After a slow start, fundings picked up and finished the week at $160 million raised by 18 fintech companies. That compares to the blistering (and unsustainable) weekly pace of 20 fundings and $575 million in August. Last year during the first week of September 2o companies raised $275 million.
Last week’s total disclosed amount raised was $158.3 million, of which $17 million was known to be debt. Three companies did not disclose funding amounts.
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Unicorn hunting
I completely agree that the term “unicorn” is overused, but it’s still an easy way to communicate an important valuation hurdle. Last week, The New York Times published an article, sourced from CB Insights, predicting the next 50 unicorns. It comes as no surprise that eight (17%) were fintech companies, including four Finovate alums (Betterment, Coinbase, Wealthfront, ZenPayroll) and four others (Avant, Collective Health, Raise, and Zuora). We’ll update our near-unicorn list (published 22 July) to include ZenPayroll, Collective Health and Raise.
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Here are the fundings from 29 Aug to 4 Sep 2015 by size:
Prospa
Australian alt-lender to small businesses
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Latest round: $60 million Series B
Total raised: $60+ million
Tags: Lending, loans, commercial, underwriting, online, SMB
Source: Crunchbase
Shift Payments
Debit card with universal currency access
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $50 million
Total raised: $50.1 million
Tags: Payments, digital currency, loyalty points, prepaid cards, debit, Y Combinator, Dwolla (partner)
Source: FT Partners
Remitly
Mobile remittance service
HQ: Seattle, Washington
Latest round: $12 million Debt
Total raised: $35 million ($23 million equity; $12 million debt)
Tags: Payments, remittances, P2P payments, mobile, Silicone Valley Bank (lender)
Source: GeekWire
InVenture
Mobile loan underwriting for the unbanked
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Latest round: $10 million
Total raised: $11.2 million
Tags: Lending, credit, consumer, loans, underwriting, unbanked, underbanked
Source: FT Partners
QuanTemplate
Data analytics for the insurance industry
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $8.0 million
Total raised: $8.0 million
Tags: Insurance, reinsurance, analytics, big data, BI
Source: FT Partners
Electronic Payments
Payment processing
HQ: Calverton, New York
Latest round: $5 million Debt
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Payments, acquiring, cards, POS, point-of-sale
Source: FT Partners
Quovo
Portfolio analytics and management tools
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $4.8 million
Total raised: $6.2 million
Tags: Investing, trading, wealth management, analytics
Source: FT Partners
Questis
Financial coaching as an employee benefit
HQ: Charleston, South Carolina
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
Tags: Personal financial management, advice, PFM, retirement planning, employee benefits, insurance
Source: WhoGotFunded
Bux
Easy mobile trading for consumers
HQ: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Latest round: $1.9 million
Total raised: $1.9 million
Tags: Investing, gamification, stocks, share trading, mobile, Ayondo (partner)
Source: Crunchbase
MoneyBrilliant
Money management geared towards women
HQ: Darlinghurst, Australia
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: Consumer, PFM, personal, financial management, budgeting
Source: Crunchbase
Paymium
Bitcoin exchange
HQ: Paris, France
Latest round: $1.1 million
Total raised: $1.1 million
Tags: Payments, cryptocurrency,
Source: WhoGotFunded
FattMerchant
Payment processor
HQ: Orlando, Florida
Latest round: $850,000
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Acquiring, SMB, merchants, cards
Source: WhoGotFunded
Mobetize
Mobile wallet and point-of-sale
HQ: Reno, Nevada
Latest round: $750,000
Total raised: $2.1 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, mPOS, merchants, wallet, SMB, consumer
Source: FT Partners
Xendit
Mobile wallet
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $285,000
Total raised: $400,000
Tags: Payments, remittances, funds transfer, P2P payments, Y Combinator
Source: WhoGotFunded
Wirate
Equity crowdfunding platform
HQ: France
Latest round: $110,000
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Investing, P2P, person-to-person, marketplace
Source: WhoGotFunded
Kash
ACH at the point-of-sale
HQ: Waterloo, Canada
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $2+ million
Tags: Payments, API, merchants, mobile, SMB, acquiring, ACH, developers
Source: FT Partners
Platform Black
P2P invoice and supply chain finance
HQ: Basingstoke, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: SMB, financing, credit, factoring, accounts receivables, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer
Source: InsiderMedia
Verifacto
Connecting auto dealers, lenders, insurers and consumers
HQ: Norcross, Georgia
Latest round: Undisclosed Series A
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Indirect lending, automobiles, car dealers, installment loans, insurance
Source: FT Partners