Weekly update #17

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

Recently I read an interesting article on Tech.eu about the acquisition of a 19% stake in Seedcamp third fund for $8.5 million by Molten Ventures. The most interesting part of this transaction, is the trend about secondary transactions in the venture market capital.

It's no secret that after the interest rates raise, raising capital has become more and more complex in the ecosystem. And that is valid not only for startup, but also for VC. Funds need liquidity in order to make investments and return money, but with valuation also going down, there is an "exit strategy" problem for many GP.

For all of those reasons, many VCs have already begun to make portfolio sales, quietly and without announces, in order to generate that liquidity, waiting maybe for the long hoped IPO seasons everyone is looking for.

Another example of this trend is TempoCap, with the general partner Olav Ostin affirming that their dealflow in this direction has gone from 1x to 5x, with secondaries being around 50% of their investment.

But let's take a look at Molten investment. How do you make a secondary transaction? Is it a full horizontal? A cherry picking? In this case, six of the assets of Seedcamp fund represented 80% of the total value, leaving very small behind.

It's a very interesting trend in a industry that desperately need some innovation.

Anyway we saw some very interesting news in the market this week. Everli, italian grocery delivery startup once valued at $450 million, was reported on the market for $1 first, in order to avoid bankruptcy, and then acquire by a financial holding company. Golden Ventures raised $100 million to invest in the canadian startup ecosystem. Goldman Sachs invest $55 million in Simetrik. ShopFully acquired #Ofertia in the spanish market. In the African ecosystem, FairMoney is in talk to acquire Umba.

But let's take a closer look at the main news of the last seven days:

Closed deals

• Duetti, a music financing platform, raised $90 million in his latest funding round;
• Moove raises $10 million to innovate financial services in the mobility industry;
• Monite raises $6 million to boost embedded finance;
• Pulsate raises $7.7 million for his customer engagement platform for financial services;
• Danish fintech spektr raises $5 million to revolutionise due diligence;
• Philippines based UNO Digital Bank raises $32 million to boost expansion;
• Goldman Sachs invests in Simetrik for their latest $55 million series B;
• Meso raises $9.5 million to connect crypto wallet to bank accounts;
• Napier AI secures a £45 million investment to revolutionise financial crime compliance;
• SEI announces a $10 million investment in TIFIN in a strategic leap towards AI-enhanced Wealth Management.

Strategic moves on the market

• Turkish fintech Papara acquires Pakistan based SadaPay in a possible $50 million deal;
• PayPal prepares to expand services offline, in response to EU's Digital Service Act;
• Paytm shares raises 5% on the news of a partnership with Axis Bank;
• Capital One is moving to buy Discover Financial Services in a all stocks deal;
• African startup FairMoney is in talks to acquire Umba for $20 million;
• xalts acquires Contour Networks, Inc. in a push for digital trade and finance innovation;
• Monzo Bank is looking to close another funding round at $4 billion total valuation.

A special look in the Italian market

• Everli on sale for $1, at the beginning of the week;
• Nexi Group cuts 10% of the workforce in Italy, Denmark and Greece;
• Italian based ShopFully acquires Ofertia to expand reach in Spain, Mexico and Colombia;
• Couple of days after the Everli news, the startup is acquired by Palella Holdings;
• Top 10 italian early stage fintech startup by Zefyron.

Insights on the VC industry

• Partech closes his second fund in Africa, raising more than $300 million;
• Bluestein Ventures fuels innovation closing a $45M food tech focused Fund;
• Molten Ventures acquires 19% of Seedcamp's third fund for €8.5 million;
• Golden Ventures invests in the Canadian startup ecosystem raising $100 million.

Startups raising funds

• PopulaRise - The platform that allows companies of every dimension to promote themselves on social media through the collaboration with their clients. B2B2C SaaS. Raising $1M.
• Cents - Fintech companies that allow corporate to include charity payments on their checkout. B2B SaaS. Raising $1M. Round closed!
• Bitcoin People - Fintech company focused on crypto payments between corporate and cross countries. B2B, SaaS. Raising $500k.
• Tutornow - Edtech that provides an online tutoring platform for students with learning disorders. Raising $500k to $1M.
• Recivu - Fintech  startup trying to digitize the receipt flow by getting rid of papers. Looking for $150k in SAFE, already $50k committed.
• 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.
• Reach Finance - Reach is the fintech platform for wealth accumulation for the Y&Z generations, they provide users with the tools to build wealth such as a budget tracker, a financial plan and a systematization of investments. Looking for $700k, with already $500k committed;
• wrapp.ai - A fintech startups that offers a virtual accountant and CFO that can help SMEs scale globally. Looking for $1 million, $750k already granted from public funds, looking to close the last $350k.
• Viewit - Fintech startup, providing smart solution to boost management and performances, get more financing and innovate. Raising $500k.

If you are a startup and want to be present in this list, please contact me directly.

If you are an angel investor or a VC interested in those companies, contact me for an intro!

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #16.