Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week we take a look at Mercury’s latest expansions, wallet-as-a-service startup Ansa’s raise, and more!
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The big story
Digital banking startup mercury is adding software to its bank accounts to give its business customers the ability to pay bills, invoice customers and compensate employees, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The additional features put the company in even more direct competition with companies like Brex and Ramp, two rival fintechs that have been fighting for share in an increasingly crowded market for years. Mercury says more than 200,000 customers send $4 billion in outbound payments through its platform every month and that the move was a natural fit for the seven-year-old company.
Analysis of the week
CB Insights is committed to identifying 85 potential acquisition targets ramp “Given increased interest in M&A.” Here are some examples: Streamlined, a Greycroft-backed accounts receivable (AR) automation company whose $4 million raise TechCrunch covered here; Oddr, which focuses on invoice-to-cash management for the legal sector; Pactum, which handles negotiations with AI providers; and OpStart, a startup valued at $10 million in 2022 that provides “financial operations for startups.” So far, Ramp has acquired Cohere, Buyer and Venue.
Dollars and cents
We covered first Ansa in 2023 when they came out of stealth and announced a $5.4 million donation. Last week, popular fintech company TC exclusively said it had raised an additional $14 million to expand its wallet-as-a-service business. We were impressed by the fact that 95.6% of investors in the Series A round were female and by the appeal of the company. Read more here.
Flipping houses is not for the faint of heart, no matter how fun or HGTV easy it may seem. A startup wants to make the process less complicated by offering another way to borrow money to finance such a purchase. Backflip offers real estate investors a service to secure short-term loans. Backflip’s technology not only helps users secure funding, but also helps investors find, track, compare and evaluate potential investments. Think of it as a cross between Zillow and Shopify. And it just raised $15 million.
What else we write
Hans Tung, managing partner at Remarkable capital, formerly GGV Capital, thinks a lot about the state of venture capital today. We recently invited him to TechCrunch’s Equity podcast to discuss valuations, why founders need to play the long game, and why some VC firms are struggling more than others. We also took a deep dive into why he’s still bullish on fintech and which sectors of the fintech space he’s particularly excited about. Check out interview excerpts and the current podcast here.
Very interesting headlines
The inside story of Chime, America’s largest digital bank
Karma Wallet acquires sustainability marketplace DoneGood ahead of launch of card and membership program
Marqeta expands Uber Eats partnership
Nayax acquires VMtecnologia and expands in Latin America
Federal prosecutors are investigating financial transactions at Block, the owner of Cash App and Square
RIA custodian Altruist was valued at over $1.5 billion in its latest funding round
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