Richard Branson backs Lightyear as UK stock trading platform launches into Europe
Lightyear, a U.K. fintech startup that promises consumers commission-free trading on U.S. and European stocks, is officially extending into Europe from today. To power the expansion, which will see Lightyear…
Read More »Japan’s SmartBank raises $20M Series A for its prepaid card and finance app
Shota Horii, his twin brother Yuta Horii and Jun Taketani co-founded SmartBank in 2019 after selling their previous startup Fablic, a Japanese online secondhand marketplace, to Rakuten in 2016. While operating Fablic, the trio found…
Read More »Africa-focused fintech Zazuu raises $2M to scale its cross-border payment marketplace
The remittance inflows to sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade have been on an upward trajectory since 2020; last year, it increased by more than 6% to $45 billion. However,…
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Daily Crunch: Raise now, pay later: $800M funding round slashes Klarna’s valuation by 85%
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Hello! We love you! Won’t you tell…
Read More »Now that Klarna has a new valuation, is Affirm cheap?
Klarna’s announcement that its long-expected funding round has come to a close brought with it one of the steepest valuation resets in memory, at least as far as operating businesses…
Read More »Cost cutting, layoffs remain leading startup themes
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Alex and Grace are back to cover the biggest,…
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Kadmos, a salary payments platform for migrant workers, raises $29.5M
Companies from across the industrial spectrum often rely on a migrant workforce, with data from the International Labour Organization indicating that some 169 million workers travel abroad for employment. But…
Read More »Cauldrons, Bolts and sour markets: Welcome to Halloween in July
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. It doesn’t feel like a short week, does…
Read More »a16z leads $6.5M seed round for Adaptive, a construction software and fintech play
In the construction business, time is money. But with so many moving parts, it can be extremely challenging for construction companies to manage the administrative aspects of their finances. Adaptive,…
Read More »Binance.US hires former Acorns, PayPal exec Jasmine Lee as CFO
After nine months of searching, Binance.US, the American partner of the world’s largest crypto exchange, has finally found a new permanent chief financial officer (CFO). Jasmine Lee is coming on…
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