• U.K.-based Ramp raised $5 million in Seed funding for its business forecasting tools.
• This marks the company’s first round of funding.
• The round was led by AlbionVC and Eurazeo with participation from Triple Point Ventures and a group of Angel Investors.

Business forecasting company Ramp (not to be confused with business finance automation startup Ramp) raised $5 million in Seed funding this week. The round was led by AlbionVC and Eurazeo with participation from Triple Point Ventures and a handful of Angel Investors.

Ramp, which plans to use the funds to streamline and scale client onboarding, offers businesses forecasting tools to help finance teams enhance revenue predictions. The company aims to replace the Excel spreadsheets many businesses use for revenue forecasting with a more sophisticated tool. Ramp’s technology enables businesses to run scenarios and forecast in a matter of minutes and predict customer behavior, future revenue, and annual growth.

“Our platform dramatically increases the accuracy of revenue forecasting in a fraction of time it would take in spreadsheets,” said Ramp Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder Angus Lovitt. “What took us all a day in terms of number crunching we can now do in minutes. Yet what really excites me about the platform are the strategic decisions we empower businesses to make.”

Lovitt brings his experience from the computer gaming world to Ramp. He helped scale the popular Candy Crush game during his tenure at King Digital Entertainment. Lovitt also carries over his connections to the gaming community. He has brought on a handful of gaming clients– including Space Ape Games, FRVR, Pixel United, and Netspeak Games– to Ramp.

U.K.-based Ramp was founded in 2018 and specializes in cohort-based forecasting. With an ambition to become a tech unicorn, today was Ramp’s first round of funding. “Our long term goal is to position Ramp as a single source of truth for the future of businesses, from which prescriptive and proactive analytics services can stem,” said company CEO Dan Marcus. “We’re at the forefront of this new product category and it’s great to have such renowned investors believe in this vision and join us on this journey.” Marcus described the VC funding process in a recent blog post.

Photo by Sujira Su

• Payment intelligence company Pagos has raised $34 million in Series A funding.
• The capital, which takes the company’s total equity funding to $44 million, will be used to expand the company’s engineering team and advance Pagos’ enterprise product suite.
• Pagos was founded in 2021 by veterans of Braintree, Venmo, PayPal, Stripe, eBanx, Klarna, and Apple.

In a round led by Arbor Ventures, payment intelligence company Pagos has secured $34 million in Series A funding. The oversubscribed round also featured participation from Point 72 Ventures, Infinity Ventures, and Underscore VC. The investment will enable the company to grow its engineering team and advance Pago’s enterprise product suite.

“Our platform helps companies understand and act on the data that already exists within their payments environment, allowing them to better support changing consumer behavior and demands, reduce their operating costs, increase their revenue, and mitigate unnecessary customer friction — all without having to change their current payments infrastructure,” Pagos co-founder and CEO Klas Bäck explained in a statement.

Pagos’ total funding now stands at $44 million, according to Crunchbase. The Wilmington, Delaware-based company raised $10 million in seed funding in October 2021.

Many of the largest online brands in the world – including Adobe, GoFundMe, and Eventbrite – rely on Pagos’ platform. The company’s technology analyzes more than one billion transactions a year, providing real-time payment transaction monitoring to help companies detect potential issues, trends, and opportunities – all without having to change their existing payment stack. Via solutions like Peacock, Pagos provides businesses with a dashboard that provides full visibility into payments data across vendors, channels, and markets. This enables them to build a flywheel of payments optimization which leads to improved customer conversions and identification of optimal payment methods, as well as the ability to conduct A/B testing and more.

“Payment processing is fundamental to customer relationships, revenue, and a business’s bottom line, but most companies don’t have the data, knowledge, or tools to develop and execute on a best-in-class payments performance strategy,” Bäck said. “Even the small number of companies that do have those resources are leaving money on the table.”

Founded in 2021 by former Braintree, Venmo, PayPal, Stripe, eBanx, Klarna, and Apple veterans, Pagos began 2023 with news that the company had crossed the one billion transaction events threshold for the first time.

Photo by NAUSHIL | SKYHAWK. ASIA

• PhonePe raised $100 million in funding from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and TVS Capital Funds, bringing its total funding to $2.2 billion.
• The investment values the company at $12 billion.
• PhonePe will use the funds to scale its existing payments and insurance businesses and to enter new financial services sub-sectors.

Digital money app PhonePe just raised $100 million in funding from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and TVS Capital Funds. The investment follows a $350 million round PhonePe received last month and brings the India-based company’s total funding to $2.2 billion.

Today’s round, which values PhonePe at $12 billion, contributes to the company’s $1 billion capital raise target. Within six weeks of benchmarking the $1 billion goal, PhonePe is almost halfway there. The company has already raised $450 million and “expects further investments from leading global, as well as prominent high net worth Indian investors in due course.”

The mobile payments innovator will use the investment to scale its existing payments and insurance businesses. The funds will also fuel PhonePe’s entry into new businesses like lending, stockbroking, ecommerce, and account aggregators, which it plans to begin pursuing in the next few years.

“Our investment in PhonePe reinforces our conviction on backing best in class Founders while betting on the financial digitization of the next 450 million Indians,” said TCF Chairman and Managing Director Gopal Srinivasan. “We view this more as an opportunity in a population scale business for New India, driven by an outstanding management team with razor sharp focus, as driven by execution.”

PhonePe was founded in 2015 and now facilitates payments for its 440+ million registered users. The company’s end-to-end payments solution offers businesses a no-code payment gateway platform and provides consumers with a payment app where they can pay bills, send money, buy gold, invest, and shop online and in-person.

The company, which was acquired by Walmart-owned Flipkart in 2016, distanced itself from the Flipkart brand in 2020 via a financing round that dropped Flipkart’s ownership of PhonePe from 100% down to 87%. Earlier this month, the company began facilitating international transactions through Unified Payments Interface (UPI), enabling Indian travelers to make UPI transactions to foreign merchants using PhonePe platform.

Photo by Michael Skok on Unsplash

• Cross-border payments company Tazapay raised $16.9 million in Series A funding.
• The investment, which brings the company’s total funding to $21.9 million, was led by Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia.
• Tazapay processes “hundreds of  millions” of dollars each year in card and local, real-time payment methods.

Singapore-based cross-border payments company Tazapay closed $16.9 million in Series A funding for its cross-border payments technology today. Today’s round, when combined with the company’s Seed rounds, boosts Tazapay’s total funding to $21.9 million.

Investors include Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia, which led the round, along with new investors EscapeVelocity (escp.vc), PayPal Alumni Fund, and angel investor Gokul Rajaram; and existing investors Foundamental, January Capital, RTP Global, and Saison Capital.

Commenting on the investors, Tazapay CEO and co-founder Rahul Shinghal said, “These partners will help us realize our vision to be the foremost cross border infrastructure for global platforms as we double down on growing our market presence and consolidating every real-time banking network in the world under one API. We are grateful to both our new and existing investors for acknowledging the evolving needs of our ecosystem and supporting our aspirations.”

Tazapay will use today’s investment to scale across Asia, expand in the Middle East and Europe. enhance its core capabilities, and add more local payment methods for cross-border e-commerce, education technology, Software-as-a-Service, and travel.

Founded in 2020, Tazapay facilitates card and local, real-time payment methods for businesses and consumers. The company’s API offers access to a global network of 170+ markets for its card coverage and 85 markets and processes “hundreds of  millions” of dollars each year.

The investment comes at a time when both interest in and development of real-time payment technologies are on the rise across the globe. PhonePe, one of India’s largest fintechs, recently announced it will make its UPI payments available in the UAE, Singapore, Mauritius, Nepal and Bhutan. And in the U.S., the Federal Reserve’s FedNow payment scheme is nearing completion. In fact, banking-as-a-service provider Finzly just unveiled a new API yesterday that offers connection to the U.S. FedNow Service in a sandbox environment.

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova

• A new fintech called Fierce has emerged from stealth with $10 million in seed funding.
• The company’s iOS-based app features a cash account with an APY of up to 4.25%; a Rewards Credit Card is planned for later this year.
• Fierce is backed by investors including Pendrell, AP Capital, Wheelhouse Digital Studios, and Space Whale Capital.

Fierce, a fintech based in New York, emerged from stealth this week with an iOS-based app and $10 million in seed funding. The investment came from institutional investors including Pendrell, AP Capital, Wheelhouse Digital Studios, and Space Whale Capital, as well as angel investors. The funding will help Fierce add to its team, build up its customer base, and market its solution.

“Fierce is a customer focused, feel-good finance app,” Fierce founder and CEO Rob Cornish said. “We are truly mission-driven in our effort to bring the best of fintech to people, so we built an incredibly advanced platform with a simple UX to give as much yield as possible to our customers. Our goal is to help users increase their wealth while enjoying an empowering, positive experience on the app.”

Founded in 2021 by a team of financial services professionals with backgrounds in both challenger and traditional banking, as well as cryptocurrencies and U.S. stock exchanges, Fierce offers users an all-in-one financial app for savings, spending, investing, and more. Fierce features an FDIC-insured cash account with an APY of up to 4.25% and no monthly fees. The app also enables users to buy shares of both stocks and ETFs – including the purchase of fractional shares – as well as participate in Fully Paid Securities Lending (FPSL) through which investors can earn passive income by lending their stocks. Note that FPSL does not prevent investors from trading their shares at any time.

Fierce also said that it plans to introduce a Fierce Rewards Credit Card later this year. The card will offer 1.5% cash back on all spending, and all interest and rewards earned are automatically redeemed into the user’s portfolio. Additional functionality – such as access to personal loans, mortgages, insurance, and more – is planned, and Fierce expects to offer an Android version of its app later in 2023.

“Fierce is entering the market with a powerful solution that allows customers to take control of their finances while calming the financial anxiety that many people face today,” Fierce angel investor David Krell said. “We’re confident in the company’s ability to provide customers with the means to create financial stability for the long run.”

Photo by Pixabay

• Canoe received $25 million for its alternative investment intelligence platform.
• The Series B round was led by F-Prime Capital with participation from Eight Roads Ventures and others. 
• Canoe will use the funds to hire new employees, enhance its products, and expand into Europe.

Alternative investment intelligence company Canoe Intelligence closed out its Series B round today, announcing a $25 million round led by F-Prime Capital with participation from Eight Roads Ventures and others. 

“Following a year of significant growth and progress for Canoe, we are thrilled to partner with F-Prime and Eight Roads to advance Canoe’s capabilities for the alternative investment ecosystem,” said company CEO Jason Eiswerth. “As alternative investments continue to gain popularity amongst institutional and individual investors, the new injection of capital will allow us to further serve our customer base and streamline alternative investment data globally.”

Today’s round follows the company’s Series A rounds, which were announced in 2020 and 2021 and led by The Carlyle Group and Nasdaq Ventures. All previous investment amounts were undisclosed, so Canoe’s total funding is unknown.

Canoe will use the funding to hire new employees, enhance its offerings for enterprise customers, develop new data products, and work on its core platform. The company will also begin a push to expand into European markets. “The EMEA alternative investment industry is nearly the same size as North America and its data challenges are identical, yet today there is no comparable local solution,” said Eight Roads Partner Alston Zecha. “Canoe has a significant opportunity to deliver customer value in Europe first where it already has a presence, as well as other regions in [the] future.”

Canoe was founded in 2013 to help alternative investment firms streamline their data management processes. The company’s platform leverages AI and machine learning to automatically collect and categorize documents, extract and validate data, and deliver the sorted data investors need to make more informed investment decisions.

Each year, Canoe processes over six million documents and extracts more than 20 million data points. When compared to a manual approach, Canoe’s AI-based automation results in a 20x increase in the number of funds each employee can process. The New York-based company, which currently supports more than $5 trillion in assets under advisement, grew its client base over 200% in both 2021 and 2022.

Photo by Quentin Groome

• Neobank Oxygen has raised $20 million in Series B funding, taking its total capital to $45 million according to Crunchbase.
• The funding -“led largely by return investors” – will help Oxygen further develop its product, improve the user experience, and grow its workforce.
• San Francisco, California-based Oxygen won Best Digital Bank in the 2021 Finovate Awards.

San Francisco-based digital banking platform Oxygen has secured $20 million in Series B funding. The funding round was “led largely by return investors,” and will support product development and enhancements to Oxygen’s core offerings. The funding will also help Oxygen grow its team to help meet demand. The company’s total capital raised now stands at $45 million, according to Crunchbase.

Oxygen’s funding announcement comes at the same time that it is introducing a new CEO. David Rafalovsky, former Group CTO and Global Head of Operations & Technology for European digital banking ecosystem Sber, will take the helm, succeeding company founder Hussein Ahmed. Ahmed will remain with the company as Oxygen’s Chief Product Officer.

The new funding and new CEO “mark a new era” for Oxygen, Rafalovsky said in a statement. He underscored the size and importance of the small business community in the United States, and said that he believed Oxygen should play a role in helping these enterprises grow and thrive. “I look forward to charting the path forward for the company, building world class solutions for small businesses and gig economy participants,” Rafalovsky said. “Not only are small businesses driving the U.S. economy, but they also keep the American dream alive.”

A neobank designed from the start to serve both consumers and small businesses, Oxygen offers digital natives, creatives, and entrepreneurs an all-in-one digital banking platform that provides cashback rewards, early direct deposit, money transfers, and high-yield savings. Oxygen offers four tiers of membership – from the $0 annual fee “Earth” level to the $199.99 annual fee “Fire” level – which enable accountholders to choose their preferred debit card spending and payroll direct deposit limits – as well as the annual spending required in order to access these features. Banking services are provided by The Bancorp Bank, which also issues the Oxygen’s Visa debit card.

Founded in 2020, Oxygen was named Best Digital Bank in the 2021 Finovate Awards and Best Overall Mobile App in the Fintech Breakthrough Awards that same year. In December, the company launched its OTags functionality that makes it easier for Oxygen accountholders to send and request money, OGifts – which enable multiple Oxygen members to send money to a single Oxygen member – and more.

Photo by Markus Spiske

• Moov landed $45 million to refine its API that creates a modern payment stack.
• Commerce Ventures led the round. Additional contributors include Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, Visa, and Sorenson Ventures.
• Moov’s total funding now sits at $77.5 million.

Modern money movement innovator Moov is going places. The Iowa-based company landed $45 million in a Series B financing round, bringing its total raised to $77.5 million.

As far as the company’s plans for the new funds, Moov Founder and CEO Wade Arnold said, “This new round of capital will help us refine our platform, address new payments use cases, and scale everything we’ve built so far. We’re a small and mighty team, so we’re looking forward to onboarding even more talented people…”

Moov will also use today’s funding to fuel its conference that fosters collaboration in the developer community. The company’s fintech_devcon event takes place once a year to share fintech building deep dives, best practices, and new ideas.

Arnold founded Moov in 2017 to offer a simpler way to move money. The company creates a cloud-based API that creates a modern payment stack that includes acquiring, ledgering, issuing, and disbursements. Since launch, Moov has built integrations to all major card brands, The Clearing House, and the Fed. The company won the Visa Everywhere Initiative in 2021 and was recently ranked on Built In’s list of top 50 fully remote startups and Purpose Job’s Best Remote Places to Work in 2023.

Understanding the impact Moov’s money movement platform has had in the fintech community, doesn’t even require a visit to the company’s website. The list of investors in today’s round– which was led by Commerce Ventures– includes big names such as Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, Visa, and Sorenson Ventures. What’s more, Moov closed this Series B round in the midst of a difficult funding environment. While many fintechs have been able to close Seed rounds and even some Series A rounds, VCs have typically holding back on later stage rounds.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska