Weekly update #73

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.

No episode of Builders this week, but you can always recover the last one where I sit down with Miguel Armaza, partner and founder at Gilgamesh Ventures.

You can find the link to the full episode here on YouTube, or you can listen to it here on Spotify and here on Apple Podcast. But Builders will come back next week with a great fintech founder!

Miguel is a very well known figure in the fintech ecosystem, with multiple years of experience in financial services from Citi to MUFG across the globe. Over time, he became a real fintech enthusiast, launching multiple podcasts on this industry like Fintech Leaders and Wharton Fintech, but most importantly he launched Gilgamesh venture.

With him, we will deep dive on the experience of launching a VC from scratch, but also the importance of your public figure in investments, how they choose founders and his point of view on the fintech market.

Coming back to us, I’ve been reading a very interesting study this week, the “Europe Crypto Report 2025: MiCA’s aftermath and Europe’s innovation crisis” by Coincub . The report uses quantitative and qualitative data to analyze Europe’s crypto landscape from 2022 to 2025, taking in consideration investments from VCs and the impact of MiCa. Here my main takeaways:

Since the implementation of MiCA in December 2024, the licensing process for crypto startups in the EU has become significantly more complex and expensive. What used to take a couple of months now takes at least six, due to added regulatory scrutiny and administrative delays. Compliance costs, once manageable at around €10,000 in countries like Poland, have now surged past €60,000—forcing many early-stage companies to shut down or seek acquisition due to the unaffordable burden of legal and audit fees.

While larger players benefit from the ability to operate across the EU with a single CASP license, they still face hurdles, as shown by the fact that only 12 exchanges had registered by March. Meanwhile, despite growing interest in crypto and merchant services in Europe, the new framework is prompting several startups to consider relocating outside the EU. Many of those that stay report difficulty attracting venture capital, with investors deterred by increased costs and perceived regulatory risk.

Crypto startups across Europe are facing a critical operational hurdle: opening and maintaining a bank account. Due to the European Central Bank's cautious stance, many commercial banks have imposed silent restrictions or high fees on crypto-related accounts, effectively sidelining the industry. This issue gained visibility through the UK’s Startup Coalition Report 2025, which explicitly names institutions like AIB, Bank of Ireland, and Santander for denying or limiting services to crypto businesses.

As a result, many startups struggle to process payroll, receive payments, or conduct daily operations. Even when accounts are opened, IBAN discrimination remains a problem—counterparties often reject transfers from foreign-registered accounts, citing AML concerns. These challenges have drawn comparisons to the U.S. “Choke Point 2.0,” where regulators were accused of cutting financial access to entire sectors. In contrast to the U.S.—where new legislation is being introduced to prevent such debanking—Europe still lacks transparency and political action on the issue.

According to the report, half of fintech and crypto firms in the region have been rejected or had accounts closed by major banks, with only a small fraction (14%) managing to open accounts without subsequent shutdowns. This persistent banking exclusion continues to undermine the scalability and viability of crypto ventures in Europe.

By the end of 2024, Europe hosted more than 3,100 Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), with over 1,200 added in just two years. These entities offered a range of crypto-related services—from wallets to full exchanges—and were registered under inconsistent frameworks depending on each EU country. Before MiCA, startups typically chose jurisdictions with low entry barriers, such as Poland and Lithuania, which together accounted for nearly 2,000 VASPs due to cost-effective and crypto-friendly policies. In contrast, stricter environments in countries like Germany, Austria, and Belgium resulted in far fewer registered providers.

This fragmented regulatory landscape made cross-border operations inefficient, as firms were forced to apply for licenses in each individual EU member state, facing varying rules, naming conventions, and compliance standards.

With the arrival of MiCA, the regulatory structure is consolidating. As of early 2025, only 12 CASPs and 10 EMT issuers have obtained licenses under the new framework, although estimates suggest this number could rise to between 100 and 130 by year-end. The shift marks a transition from national patchworks to a single-market model, promising more coherence—but also presenting short-term challenges for market participants adapting to stricter and unified requirements.

Europe’s crypto job market has sharply declined, mirroring the drop in registered VASPs and reflecting broader industry headwinds. In 2022, blockchain-related job postings across the EU exceeded 100,000, with over 20% offering remote opportunities—giving European talent outsized access to global roles, especially in the wake of the remote work boom. At its peak, Germany alone had as many blockchain jobs as the entire United States, highlighting Europe’s strong early lead.

However, the market contracted by 41% in 2023 amid regulatory uncertainty and the crypto bear market, with listings falling to around 61,000. By early 2025, the number of active positions had dwindled to just 10,000. While other regions, particularly the U.S., began to rebound in 2024, Europe continues to face a prolonged decline, losing its position as a global hub for crypto employment.

Anyway we saw some very interesting news in the market this week. Klarna officially filed for the long awaited IPO, just a couple of days before striking a partnership with OnePay on Walmart. Google acquired Wiz for $32 billion, and Kraken Digital Asset Exchange acquired NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. Checkout.com partners with Tabby to expand in Saudi, while Vivid Money launched a crypto account for SMEs in Italy and Spain. In the VC industry, Adara Ventures closes a $100 million new fund, while Ribbit Capital is close to launching a new $500 million fintech fund. In the Italian market, we saw BRUM patenti raising a $3.5 million round, Weltis striking a partnership with Sky Italia , and Bending Spoons acquiring komoot. And finally, some very interesting funding rounds from fintech startups like Tomo, Privy, Utila, FLOWPAY, WARREN, NymCard, NAO and many others.

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

Closed deals

• RedotPay secures a $40 million series A to boost crypto adoption as payment method
• Slovak startup VESTBERRY raises $2.2 million to help VC with portfolio management
• Tomo secures $20 million in funding to scale its AI based mortgage solution
• Berlin fintech NAO expands its seed round to $4.5 million
• Disputed, Inc. raises $1.1 million to disrupt AI powered chargeback management
• Town secures $18 million to help SMBs with Tax support
• NymCard just announced a $33 million series B round
• Wealthtech startup WARREN raises a $3 million pre-seed led by Motive Ventures
• Dubai based ClearGrid raises $10 million to innovate debt collection with AI
• Czech fintech FLOWPAY secures a $30 million round to innovate SMEs financing
• San Francisco based blockchain startup Halliday secures a $20 million series A led by Andreessen Horowitz
• Institutional crypto wallet platform Utila raises $18 million Series A
• Privy closed a new funding round led by Ribbit Capital, reaching $40 million in total funding
• Qlarifi secures a $1.4 million pre-seed round to bring transparency in BNPL
• Crossmint raises $23.6 million to simplify blockchain for businesses

Insights on the VC industry

• National Grid Partners commit $100 million to back AI startup in the future of energy market
• Madrid based Adara Ventures closes a fourth flagship $100 million fund
• Soulmates Ventures closes a $50 million fund to invest in sustainable innovation
• Al Gore's Just Climate fund raises $175M from Microsoft and CalSTRS to back climate startups
• ​​Ribbit Capital is raising a new $500 million fund to double down on fintech
• Susa Ventures launches a $175 million seed stage fund
• Monte Carlo Capital closes a $11.7 million fund to invest on deeptech

News on the market

• Klarna officially filed for IPO in the US last week
• Block received the approval to launch its loan product Cash App Borrow
• Klarna announces partnership with Onepay to power installments loans at Walmart in the US
• UK digital bank OakNorth acquires Michigan based Community Unity Bank to push US expansion
• Google has (finally) acquired Wiz for $32 billion
• Checkout.com partners with Saudi based Tabby to expand BNPL solution to the UAE
• Mastercard partners with Paymentology to expand financial inclusion in South Africa
• VP Capital sells crypto platform Currency.com
• J.P. Morgan Payments expands in Europe with iDEAL
• Cash App integrates with Afterpay to propose BNPL at checkout
• Robinhood rolls out "Prediction Hub", a new feature to let user bet on real world events
• Vivid Money launches Crypto earning accounts for SMEs in Italy and Spain
• Kraken Digital Asset Exchange acquires NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion
• German fintech Raisin expands into Nordics and launches in Finland

A special look in the Italian market

• Weltis strikes a partnership with Sky Italia to offer financial wellbeing for their employees
• Italian startup BRUM patenti raises a $3.5 million round to help millennials get a driving license
• Bending Spoons acquires the German startup komoot

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

Events you don’t want to miss

• Start summit - St. Gallen, Switzerland | 20-21.03.2025 (Link to the event)
• Nordic startup challenge - Hamburg, Germany | 24-26.03.2025 (Link to the event)
• Tech.eu Summit - London, UK | 25-26.03.2025 (Link to the event)

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

• Tutornow - Edtech that provides an online tutoring platform for students with learning disorders. Raising $500k to $1M.
• 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 #72