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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
The arrival of Daylight Savings Time in much of the West is yet another reminder that Spring is right around the corner. Here’s Finovate’s Fintech Rundown with some fintech news—including some funding and partnership news from a handful of long-time Finovate alums—to help you get caught up on the latest updates and announcements in our industry.
Worthsecures $25 million investment led by TTV Capital to drive major enterprise growth and expand workflow automation solutions.
Dwolla announces the general availability of its expanded integration with Plaid, allowing its clients to leverage Plaid’s instant account verification and real-time balance check and pay-by-bank payments.
The summer heat usually comes with a slowing of news activity, and while this is generally still holding true this summer, there have been some notable merger and acquisition activity throughout the past few months.
This season, the fintech landscape has had its fair share of strategic moves, as companies look to expand their capabilities, enter new markets, and expand on their offerings. These acquisitions are not just reshaping individual companies but they are also working to build out what the future of financial technology will look like.
As venture capital funding has dwindled over the past few years, the fintech sector has had to get creative in staying afloat. That may be one reason why we are seeing a growth in deal numbers. Let’s dive into the top 10 fintech acquisitions so far this summer.
Pluto acquired by Robinhood
Robinhood, a commission-free trading platform that aims to democratize finance acquiredPluto, a fintech startup focused on personalized financial planning and investment tools.
Deal Details: Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2024.
Impact on Industry: The deal may encourage other trading platforms to improve their advisory services, increasing competition.
Future Outlook: Integrating Pluto’s technology will help Robinhood offer personalized financial advice, boosting user engagement and retention.
Theorem acquired by Pagaya
Pagaya, an AI-driven asset management firm that focuses on portfolio optimization through machine learning and big data acquiredTheorem, a provider of financial analytics and modeling tools.
Deal Details: The specific financial terms of the deal remain confidential.
Strategic Rationale: Theorem will strengthen Pagaya’s AI and data analytics capabilities, resulting in robust investment strategies.
Impact on Industry: Pagaya’s purchase highlights the importance of AI in asset management, pushing competitors to innovate.
Future Outlook: Pagaya’s platform will demonstrate enhanced analytical power, offering more value to institutional clients.
Aion Bank acquired by UniCredit
UniCredit, a leading European commercial bank that offers a wide range of banking services, acquiredAion Bank, which is known for its digital banking services and innovative financial products.
Deal Details: Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Strategic Rationale: Aion Bank will help UniCredit expand its digital banking capabilities and customer base.
Impact on Industry: The deal will help to increase competition in digital banking, driving more customer-centric services.
Future Outlook: Integrating Aion Bank’s technology will enhance UniCredit’s digital offerings and expand its market reach.
Envestnet acquired by Bain Capital
Bain Capital, a private investment firm that focuses on private equity, venture capital, and credit, acquiredEnvestnet, a provider of integrated portfolio, practice management, and reporting solutions.
Deal Details: The deal is valued at approximately $4 billion.
Strategic Rationale: Envestnet’s long-standing expertise will help Bain Capital enhance its capabilities in financial technology and wealth management solutions.
Impact on Industry: The move will bring Envestnet into the private sector.
Future Outlook: Bain Capital’s acquisition may fuel demand for other private equity firms to buy out wealth management fintechs.
Salt Labs acquired by Chime
Chime, a digital bank known for providing fee-free banking services, acquiredSalt Labs, an employee savings and rewards program.
Deal Details: Financial terms were not disclosed, but some sources report that the deal could close for as much as $173 million after Chime provides an up-front payment of $14 million.
Strategic Rationale: Salt Labs will enhance Chime’s offerings by integrating employee savings and rewards programs.
Impact on Industry: Integrating Salt Labs will help Chime promote financial wellness and engagement among employees, setting a new standard for digital banking services.
Future Outlook: The combination of Salt Labs with Chime Enterprise will expand Chime’s client base through employer channels.
Rooam acquired by American Express
Financial services giant American Express has acquiredRooam, a mobile payment and digital tipping platform for the hospitality industry.
Deal Details: Financial specifics were not disclosed.
Strategic Rationale: American Express is expected to expand its mobile payment capabilities in the hospitality sector.
Impact on Industry: The purchase will fuel demand for more innovation in mobile payment solutions that increase convenience for users and businesses.
Future Outlook: Integrating Rooam’s technology will improve American Express’s digital payment offerings and customer experience.
Strategic Rationale: Funding Circle will expand iBusiness Funding’s lending capabilities and customer reach.
Impact on Industry: The move will help strengthen small business lending options, ultimately supporting economic growth and entrepreneurship.
Future Outlook: Integrating Funding Circle’s platform into iBusiness Funding will enhance iBusiness Funding’s lending solutions and expand its market reach.
Invoiced acquired by Flywire
Flywire, a global payments enablement and software company, acquiredInvoiced, an accounts receivable automation platform.
Deal Details: Financial specifics were not disclosed.
Strategic Rationale: Invoiced is expected to enhance Flywire’s payment solutions by adding advanced accounts receivable automation.
Impact on Industry: The deal promotes efficiency in payment processing and receivables management solutions.
Future Outlook: Flywire will benefit from integrating Invoiced’s technology, which will offer comprehensive payment and receivables solutions and improving cash flow management.
Screena acquired by ThetaRay
ThetaRay, a provider of AI-powered transaction monitoring technology, has acquiredScreena, a cybersecurity firm specializing in fraud detection and prevention.
Deal Details: Financial terms were not disclosed.
Strategic Rationale: The deal will strengthen ThetaRay’s fraud detection capabilities with Screena’s advanced cybersecurity technology.
Impact on Industry: The move enhances current fraud prevention measures, which will increase security in financial transactions.
Future Outlook: Integrating Screena’s technology will improve ThetaRay’s AI-driven fraud detection and prevention solutions.
LemonSqueezy acquired by Stripe
Financial infrastructure platform StripeacquiredLemonSqueezy, a platform for managing digital product sales and subscriptions.
Deal Details: Financial terms were not disclosed.
Strategic Rationale: LemonSqueezy will expand Stripe’s capabilities in digital product sales and subscription management.
Impact on Industry: The deal will promote innovation in digital commerce, providing businesses with more comprehensive tools.
Future Outlook: Stripe will enhance its existing offerings with LemonSqueezy’s capabilities, further supporting digital entrepreneurs.
Last week brought a small uptick in fintech funding and drama ensued when Tabapay renounced its agreement to purchase Synapse’s assets. Stay tuned to this week’s news for updates as this situation– and others– evolve throughout the week.
TangolaunchesGlobal Choice Link, to offer its business customers an easy platform to send rewards, incentives, and payouts to recipients across the globe.
REPAYbecomes a Certified Integration Partner with Corelation’s KeyStone platform.
To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we wanted to recognize some of the contributions Hispanic entrepreneurs have made in the fintech industry. From the start, Hispanic professionals have played a pivotal role in shaping fintech by using their creativity and unique perspective to build and improve solutions that truly make a difference for both retail and commercial users.
Below is a selection of Hispanic-founded fintech companies that continue to make a transformative impact in the worlds of banking and fintech. Join us in celebrating diversity, inclusion, and the achievements from these individuals during this month of recognition and reflection. Please note that this is simply a conversation starter and is not an all-inclusive list of Hispanic-founded fintechs.
Securitize
Securitize enables digital securities, which are easier to own, simpler to manage, and faster to trade. Founders: Carlos Domingo, Jamie H. Finn, Shay Finkelstein, and Tal Elyashiv
Payjoy
PayJoy is a consumer financing company that allows consumers to buy a smartphone on credit and pay it off in installments. Founders: Doug Ricket, Gib Lopez, Mark Heynen, and Tom Ricket
Finix
Finix develops a payment processing platform for businesses. Founders: Richie Serna and Sean Donovan
Petal
Petal offers three Visa credit card products for underserved consumers. Founders: Andrew Endicott, David Ehrich, Jack Arenas, and Jason Rosen
Flywire
Flywire is a global payments enablement and software company that simplifies complex payments for its clients and their customers. Founder: Iker Marcaide
Octane
Octane offers access to instant financing to fuel their customers lifestyles. Founders: Andre Gregori, Jason Guss, Mark Davidson, Mark Garro, and Michael Fanfant
Origin
Origin is a financial planning platform that manages compensation, benefits, and personal finances for employees. Founders: João de Paula and Matt Watson
Oportun
Oportun is a digital banking platform that puts its 1.9 million members’ financial goals within reach. Founders: Gabriel Manjarrez and James Gutierrez
Brex
Brex is a global spend platform with corporate cards, expense management, reimbursements, and billpay. Founders: Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi
Camino Financial
Camino Financial is an online finance company that offers business loans and wealth-building solutions to help small businesses grow. Founders: Kenneth Salas and Sean Salas
Ontop
Ontop offers streamlined payroll, onboarding, and smooth payments for international teams. Founders: Julian Torres and Santiago Aparicio
Papaya
Papaya develops technology designed to simplify bill payment for consumers. Founders: Jason Meltzer and Patrick Kann
Snowball Wealth
Snowball Wealth offers a mobile app designed to help users tackle debt and build generational wealth. Founders: Pamela Martinez, Pearl Chan, and Tanya Menendez
Paystand
Paystand is a cloud-based billing and payment platform for B2B companies. Founders: Jeremy Almond and Scott Campbell
Listo
Listo offers insurance and loans via retail and mobile experiences. Founders: Alan Chiu and Sam Ulloa
Ripio
Ripio is a bitcoin and digital payments company that provides electronic payment solutions for businesses in Latin America. Founders: Luciana Gruszeczka, Mugur Marculescu, and Sebastian Serrano
InvestCloud
InvestCloud is a global company specializing in digital platforms that enable the development of financial solutions. Founders: Colin Close, John Wise, Julian Bowden, Michael A. Smith, Vincent Sos, and Yaela Shamberg
Novel Capital
Novel Capital provides revenue-based financing to B2B companies. Founders: Carlos Antequera and Keith Harrington
Flow
Flow offers an open architecture that connects investment managers with their limited partners and service providers. Founders: Adrian Ortiz, Brendan Marshall
Milo
Milo is reimagining the way crypto and global consumers access credit and financial solutions. Founder: Josip Rupena
Traive
Traive is a lending platform that connects lenders to farmers to provide financial products and services for the agricultural supply chain. Founders: Aline Pezente and Fabricio Pezente
Finally
Finally helps small and medium-sized businesses automate their accounting and finances. Founders: Edwin Mejia, Felix Rodriguez, and Glennys Rodriguez
Alvva
Alvva offers credit-building loans to pay for immigration expenses. Founders: Jorge Gonzalez and Sergio Torres
Portabl
Portabl offers identity-powered user experiences via a single API. Founder: Nate Soffio
Onyx Private
Onyx offers a modern private bank for the new generation. Founders: Douglas Lopes, Tiago Passinato, and Victor Santos
SMBX
SMBX is a funding portal and public marketplace for issuing and buying U.S. small business bonds. Founders: Benjamin James Lozano, Bhavish Balhotra, Gabrielle Katsnelson, and Jackie Chan
Zoe Financial
Zoe Financial helps its clients find and hire their ideal financial advisor. Founder: Andres Garcia Amaya
OKY
OKY is building technologies that help immigrants to improve their lives by connecting families and sending value home efficiently. Founders: Alejandro Miron, Estuardo Figueroa, Santiago Rossi, and Victor Unda
Caplight
Caplight is a platform that enables institutional investors to buy and sell derivatives of private equity. Founders: Javier Avalos, Justin Moore
Aeropay
Aeropay enables businesses to accept compliant, digital payments. Founder: Daniel Muller
Flourish FI
Flourish FI is a financial wellness and engagement platform for financial institutions. Founders: Jessica Eting, Pedro Moura
Capchase
Capchase provides financial solutions to startups by allowing access to funds as they grow. Founders: Ignacio Moreno Pubul, Luis Basagoiti Marqués, Miguel Fernandez, and Przemek Gotfryd
Chargezoom
Chargezoom is a B2B integrated payments platform. Founders: Matt Dubois and Miguel Avellan
Chipper
Chipper is a student loan app that helps users lower payments, qualify for forgiveness, and chip away debt faster. Founder: Tony Aguilar
Ease
Ease is a corporate card and practice operations software for private practices. Founders: Mario Amaro and Miles Montes
Flywire has partnered with Tencent’s fintech arm, Tencent Financial Technology.
The partnership will help Chinese students pay for education abroad via Tencent-owned Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay).
Students will be able to pay in their own currency, while the education facility will receive funds in their local currency.
Global payments platform Flywire is teaming up with Tencent’s fintech arm, Tencent Financial Technology to help Chinese students pay for education abroad.
This week, the two announced they plan to allow Chinese students and families making education payments abroad to pay using Tencent-owned Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay). Flywire anticipates the move will further streamline education-related payments.
“This partnership ensures that for Chinese students studying internationally at institutions that use Flywire, we essentially become their ‘pay’ button, by offering localized and seamless payment capabilities, which benefit students, families and institutions alike,” said Flywire Senior Vice President of Global Payments and Payer Services Mohit Kansal. “Flywire has long offered Weixin Pay as a payment method, but the direct connection with Tencent makes the payment experience more convenient and streamlined.”
The Weixin Pay app– which allows users to chat, browse, and make payments– is one of the most popular digital wallet apps in China. By offering its cross-border education payments within Weixin Pay, Flywire is meeting consumers where they already are. The company also removes the typical friction and complications that arise from the cross-border payments experience.
Using Weixin Pay, students can pay in their own currency, while their school will receive the funds in their local currency. Students will also have access to customer support in their own language.
“We are always looking for better ways to serve our users,” said Tencent General Manager of Tencent Financial Technology Asia Pacific Wenhui Yang said. “Flywire’s existing footprint in China, impressive client roster and proven technology made this a natural partnership for us. As more Chinese students are eager to study abroad again, we’re confident that Flywire will enable our users to improve their international payment experience, and make paying for education as easy as sending a chat.”
Global payments platform Flywire began trading on the Nasdaq today under the ticker FLYW.
The Boston, Massachusetts-based company is offering 10,440,000 shares of its stock at $24 per share and expects to raise about $300 million with a market capitalization of $3 billion. These figures are at the top range of what Flywire originally expected; last week the company announced it planned to offer 8.7 million shares priced between $22 and $24 a share.
The Flywire team gathered at the exchange in person this morning for the IPO. The reunion was especially notable since this was the first time in 15 months that team members have seen each other in person due to COVID lockdowns.
Flywire originally launched as peerTransfer in 2009, when it focused on streamlining international payments to save schools and international students money on tuition and fees. The company rebranded to Flywire in 2011 and expanded from education to facilitate international payments in healthcare, travel, and select B2B payments. Flywire now counts 2,250 customers.
Differentiating itself from competitors, Flywire focuses on high stakes, high value transactions. That’s because once transactions exceed $10,000, the funds are subject to a different set of regulations and must be exchanged using a purpose-built network– that’s where Flywire comes in.
“We’re just getting started,” Flywire CEO Mike Massaro told CNBC in an interview. “We see this business as a cornerstone of how money moves within the industries that we serve. If you look at the four industries we’re in now it’s $12 trillion of opportunity. There’s so much room to grow here. We’ve got clients in 30 countries already… I see us going into more industries. I see us going into more countries, and really just try and digitize more payments for our clients.”
In addition to its Boston headquarters, the company has offices in Chicago, London, Manchester, Valencia, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Cluj, and Sydney. Prior to going public, Flywire had raised $323 million.
There may still be a few weeks of summer left, but high-growth vertical payments innovator Flywire is already in back-to-school mode. The company announced today that it has enhanced its digital payment platform to make it easier for educational institutions and student recruitment agents to manage student data and track payments.
“Education agents play a very important role in the relationship between schools and their international students,” Flywire EVP of Education Sharon Butler explained. “Their ability to represent educational institutions locally can make a big difference in how a school is viewed by prospective students.” Butler added that the new enhancements will “streamline the international student recruitment process” and improve the way that agents are able to engage with students and institutions.
A worldwide payment provider for students and educational institutions, Flywire helps schools offer their students a secure and convenient payment process that accelerates the flow of funds, makes reconciliation simpler, and keeps operating costs low. The enhancements to Flywire’s platform will make recruitment agents’ jobs easier by centralizing student data and providing transparency over the payments process. Educational institutions will benefit from this payment transparency and tracking, as well, and are able to use the technology to build custom payment plans to give students more flexibility.
Flywire also announced today that it has forged a strategic partnership with China’s international education industry association, BOSSA. A non-profit, government-supported organization, the Beijing Overseas Study Service Association will get expanded access to Flywire’s cross-border services for Chinese students studying abroad. The partnership leverages Flywire’s extensive experience working with education recruitment agents in China; BOSSA has 300 such member agents who are responsible for recruiting and advising more than 60% of all Chinese students studying overseas each year.
“Flywire offers state-of-the-art technology and services for cross-border payments,” BOSSA spokesperson Jon Santangelo said. “We are pleased to endorse them to Chinese education agencies, and China’s wider international education sector as a whole. The level of integrity they’ve achieved in the higher education field is a big differentiator to Chinese agencies.”
Founded in 2009 as peerTransfer, Flywire has raised more than $263 million in funding from investors including Goldman Sachs, Temasek Holdings, and Bain Capital Ventures. Mike Massaro is CEO.
It’s a big week for Flywire. The global payments platform made a dual announcement yesterday that it closed a round of funding and sealed the deal on an acquisition.
The $120 million in funding brings Flywire’s total raised to $260 million. Goldman Sachs led the Series E round. The Massachusetts-based company will use the funding to digitize payments across education, healthcare, and travel.
“We are thrilled to lead the Series E round for Flywire”, said Ashwin Gupta, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division. “They bring together a unique blend of a payments network, platform and vertical-specific solutions to completely digitize the payments experience for their clients across industries. We look forward to continuing to help accelerate Flywire’s growth.”
Along with the investment news, Flywire unveiled that it has acquired healthcare billing and payment solutions company Simplee for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition blends Flywire’s tech platform with Simplee’s solution that focuses on patients and providers. The combined companies power four of the top ten U.S. healthcare systems and together process $10 billion+ in payments per year.
“Flywire is uniquely built on a global payments network, which is the cornerstone of how we move billions of dollars across 200+ countries and 150 currencies, and an industry-leading payments platform” said Flywire CEO Mike Massaro. “This digital foundation enables us to develop vertical-specific applications that make payments more efficient and cost-effective for our global clients. The Simplee acquisition improves patient engagement and healthcare affordability and extends these capabilities to a broader customer base.”
Flywire, which originally launched has peerTransfer in 2009, has processed $12 billion+ in payments for 2,000 clients. The company has office locations at its headquarters in Boston, as well as Chicago, London, Manchester, Valencia, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Cluj, and Sydney.
GoDaddy Adds SME Financing Option with Kabbage Partnership.
EphesoftDrives Digital Automation in Thailand via Language Recognition.
Around the web
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Creditinfo recognizesfive°degrees as one of Iceland’s Strongest Companies for the 9th consecutive year.
The Milford Bank goes live with Plinqit’s savings app.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
JumiolaunchesJumio Go, a real-time, automated identity verification solution powered by AI.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
More than 60 lenders join the CrediVia marketplace to source commercial loans.
Bill.com now facilitates payments in more than 130 countries and 100+ currencies.
Dwollapartners with TransferMate Global Payments to allow customers and their end users the ability to make and receive international payments.
Quadient parent company Neopost changes its name to Quadient.
InCommpartners with Mizuho Bank to expand J-Coin Pay in Japan.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
