Weekly update #44

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.

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 recently investing a lot of time to deep dive on the Private Equity market. Only in the US, approximately 13% of all SMEs are owned by Millennials, while the great majority is in the hands of Boomers and GenX. According to statistics, two thirds of those owners plan to sell their business in the upcoming 5 years, with one of the greatest generational transfer of wealth ever recorded. In the “Global Private Equity Report 2024” by Bain & Company you can see why we are in a unique position right now. Here my main takeaways:

Although the sharp decline in deal activity during late 2022 and into 2023 resembles the downturn following the 2008–09 global financial crisis (GFC), the current challenges facing the industry are unique. The figures are strikingly similar to the GFC era: deal value and count have dropped 60% and 35% from their 2021 peaks, exit value is down 66%, and fund closures have decreased by nearly 55%. Rising interest rates disrupted dealmaking in 2023, stalling the capital flow. However, the factors driving these declines differ greatly from those in 2008–09, necessitating a fresh perspective to understand the situation.

The toughest part of the current gridlock is anticipating what comes next. However, early signs of a recovery are beginning to emerge. Buyout funds currently hold a record $1.2 trillion in dry powder, with 26% of that being four years old or more, up from 22% in 2022. This creates a stronger-than-usual incentive for general partners to start deploying capital, even under less-than-ideal conditions. Deal activity is already showing signs of increase, and with support from the Fed and the European Central Bank, there’s a positive outlook for deal count and value in 2024.

Absent further disruptions, a more stable or even favorable outlook for 2024 will give general partners more confidence in their underwriting decisions. Additionally, the substantial amount and age of dry powder in their funds are driving a strong incentive to act. The industry currently holds an unprecedented $3.9 trillion in unspent capital, with the largest portion ($1.2 trillion) in buyout funds. The recent slowdown in dealmaking has increased the average age of this capital, with about 26% of it now over four years old and ready to be deployed.

Here there is also a very interesting trend going on, not highlighted by data but experienced directly, about PE being more and more interested in startups. Not only in fintech, but widely in the industry, there are many opportunities in terms of startups with a good business that are not able to raise additional capital, and PE is taking a good look at potential deals here. The PE approach there will hit particularly hard, I can tell by experience, but it can also be very effective and game changing for many startups out there.

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. Visa is reported in talks to buy Featurespace , while closing a partnership with Revolut on a cross borders solution. Klarna si evaluationg a huge workforce cut using AI, bunch and Swan work together on a new embedded banking product, and Adyen strikes a partnership with IKEA to power their online and on-site payments. The big news is that OpenAI is reported closing a new round at a staggering $100 billion valuation. In the VC industry, the news of the week is redalpine closing a new $200 million fund, but we also saw SBVA raising a $130 million new fund and Illumina Ventures closing a $300 million third fund. Finally, some very interesting round from fintech startups like axio , Shift , Sorella Labs , Linker Finance (TS F23) , Comun , TEP MED , Arch Lending , When and many others.

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

Closed deals

• New York based Arch Lending secured $75 million in new funding
• Chicago-based When secures $4.6 million in latest seed funding round
• axio raises $20 million from Amazon's fund in India
• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) raises $300 million through one of the first ever blockchain based digital bond
• Shift secures a $23.7 million series D round led by Peak XV Partners
• San Francisco based Sorella Labs secures $7.5 million in new funding round
• Efficient Capital Labs secures a $11 million series A
• Linker Finance (TS F23) secures $3.7 million to enhance digital banking for community banks
• Finarkein Analytics secures $4.7 million in pre-series A
• Tokyo based Creattura raises a $2.4 million series A funding round
• Latam startup Mercately (Techstars '23) raises $2.6 million in a seed round
• Immigrant focused neobank Comun secures $21.5 million just months after last fundraise
• Brasilian fintech TEP MED raises R$20 million investment from SRM Ventures
• FintechnOps.io bags a $30 million round from Headlight Partners
• Parafin secures a $93 million debt facility to bolster SMEs finance
• South-African fintech Omnisient - Collaborative Consumer Intelligence secures a $7.5 million round

Insights on the VC industry

• South Korean VC SBVA launches Alpha Intelligence Fund, a $130 million investment facility
• Gate Ventures and The Blockchain Center launch a new $100 million fund to invest in blockchain startups in the MENA region
• redalpine raises a new $200 million fund to invest in early stage European startups
• Illumina Ventures raises $300 million for its third fund
• Arāya Ventures closes its first super angel fund at $9.8 million

News on the market

• Is Visa going to buy Featurespace?
• U.S. Bank acquires healthcare payment provider Salucro Healthcare Solutions
• Chicago based VC G Squared closes a $1.1 billion sixth fund
• Magnetar just raised $235 million for its venture capital fund
• Adyen partners with InvoiceASAP to boost instant deposits
• Shift4 acquires Givex in a CAD $200 million all cash deal
• Klarna is reported having some boardroom conflict as it prepares for its IPO
• State Street Global Advisors acquires a 5% stake in Australian fintech Raiz Invest
• Visa and Revolut collaborate to propose a new real-time cross-border solution
• OpenAI is reported in talks to raise a new round at a $100 billion valuation
• bunch partners with Swan to launch a new embedded banking product
• Adyen partners with IKEA to power online and in-store payments
• Is Klarna really going to cut its workforce in half?
• Security Exchange Commission is taking a closer look at OpenSea in the US

A special look in the Italian market

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

Events you don’t want to miss

• BolzanoSlushD | Bolzano - 03.09.2024 (Link to the invite or website) I will be speaking at this one, and I still have some discount codes for attending, reach out to me if you want one!
• Seamless 2024 | Munich - 10-11.09.2024 (Link to the invite or website)
• 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)
• VDS+ | Valencia 23-24.10.2024 (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.

Take also a look at the last edition of the newsletter, Weekly update #43