Weekly update #80

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.

The latest episode of Builders has been released this week. In this episode, I sit down with Stephane Dehaies , CEO of Spendesk Financial Services.

Before leading Spendesk Financial Services, Stephane was previously partner at KPMG UK in the financial services practice, but also Deputy CEO and COO at Western Europe, Head of Integration & Separation at RBS / NatWest Group and ABN AMRO Bank N.V. , passing through experiences at Deloitte and KPMG US.

You can find the full episode here on YouTube, or you can listen to it here on Spotify or here on Apple Podcast. But here a small clip from the full episode:

Now, he is building Spendesk Financial Services (SFS), a new payment system and infrastructure linked to the well known spend management software in Europe, and one of the most interesting new entries in the fintech market from a third party. Responsible for the SFS P&L and strategic partnerships, and leading teams across offices in Paris, London, Berlin and Madrid.

With him, we will talk about the evolution from a spend management system to a fintech service, the challenges behind the over regulation in Europe, but also the shift from a very well structured environment to a startup, and finally the importance of partnerships in fintech.

Coming back to us, I was reading an interesting report on the VC deals activity in Q1 2025 this week, the “European Venture Report Q1-25” by PitchBook and sponsored by J.P. Morgan. The report deep dive in VC deals numbers in the first quarter of the year, with a focus on venture debt, number of deals, exits and also womens presence in funding rounds. Here my main takeaways:

In Q1 2025, European deal value reached €16.7 billion, suggesting a potential 10.8% year-over-year increase if the current pace holds. While further data updates may adjust this figure, the resilience of European dealmaking amid global economic volatility is notable. This trend reflects the relative strength of European public markets, with the STOXX Europe 600 up 5.4% year-to-date as of March 31, compared to a 4.4% decline in the S&P 500. Public market valuations are expected to influence private investment dynamics, especially as monetary policy diverges across regions. The U.S. Federal Reserve has held rates steady between 4.25% and 4.5%, signaling a cautious stance with potential cuts ahead, while the European Central Bank began easing earlier, cutting rates by 25 basis points in January and signaling readiness for further adjustments amid falling inflation and weak growth.

In Q1 2025, AI and machine learning overtook SaaS for the first time in deal value rankings, reaching €4.6 billion and accounting for 27.5% of total deal activity. While SaaS followed closely behind, fintech emerged as the leading vertical, showing strong resilience with €4.8 billion in deal value—on track to significantly surpass the €8.7 billion recorded in 2024. Life sciences also performed well, attracting €2.5 billion in the first quarter, indicating a potential 19.9% year-over-year increase despite already strong results last year. In contrast, cleantech dropped to seventh place, highlighting the evolving priorities of investors. However, these rankings reflect only Q1 data and may shift over the course of the year.

Venture debt deals reached €5.6 billion in Q1 2025, putting the market on pace for a 12.5% decline compared to the €25.4 billion recorded in 2024—a year driven by outsized cleantech financings, including one from now-defunct Northvolt. In the latest quarter, standout deals included €1.4 billion for United Petfood, €1 billion for FINN, and nearly €900 million for fintech Capital on Tap. Venture-growth companies accounted for the largest share of both deal count and deal value, with nearly half of all transactions occurring at that stage. Late-stage companies also gained ground, representing 21.5% of total deal value in Q1.

Last but not least, exit activity in Europe began 2025 on a subdued note, with Q1 exits totaling €11.8 billion, suggesting a 23.4% year-over-year decline if current trends persist. Acquisitions accounted for 61.9% of exit value, while the remainder was largely driven by buyouts, most notably Metaphysic.ai’s €1.4 billion transaction in the AI and virtual reality space. This deal helped boost AI and machine learning exits to €3.7 billion for the quarter, setting the vertical on track to outperform its strong 2024 performance. Other notable exits included significant acquisitions in more traditional sectors, such as Navig8 in oil and gas and SoniVie in TMT, both exceeding €500 million.

Anyway we saw some very interesting news in the market this week. N26 is launching a digital mobile plan, while Revolut will release a bitcoin lighting payments product in Europe. Klarna officially delayed the IPO until after the summer, while eToro is moving on with the roadshow. Coinbase acquires Deribit for $2.9 billion, while also launching x402, a payment protocol for AI agents. And there is also Meta entering the stablecoin market! In the VC industry, Ara Partners launched a $800 million fund, but also Uncork Capital with $300 million across two new funds. In the Italian market we saw Skillvue raising a €5.5 million Seed and Xbooks closing a €1.9 million round. And finally, some very interesting funding rounds from fintech startups like Ravio, Juice, Circula, Duna, Dinari, Rogo and many others.

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

Closed deals

• Cairo based fintech Money Fellows secures a $13 million round to expand outside of Egypt
• AI fintech innovator Rogo closes a $50 million series B led by Thrive Capital
• Dinari secures a $12.7 million series A to bring US stocks access on chain
• erad (YC S22) closes a $16 million round to bridge the SMEs credit gap in MENA
• Cursor maker Anysphere closes a $900 million round at $9 billion valuation
• Lisbon based financial platform Goparity | Impact finance closes a €2.9 million round
• KYB provider Duna secures a $10.7 million round led by Index Ventures
• Blinq secure a $25 million series A to make business card old legacy
• Saudi fintech Nqoodlet | نقودلت raises a $3 million round
• Parloa raises a $120 million series C and reaches $1 billion valuation
• Challenger bank Finom raises a $105 million round led by General Catalyst
• Tax automation platform HubSync secures a $100 million investment from Thoma Bravo
• Agrifintech Kaleidofin Private Limited closes a $5.3 million round to expand access to financial services for smallholder farmers
• Canadian mortgage fintech Pineapple secures a $1.5 million public offering
• Circula Raises €15M to Lead Germany’s AI-Driven Expense Management Market
• Juice secures £25 million to power non-dilutive lending for UK SME founders
• Xweave.io secures a $3 million seed round to boost Stablecoins use in cross borders payments
• Agree.com raises $7.2 million to boost its AI powered e-signature platform with payments and einvoice
• UK fintech Ravio raises a $12 million series A
• SimpleClosure raises a $15 million series A to help businesses shut down
• Singapore based fintech Seedflex secures a $3.2 million seed extension to scale embedded lending

Insights on the VC industry

• SF based VC Uncork Capital raises $300 million across two new funds
• Ara Partners announces a $800 million fund to invest in decarbonization
• Athene based VC Marathon Venture Partners closes its latest $75 million fund
• Bosch Ventures closes a $270 million fund to focus on transportation in North America

News on the market

• PayPal will launch contactless mobile wallet in Germany
• Fintech Tide is looking for a $1 billion valuation price tag in share sale
• Solaris SE cofounder takes legal action against SBI Holding takeover
• Visa takes a strategic stake in fintech platform BVNK to advance in Stablecoins market
• Kraken Digital Asset Exchange enters the Brazilian market and integrate with Pix
• EU to invest $500 million to become a magnet for researchers
• Coinbase launched x402, a new payment protocol for AI agents
• Following Revolut steps, N26 is launching a digital mobile plan
• European Central Bank partners with 70 private firms to boost its digital Euro project
• eToro starts roadshow for its initially delayed US IPO
• Employer.com acquires fintech startup Mainstreet.com
• Revolut will release a Bitcoin Lightning Payments product in Europe in collaboration with Lightspark
• Coinbase acquires Deribit for $2.9 billion
• Wagestream secures $300 million in debt financing from Citi
• Klarna IPO delayed at least until after the summer
• Meta is reported in talks to enter the Stablecoins market, years after its failed crypto project

A special look in the Italian market

• HRtech startup Skillvue closes a Euro 5,5 million round.
• Italian fintech Xbooks closes a Euro 1,9 million round

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

Events you don’t want to miss

• Money 20/20 - Amsterdam | 3-5.06.2025 (link to 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 #79