in a “Super App,” has added a new feature: Shopping. Link here
Novo, the powerfully simple small business banking platform sponsored by Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., launched the Novo Virtual Card to provide small businesses with a fast, safe payment method that’s available from the moment they fund their Novo account. Link here
Human rights activist and Mos founder Amira Yahyaoui is expanding Mos into a challenger bank. Link here
Galileo Financial Technologies announced that business-to-business payments innovator Global Rewards are using Galileo’s cloud-based technology platform and powerful APIs to usher in a new era of growth for the company. Link here
VC FUNDS
Venture capital firm Founders Fund has led new investment in Ramp, a corporate credit card and spending management software startup that is less than three years old, at an $8 billion valuation, including the investment, said two people familiar with the matter. Link here
Streetbeat announced that it has closed $10M in seed funding led by TTV Capital with additional backing from investors including Seraph Group and AAF Management Ltd. Link here
PAYMENTS
Cross River Bank is joining forces with fintech PayTile to deliver a peer-to-peer payments app that uses geo-location technology. Link here
Global FinTech Startup, QisstPay is launching its 1-Click Checkout product in the U.S., merchants can sign up for one of the world's fastest online checkout experiences. Link here
Apple announced plans to introduce Tap to Pay on iPhone. The new capability will empower millions of merchants across the US, from small businesses to large retailers, to use their iPhone to seamlessly and securely accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets through a simple tap to their iPhone — no additional hardware or payment terminal needed. Link here
OPEN BANKING
Newt Corporation, an integrated platform for digital financial services, announced that it has entered into a service agreement with Belvo, Open Banking API Platform to service its lending-as-a-service offering across North America. Link here
CRYPTO
DriveWealth, the SoftBank Group Corp.-backed start-up that helps fintech firms including Revolut offer stocks, is getting into cryptocurrency trading, CNBC has learned. Link here
Wirex, a leading digital payments platform, has launched its services in the US, giving millions of people more affordable, easy and secure access to crypto and fiat currencies in everyday life. Link here
Digital investment advisor Betterment is joining the crypto goldrush through the acquisition of Makara. Financial terms were not disclosed. Link here
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Airwallex, a global fintech platform, announces the growth of its U.S. team with two key senior hires across its business development, partnerships, legal, and compliance teams as the business accelerates its growth in the U.S. and globally. Link here
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.