Weekly update #103

Welcome to this edition of the weekly newsletter. The idea behind this is to gather all the information in the startup ecosystem in one place, with a special focus on the fintech market and the VC industry.

Builders is back with Season 3! In this episode, I sit down with Victor Orlovski, Managing Partner at R136 Ventures. You can find the full episode here on YouTube, or here on Spotify and here on Apple Podcast. Here a short clip from the full episode:

Victor started at IBM , then he became CTO of one of Europe’s largest banks, managing a 25,000-person engineering team serving 90M+ users. But he discovered then that the real challenge, and his true passion, wasn’t scaling tech. It was scaling founders.

He started his journey in Venture at Fort Ross Ventures in 2015. Now, he is General Partner at R136 Ventures, a $500M fund investing in Series B+ rounds ranging from AI, fintech, B2B software, and more. He was also the author of: “From Rhino to Unicorn”, a WSJ Bestseller, and a Forbes contributor on late-stage markets and agentic AI.

Some of his exits over time: eToro (Nasdaq, $5.2B), Dynamic Yield by Mastercard (McDonald’s, $327M), Intel Granulate (Intel), DeciAI (Nvidia).

With him, we talked about the very basic dynamics of venture markets, the impact of AI on the global economy, but also why he thinks virtual assets and metaverse will be one of the main trends to watch.

Coming back to us, I’ve been reading a very interesting report this week, the “UPI - Global benchmark for Digital Payment” from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and UPI. A very interesting study conducted by the popular consulting company and India’s main payment infrastructure, about the impact of the centralized payment infrastructure on the fintech market in India. Here my main take aways:

As of August 2025, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) had reached 504 million unique users, equivalent to nearly half of India’s adult population—making it, if considered a nation, the third largest population globally. Around 65 million merchants now accept UPI payments, fueling a powerful network effect between consumers and businesses. By fiscal year 2025, digital transactions accounted for 40% of retail payments, with UPI capturing an 84% market share, 1.6 times higher than in 2021. The platform’s growth momentum remains strong, with the monthly transaction volume in August 2025 up 34% compared to the same month in 2024, reaffirming UPI’s central role in India’s digital payments ecosystem.

UPI’s expansion now spans every region of India, cutting across income groups, digital readiness, and levels of development. States such as Telangana, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh already record UPI transaction values equal to 6–8% of state GDP, signaling deep integration into local economies. Meanwhile, Haryana, West Bengal, and Gujaratshow lower penetration at 3–4% of GDP but are growing rapidly at 24–33% CAGR, indicating strong future potential. Mature digital economies like Karnataka and Maharashtra contribute about 15% of national UPI volumes while continuing to grow steadily, illustrating both market depth and momentum.

Usage intensity is also rising. For a cohort of 9.9 million P2P users who joined in April 2021, the average transaction value rose from INR 2,173 (~USD 24.5) in the first month to INR 2,689 (~USD 30.3) within two years. As new users enter at smaller ticket sizes, their spending increases over time, reflecting the continued democratization and deepening of India’s digital payments ecosystem.

By FY26, digital payments are projected to account for over 40% of all retail transactions in India, including cash-based ones, with UPI leading as the fastest-growing channel. According to BCG analysis, digital modes are expected to surpass cash by FY30, representing 75% of all retail transactions, meaning three out of every four payments will be made digitally.

A major growth driver has been the surge in peer-to-merchant (P2M) payments within the UPI ecosystem. Over the past three years, P2M transactions have expanded at a 57% CAGR, outpacing peer-to-peer (P2P) growth at 32%. This acceleration reflects greater formalization among small merchants and widespread adoption of digital payment solutions. As of August 2025, 77% of UPI transactions occurred online, signaling a strong user shift toward digital commerce. Merchant payments now dominate both in volume and value, underscoring the central role of digital infrastructure in India’s retail transformation.

It’s not just payments. Debt collections through UPI have emerged as a transformative category within India’s credit ecosystem. Traditionally reliant on post-dated cheques and manual follow-ups, repayments are now executed instantly through real-time debit requests on UPI apps, significantly reducing defaults and collection costs for lenders while improving customer convenience. This segment has doubled in size over the past two years, reflecting its rapid adoption.

Features such as UPI Autopay have strengthened recurring payment models, supporting subscription-based businesses like OTT platforms by ensuring seamless renewals and improving customer retention. New functionalities, including UPI Circle, surpassed 1 million transactions within a year, further expanding engagement.

Today, UPI stands as India’s second-largest payment mode after cash, deeply embedded in consumer and merchant behavior. With continued innovation—such as UPI Lite (INR 1,000 limit), RuPay Credit Card on UPI, pre-sanctioned credit lines, and offline LiteX payments—UPI is poised to capture an even greater share of India’s digital commerce landscape.

Anyway we saw a lot of interesting news this week. Revolut acquired AI travel agent Swifty , Walmart partners with OpenAI to offer shopping through ChatGPT, Klarna launched debit card and digital wallets in the UK. But also, Santander enables crypto trading through Openbank, Wise secures UAE banking license, and YouTube most subscribed content creator MrBeast is launching a bank! In the VC ecosystem the main news is Goldman Sachs acquiring Industry Ventures for $965M, but also new funds from FORWARD.one, DVC and Maia Ventures. In the italian market, Finanz raised a $700k pre-seed round, while Bending Spoons is preparing a double acquisitions, with targets like Elysium and Typeform. And finally, some very interesting founding rounds from fintechs like Lemon, Deserve, Yendo, Arbio, Nova Credit, Glide Identity, Basis Theory and many others.

But let’s take a closer look at the main news of the last seven days.

Closed deals

• Resistant AI - Rilevamento della frode documentale raises $25 million Series B to defend fintechs and AI agents from financial crime
• Yendo raises $50 million Series B to build AI-powered digital bank for underserved Americans
• ClaimSorted raises $13.3 million seed round to modernize global insurance claims management
• Kalshi reaches $5 billion valuation after $300 million raise co-led by Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz
• Younited secures €400 million warehouse financing from Citi to scale European consumer credit
• Clove raises $14M from Accel to close the financial advice gap
• Lemon raises $20 million Series B to expand crypto and payments ecosystem across Latin America
• Dezerv raises $40M Series C to expand Wealthtech platform and investment offerings
• GoodScore raises $13M to Advance AI-Driven credit wellness across India
• Pagaleve raises $30 million to scale BNPL and Pix-powered payments across Brazil
• Rhuna raises $2 million seed round led by Aptos Labs to power stablecoin payments in global entertainment
• Nova Credit raises $35M Series D to accelerate cash flow underwriting expansion
• ​​Arbio raises $36M Series A to build Europe’s AI-Native property management platform
• Chari | YC S21 | Ecom and Fintech apps for retailers in Francophone Africa raises $12M Series A and becomes Morocco’s first VC-backed licensed fintech
• REasy raises $1.8M to revolutionize cross-border payments for African SMEs
• Bold.co raises $40 Million to drive Latin American expansion
• Glide Identity raises $20M Series A to build AI-safe authentication infrastructure
• Lumx raises $3.4M to advance Stablecoin infrastructure across Latin America
• YZi Labs leads $50M investment in BetterPaymentNetwork to advance global Stablecoin infrastructure
• Deel raises $300M at $17.3B valuation to redefine global payroll infrastructure
• Basis Theory raises $33M Series B to drive agentic commerce and merchant payment innovation
• Kuunda raises $7.5M to expand embedded credit infrastructure across Africa and MENA
• Upgrade, Inc. reaches $7.3B valuation with $165M raise led by Neuberger Berman
• Plata Card raises $250M at $3.1B valuation to expand banking in Latam

Insights on the VC industry

• FORWARD.one launches €200 million Fund III to back Europe’s next industrial tech champions
• Provectus Capital Partners raises €162.5 million for second Southeast Europe buyout fund
• Goldman Sachs to acquire $7B Industry Ventures for up to $965 Million
• DVC launches $75 million AI Fund I to back next-generation artificial intelligence ventures
• Maia Ventures launches €55M fund to drive agrifood tech innovation

News on the market

• Santander to enable crypto trading via Openbank in Spain under EU MiCA framework
• Wise secures UAE central bank licenses to expand cross-border services
• Revolut acquires AI travel agent Swifty to expand lifestyle and loyalty offerings
• Walmart partners with OpenAI to launch AI-first shopping through ChatGPT
• Coinbase invests in CoinDCX to strengthen crypto presence in India and the Middle East
• Checkout.com partners with HelloFresh to power global payment infrastructure
• Visa introduces trusted agent protocol to power AI-driven commerce
• Klarna expands into everyday banking with UK launch of debit card and digital wallet
• S&P Global acquires With Intelligence for $1.8B to expand Private Markets data capabilities
• Mastercard invests €250M in three Data Centres to strengthen Europe’s payment infrastructure
• MrBeast prepares fintech launch with new “MrBeast Financial” brand

A special look in the Italian market

• Bending Spoons reported preparing $495 million double acquisition of Elysium and Typeform amid $3.1 billion expansion plan
• Italian fintech Finanz raises €700K Pre-Seed to scale financial education across Europe
• Baillie Gifford considers partial stake sale in Bending Spoons at up to $12 billion valuation

And here some useful resources for everyone involved in the ecosystem:

Events you don’t want to miss

• 5th Annual Digital Banking Summit | London - 21-22/10/2025 (link here)
• Singapore Fintech Festival | Singapore - 12-14/11/2025 (link here)
• Seamless Saudi Arabia | Riyadh - 17-19/11/2025 (link here)
• MoneyLIVE Payments | Amsterdam - 19-20/11/2025 (link here)
• 22nd Bank Management Conference | Athens - 20/11/2025 (link here)

You have a cool event you want to mention or to sponsor? Feel free to send me a DM.

Startups raising funds

• Loyyal - Loyalty platform from the MENA region, with entities in the US and South East Asia, provides a B2B2C platform to handle multiple loyalty programs and earn rewards all over the world. Raising a $6M Series A
• Freedhome - Proptech and fintech platform, enabling people to be able to gain profit from real estate by renting them to intermediaries. Raising a $1M seed round

• Weagle - B2B Tech startup that provides the very first browser designed for company, with total security for sensitive data. Raising $6 millions for their seed round.

• Shoppy Code:Gift card platform that offers a points based loyalty program. They share part of the profits coming from marketing budgets with their customers. Raising $500k.

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #102.