Better.com continues to find new ways to make itself look bad. This week, sources familiar with internal happenings within the company told TechCrunch the company’s VP of communications, Patrick Lenihan; head of public relations, Tanya Gillogley; and head of marketing, Melanie Hahn, have all submitted their resignations. Insider also reported the news earlier today. The […]
Hong Kong fintech unicorn WeLab raises $240M to buy Indonesian bank
A virtual bank is soon coming to Indonesia. WeLab, a Hong Kong-based fintech unicorn, announced Tuesday its acquisition of Bank Jasa Jakarta (BJJ), an Indonesian commercial bank. With the deal, WeLab is planning to launch a digital bank to capture the country’s enormous unbanked population in the second half of next year. A consortium led […]
TradeDepot raises $110M from IFC, Novastar to extend BNPL service to merchants across Africa
Startups digitizing B2B e-commerce and retail in Africa continue to grab the headlines after the pandemic paved the way for widespread offline retail and commerce disruption. TradeDepot, a Nigeria- and U.S.-based company that connects consumer goods brands to thousands of retailers and help out with distribution, has raised $110 million in new equity and debt […]
Stacked raises $35M to bring passive investing tools to retail crypto traders
Stacked, a web-based platform that provides passive investment tools for retail investors interested in crypto, just announced it raised a $35 million Series A co-led by Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm owned by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Bybit and BitDAO partner Mirana Ventures co-led the round alongside Alameda. Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, DRW Venture […]
How Credit Karma, acquired amid COVID chaos, fared in its first year under Intuit
February 24, 2020, is a day Ken Lin will never forget. The Credit Karma CEO was about to announce that the company he founded 13 years earlier was about to be acquired for more than $7 billion.
Judging by the future, not the past, Stride takes steps to turn student finance upside down
If you’re trying to get a mortgage or an auto loan, banks will put on their judging glasses and look into your past. Makes sense; it’s a reasonably reliable indicator as to whether you’ll be able to repay your loans or not. Student financing is a little different. Sure, your past plays a role, but […]
Mexican BNPL player Kueski secures $202M in debt & equity as it nears $100M+ in ARR
Kueski, a Mexico City-based “buy now, pay later” and online consumer lender, announced today it has secured $202 million in equity and debt funding. StepStone Group (which recently acquired Greenspring Capital) led the $102 million equity round and Victory Park Capital led the $100 million debt financing. StepStone was joined by other new investors including […]
American Express taps Opy for its first US third-party BNPL offering
Credit card companies are seeking to push further into the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) market. American Express (Amex) announced today that it plans to partner with Opy, the U.S. subsidiary of Australian fintech Openpay, to allow all of its U.S. cardmembers to pay in installments for qualifying purchases in the healthcare and automotive segments. […]
India’s Simpl raises $40 million for its buy now, pay later service
Bangalore-based fintech startup Simpl has raised $40 million as it looks to expand its online buy now, pay later service’s offerings in the world’s second-largest market. Valar Ventures and IA Ventures led the six-year-old startup’s Series B round. LFH Ventures and some existing investors also participated in the round, said the startup, which has raised […]
Better.com gets $750M cash infusion in new agreement with its SPAC backers
Digital mortgage lender Better.com, which announced in May that it was going public via a SPAC, is getting a cash infusion from its backers sooner than expected. Blank-check company Aurora Acquisition Corp. and SoftBank have decided to amend the terms of their financing agreement to provide Better with half of the $1.5 billion they committed […]