Weekly update #39

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.

Before jumping to the main topics for this week, I am exploring partnerships with the newsletter. So this edition is sponsored by Notion, which is offering a 6-months free plan of its plus product to all founders submitting an application for their startups program.

In order to redeem the free trial, submit an application using this linkhttps://ntn.so/michelemattei, select Michele Mattei as partner and include the following partner key: STARTUP4110P62416. I really hope it will be helpful for many founders out there!

Coming back to us, I’ve been reading a very interesting report this week, a survey done by Techstars on the status of innovation in 2024. The well known California based accelerator investigated what founders and VCs think about the current state of innovation in the startup ecosystem. Here my main takeaways:

When asked about the most pressing issues affecting their companies today, excluding core operations and financial management, 60% of entrepreneurs identified "Access to Capital" (respondents could select up to three options). The challenge of obtaining capital is directly linked to the 'optimism gap' between founders and venture capitalists. Only 50% of investors are either "somewhat optimistic" (44%) or "extremely optimistic" (6%) about their VC firm this year, compared to 76% of entrepreneurs.

Despite numerous challenges, 76% of current entrepreneurs report feeling optimistic about their startups in 2024, with 32% being "extremely optimistic" and 44% being "somewhat optimistic." This highlights that successful entrepreneurship demands inherent confidence and unwavering self-belief.

Notably, when asked about the most critical issues they face today, 64% of VCs surveyed cited "Sourcing High Quality Startups and Entrepreneurs" (respondents could select up to three options). This underscores the increasing importance of high-quality accelerator programs that can offer VCs a consistent flow of pre-vetted startups that have undergone a rigorous selection process and intensive entrepreneurial bootcamp.

What impact does extending the timeline by another year have on market confidence today? According to the majority of entrepreneurs and VCs in our survey, it makes little difference, particularly regarding IPOs. In fact, 39% of respondents expressed being either "slightly confident" (27%) or "not at all confident" (12%) that IPOs will rebound within the next two years.

Finally, one-third (34%) of entrepreneurs state that their main long-term goal for their startup is to be acquired by a major tech company or large corporation, while a similar proportion (30%) prefer to remain private/independent. Only 15% favor pursuing an IPO. These figures are largely consistent with those from 2023. Coupled with the prevailing lack of confidence in a swift IPO rebound, this year's data further emphasizes the trend of startups remaining private longer and IPOs falling out of favor with most early-stage entrepreneurs.

Probably there is no real surprise in the survey itself, as it confirmed some of the main beliefs in the market nowadays. Founders are still lacking capital, and VCs are still missing good ideas and founders. But on this topic, I found a very interesting study recently, that was trying to correlate capital raised and ultimate exit value:

It is very interesting to notice that there is a R^2=0.2913 correlation value between the amount of venture capital raised and ultimate exit value, meaning that the amount you raised has no real correlation with the value of your startup during the exit. And that is indeed interesting.

Before jumping to the latest news, a quick request from my side. I will start a small series of podcasts to interview fintech founders and VC managers active in the ecosystem. If you want to be part of it, feel free to drop me a line on Linkedin!

Anyway we saw some very interesting news in the market this week. Revolut finally obtained the long awaited baking license in the UK, while also launching personal loans in Italy. Monzo Bank introduced a pension product in the UK, while italian bank UniCredit is doing some shopping in the fintech space, acquiring Vodeno and Aion Bank . In all of that, Wiz refused a $23 billion acquisition proposal from Google . In the VC market, we saw ICONIQ Capital raising $5.75 billion for its seventh fund, and LEAD VENTURES closing a $100 million first fund. In the italian market, we saw Subbyx raising a $5.5 million funding round, FOOLFARM raising $2.55 million fresh capital and Rancilio Cube SICAF launching its second fund with $50 million. Finally, we saw some interesting funding rounds from fintech startups like Slope , MNT-Halan , Aven , Plum , Stables , Aviato , Passionfruit Stable Money , Sokin , Strive , bunch , Jarvis and many others.

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

Closed deals

• J.P. Morgan invests in $65 million funding round from Slope
• Estonian fintech Mifundo gets a €2,5M boost from European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA)
• Lhoopa raises $80 million to finance affordable housing initiatives in the Philippines
• Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan secures $157.5 million funding round for regional expansion
• NY based fintech Fragment secures a $9 million seed round
• US based Aven raises a $142 million Series D funding round
• Finbee closes a $35 million funding round led by Pollen Street Capital
• Cohere raises $500 million to compete with AI giants in the US
• Plum closes a $16 million series B to push for profitability
• Australian fintech Stables launches stablecoin virtual card in Europe
• Legal tech and payment startup Clio - Cloud-Based Legal Technology raises $900 million at a staggering $3 billion valuation
• Eric Zhu started building Aviato at 17 years old from his high school's bathroom, and now they emerge from stealth raising $2.3 million
• Gen-z freelancer app Passionfruit closes a $9 million funding round from top tier investors
• Malaysia fintech WISE AI closes a new funding round to enhance KYC services in South East Asia
• Indian fintech Stable Money closes a $15 million funding round led by RTP Capital Associates
• Morgan Stanley leads $31 million funding round of London based fintech Sokin
• Vanta announces its $150 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital, bringing its valuation to an impressive $2.45 billion
• Strive closes a $30 million series B round led by Cantor Fitzgerald
• Berlin based bunch raises $15.5 million series B to help VC manage their funds
• UK based Jarvis raises £1.8 million to help people retire

Insights on the VC industry

• KfW Capital announces the first approval from its new Emerging Manager Facility, awarding €6.5 million to its Berlin based climate tech fund
• ICONIQ Capital raises $5.75 billion for its seventh fund
• Spanish government launches a $400 million social impact fund managed by COFIDES
• LEAD VENTURES closes a $100 million new fund to invest on European early stage startups

News on the market

• Nomad acquires MelhorCâmbio.com, a virtual currency exchange marketplace for tourists
• Revolut launches personal loans in Italy
• It seems crazy, but Wiz just said no to an acquisition offer of $23 billion from Google
• UniCredit announces investments in Vodeno and Aion Bank
• They finally did it! Revolut has just obtained the long awaited UK banking license
• Monzo Bank introduces a new pension product in the UK
• Applied Systems acquires Planck in strategic expansion in AI driven insurance
• Alphabet Inc. is investing another $5 billion in Waymo

A special look in the Italian market

• FOOLFARM closes a $2.55 million capital raise to back italian founders
• Italian startup Subbyx wants you to have a subscription to all your hardware devices. And it just closed a $5.5 million round to do it
• Rancilio Cube SICAF launches its second fund with $50 million to invest in international VCs

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

Events you don’t want to miss

• B4i Demo Day Batch IX | Milan - 16.07.2024 (Link to the invite or website)
• BolzanoSlushD | Bolzano - 03.09.2024 (Link to the invite or website) I still have some discount codes for this one, reach out to me if you want one!
• Italian Tech Week | Turin - 25-27.09.2024 (Link to the invite or website)
• Newport investor summit | Newport (RI) - 26-27.09.2024 (link to the invite or website)
• Bits & Pretzels founders festival | Munich 29.09-01.10.2024 (Link to the invite or website)
• Milan Fintech Summit | Milan - 08-09.10.2024 (Link to the invite or website)

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

Startups raising funds

• Fantalegends - a Fantasy Football free-to-play mobile game that aims to provide an enjoyable and safe experience, user-centered, with more than 2k daily active users. Raising $1M.

• 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.
• Bitcoin People - Fintech company focused on crypto payments between corporate and cross countries. B2B, SaaS. Raising $500k. Round closed!
• 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.
• 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.

You want to be present in this list? Feel free to shoot me a DM on Linkedin.

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #38