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☆ Europe's tech ecosystem nursed a hangover in 2022 as the post-pandemic party ended and VCs returned to fundamentals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

VCs returned to slower capital deployment and due diligence processes after a record-breaking 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic and the last remnants of the era of cheap money led to reckless abandon in funding markets with tech startups raising capital at record rates, often at valuations untethered from reality. VC cash dried up considerably this year with investors pumping $16 billion into startups in the third quarter of 2022, a 44% annual decline. Numerous VCs told Insider the past two years had felt like an out-of-control celebration with many "now looking around at the aftermath and thinking about tidying up. " "The ecosystem is nursing its hangover after two years of a big party," Arne Morteani, founding partner at Kiko Ventures said.

☆ JPMorgan is continuing its push into fintech with a deal to partner with buzzy treasury startup Trovata
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trovata, a cash management fintech startup, has partnered with JPMorgan Asset Management. JPMorgan has continued its push into fintech with a partnership with US cash management startup Trovata. California-based Trovata, which was founded in 2016, has been repeatedly backed by JPMorgan and has raised $57.6 million from investors to date. The startup offers cash management services to companies through an API. The tie-up will see Trovata host Morgan Money, JPMorgan's trading and risk management infrastructure, on its platform.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz just led a $43 million round into real estate financing startup Setpoint after seeing this 10-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Setpoint, a property tech startup that provides financing for real estate, has raised $43 million. The Series A round was led by US investing giant Andreessen Horowitz. Setpoint provides access to financing for single-family residences (SFR), fractional ownership, and rent-to-own housing and works with property tech companies like Flyhomes. Setpoint's Series A funding round was led by Andreeseen Horowitz with participation from Stonecroft, 75andSunny, Fifth Wall, 645 Ventures, NextView Ventures, LiveOak Venture Partners, Vesta Ventures, and ATX Venture Partners. "Venture investors are certainly being more cautious, but in our experience, companies that have found great product-market-fit are getting funding," Wall added.

Insider is keeping tabs on which creator economy companies are cutting back on staff. For more than a year, the creator economy was a red-hot industry flowing with new players, big deals, and massive investments. According to Crunchbase, funding for VC-backed creator economy startups topped $939 million in 2021. Those sunny days are coming to a halt, however, as creator economy startups grapple with a looming recession. Here are 24 creator economy companies that have laid off staff, as of December 2022:Note: Companies are listed in order of when layoffs occurred, with the most recent first.

☆ HR software firm Globalization Partners, a rival to Softbank-backed Remote, cuts jobs and says impact is less than 10% of staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Boston-based Globalization Partners has laid off approximately 100 staff, Insider understands. Globalization Partners, a Boston-based HR and employment platform that rivals venture-backed upstarts like Remote, has cut jobs, with one source indicating around 100 staff have been impacted. Founded in 2012 by Nicole Sahin, Globalization Partners, or G-P, was valued at $4.2 billion after raising $200 million in funding from Vista Equity Partners in January 2022. HR companies enjoyed a pandemic boom through 2020 and 2021 as firms began experimenting with hybrid work, requiring new processes and platforms. Remote, a venture-backed rival to G-P, cut 10% of staff earlier this year, Insider reported.

☆ Buy-now, pay-later kingpin Klarna's valuation dropped from $45.6 billion to $6.7 billion in 2022. Its CEO wants a 'sane market' before IPO.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Buy-now, pay-later firm Klarna wants 'a sane market' before IPO. The company is losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but says it is reducing credit losses. Klarna took a valuation haircut to $6.7 billion and carried out two rounds of job cuts in 2022. At one time, the company was the most highly valued startup in Europe with a valuation of $45.6 billion. That plunged by 85% to just $6.5 billion as the company raised again this year in a tougher market.

☆ Brokerage startup Bux is acquiring the retail-trading arm of Spanish rival Ninety Nine as fintech consolidation continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bux, the online retail brokerage, has acquired the retail-trading arm of Spanish fintech startup Ninety Nine. Bux, a European rival to US retail brokerage Robinhood, has acquired the retail-trading arm of Spanish fintech startup Ninety Nine. Bux, though it raised an $80 million from investors in 2021, recently turned to crowdfunding with a campaign on Seedrs. Globally, fintech startups raised just $13.3 billion in the third quarter of 2022 taking funding levels back to pre-pandemic levels, per Dealroom. "Thanks to this acquisition, Ninety Nine users will have access to a wide range of services provided by Bux, such as investing in Spanish, European and US stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, fractional investing and the Bux Savings."

☆ We got an exclusive look at the 10-slide pitch deck crypto market making startup Keyrock used to raise $72 million in a round backed by Ripple
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brussels-based crypto market maker Keyrock has raised $72 million in new funding. The startup, founded in 2017, has brought in funding from crypto settlement platform Ripple. Keyrock wants to double the size of its team despite the downturn in the wider crypto market. Keyrock offers two sides of a trade – in this case digital assets – and acts as an intermediary between the bid (purchase) price and the ask (sale price). The funding comes from crypto settlement platform Ripple, SIX Fintech Ventures, and Middlegame Ventures.

☆ Ex-employees from Europe’s 60 biggest fintech unicorns like Revolut and Klarna spawned 310 new startups, new data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The biggest fintech startups in Europe are producing a large chunk of new founders in the industry. It's a sign that Europe's tech ecosystem is maturing, according to VC firm Accel. Europe's fintech boom is solving one of the biggest problems in the region's tech ecosystem, according to a new analysis: experienced founders. "Fintech has played a core role in the growth of the European tech ecosystem," Accel partner Luca Bocchio told Insider. The biggest producer of new startups, according to Accel, is N26.

☆ Y Combinator-backed e-learning startup Female Invest acquires trading platform Gaia as it plots investing offering
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Danish startup Female Invest has acquired trading platform Gaia as part of a push into investing. Female Invest claims to have 26,000 paying users for its platform in 89 countries. Female Invest, a Danish startup that provides educational content around investing for women, has acquired trading company Gaia. Now, the company is expanding its platform to include trading after it acquired fellow Danish startup Gaia, which focused on sustainable investments. The Y Combinator-backed startup considered building the product itself but instead opted to acquire Gaia, a company Female Invest had been tracking for a while, Hartvigsen said.

☆ JPMorgan decides against prospective investment in open banking startup Yapily, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

JPMorgan has cooled on a deal to back London fintech startup Yapily, Insider understands. Discussions over a $25 million injection into the startup were at an advanced stage, sources say. JPMorgan has opted out of pursuing a strategic investment into London fintech Yapily, Insider understands. Yapily, which is backed by Square and Wise investor Sapphire Ventures, operates in the burgeoning open banking sector. The US financial giant had considered a deal that would have seen the bank inject around $25 million into the startup, one London-based source said.

☆ DeepL, a hot AI translation startup pioneered by a former Googler, is closing in on a round above $100 million led by Netflix-backer IVP near a $1 billion valuation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Translation startup DeepL is closing in on a new funding round led by US giant IVP, sources say. DeepL previously sold a portion of its business to US investor Benchmark. Like Google Translate, DeepL offers a free translation service powered by artificial intelligence. A small test run by Insider indicates that DeepL is, at least in some cases, more intuitive than Google. DeepL previously sold a 13.6% portion of its business to US fund Benchmark and Btov Partners in 2018, according to reporting by Slator.

☆ Bank of America-backed fintech Banked just raised $15 million in fresh funds. Check out the 21-slide pitch deck used to close the round led by Insight Partners.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Payments fintech Banked has raised $15 million from private equity giant Insight Partners. The London-based startup offers payment options direct from users' bank accounts. Check out Banked's 21-slide pitch deck below:A London-based fintech backed by Bank of America has raised $15 million in fresh funds. Banked, founded in 2018, offers a service called "Pay by Bank" that enables users pay merchants directly through their bank accounts without having to wait for card settlement. This deal takes the company to just over $50 million raised to date.

☆ Sequoia-backed grocery startup Getir is close to buying its troubled rival Gorillas in a heavily discounted deal said to be worth less than $1 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Shona Ghosh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Grocery-delivery startup Gorillas is set to be acquired by its major rival Getir, sources say. Gorillas' valuation is expected to collapse from $3 billion to less than $1 billion, with layoffs anticipated. Beleaguered grocery delivery startup Gorillas is set to be acquired by Turkish rival Getir in a cash-and-equity deal that is expected to close in the coming weeks and at a substantially lower valuation, Insider understands. Gorillas' investors and shareholders will be paid out in cash while others will be offered preferred stock in Getir, the people said. Most of Gorillas' senior management is expected to stay on with with Getir shares as part of their package.

☆ Meta, Cameo, and Twitter are 3 of the latest creator economy companies to be hit with layoffs. Here are 22 that have cut staff recently.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Amanda Perelli | Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider is keeping tabs on which creator economy companies are cutting back on staff. For more than a year, the creator economy was a red-hot industry flowing with new players, big deals, and massive investments. According to Crunchbase, funding for VC-backed creator economy startups topped $939 million in 2021. These sunny days are coming to a halt, however, as creator economy startups grapple with a looming recession. As the creator economy responds to the changing markets, Insider is keeping track of which companies are laying off staffers.

☆ Sequoia-backed enterprise browser startup Island just raised $60 million. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to land its third fundraise of 2022.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Enterprise browser startup Island has raised its third funding round of 2022. The Dallas-based company, which is backed by Sequoia, has brought in $275 million this year. Island, an enterprise browser startup backed by Sequoia, has closed its third fundraise of 2022 with a $60 million extension to its Series B. The Dallas-based company offers a browser that is more secure for businesses than traditional consumer-facing alternatives like Safari and Google Chrome. The Dallas-based startup came out of stealth mode in February when it raised $100 million in a round backed by tech investing giants Sequoia and Insight Partners.

☆ Activist shareholder platform Tulipshare is entering the US market to help force change at companies like Amazon and Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tulipshare, an activist shareholder investing platform, is set to launch in the US. The London-based fintech has previously headed up targeted campaigns against Amazon and Coca-Cola. Tulipshare, a London-based fintech that pools shareholders to vote on corporate governance issues, is launching in the US. The activist investment platform, founded in 2020, enables users to invest in public companies for as little as $1. "Issues like Amazon working conditions resonate across geographies," Argouges added and indicated more geographic growth would come in the future.

☆ Crypto infrastructure startup Ramp just raised $70 million despite cooling investor interest in Web3. Here's the 14-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based crypto infrastructure startup Ramp has raised $70 million in a Series B round. Ramp CEO Szymon Sypniewicz told Insider the "tourists" had now left the crypto space. Crypto infrastructure startup Ramp has raised $70 million in fresh funds despite a dropoff in investor interest in Web3. "After the last round we continued growing fast, and faster than expected," Ramp CEO Szymon Sypniewicz told Insider. Ramp declined to comment on its valuation but told Insider it was a "healthy up round" on its Series A.

☆ Kuda, a Nigerian fintech backed by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, is launching in the UK to offer remittances to Africans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nigerian fintech banking startup Kuda is launching its UK operations to offer remittances. UK to Nigeria remittances are worth $3.1 billion each year, according to data from the World Bank. Kuda has looked to diversify its sources of revenue in 2022 and is on the lookout for M&A. Nigerian fintech startup Kuda is launching in the UK to offer its remittance services for Africans. The banking startup, which was founded in 2017, has raised $90 million in funding from the likes of Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures and Target Global.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz just backed a startup that specializes in company director insurance. Here's the 13-slide pitch deck Anzen used to raise $10 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A startup focusing on insurance for company directors and officers just raised $10 million. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Anzen used to raise the new capital below. Anzen, a US insurance startup focused on executive liability, has raised $10 million in fresh funding. Anzen's funding comes from Andreessen Horowitz, alongside Japanese insurance companies MS&AD Ventures and, Tokio Marine. In addition, AmTrust Financial and Greenlight Re joined the round as insurance partners for the company along with Everest Re.

☆ Tiger Global-backed unicorn trading app Public.com set to expand into the European market in 2023 and make acquisitions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New York-based trading app Public.com is set to launch in the European market in 2023. The startup, which is valued at $1.2 billion, is backed by Tiger Global and a string of celebrities. Public's shift into the European market comes as talks to acquire Dutch counterpart Bux collapsed. Public.com, a US trading app backed by Tiger Global and a string of high-profile celebrities, is set to enter into the European market next year. The move comes as talks to acquire European counterpart Bux collapsed, a source familiar with the matter said.

☆ Accel-backed insurance startup Luko doubles down on core business in push to profitability as it struggles to fundraise in gruelling market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Accel-backed insurance startup Luko has struggled to raise during the market downturn. The Paris-based company, which was founded in 2018, predominantly operates as a home insurance business by selling policies to homeowners and renters using its proprietary AI. The round valued the business at around 260 million euros ($253 million), according to one London-based source. Funding to insurance tech startups also plummeted 50% year-on-year to $2.41 billion in Q2, according to data from brokerage Gallager Re. The home insurance startup has also been forced to lose employees across the business in recent months in a bid to conserve cash.

☆ This startup aims to mix traditional credit cards with buy now, pay later. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Tymit used to raise $26 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tymit, a startup that mixes credit cards with buy now, pay later, has raised $26 million. A startup that aims to offer the best of both traditional credit cards and buy now, pay later has raised $26 million in fresh funds. Buy now, pay later has surged in popularity in recent years with a number of multi-billion dollar companies like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm emerging as leaders in the space. Buy now, pay later startups raised over $4 billion in 2021, according to Crunchbase. Frasers, which was founded by controversial British billionaire Mike Ashley, is set to offer buy now, pay later products for its brands.

☆ Insurance startup Evy promises better product protection and just brought in $6.4 million from Sequoia. Check out its 10-slide seed pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Paris-based insurance tech startup Evy has raised $6.4 million in seed funding from Sequoia. Founded in 2022, Evy wants to grow the product protection market in Europe. Check out the company's 10-slide pitch deck below:Evy, a Paris-based insurance tech startup, has raised $6.4 million in seed funding from US investor Sequoia. The startup specializes in product protection insurance but doesn't work directly with consumers. Unlike more consumer-facing insurance tech companies, which have struggled in 2022, Evy said its B2B2C model was preferable, since there are no customer acquisition costs and marketing spend is lower.

☆ Europe's neobrokerage startups face winter of cuts and consolidation as trading volumes slump and VC funds dry up, industry sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Europe's neobrokerage startups face cuts and consolidation as funding dries up, sources say. For startups that can't fundraise it's "shoulders against the wall," one investor told Insider. Europe's brokerage startups are facing a winter of job cuts and consolidation as the sector battles with slumping trade volumes and a scarcity of investor cash, industry sources say. The drop-off has made raising funds a difficult exercise for many fintechs and has also led to a bifurcation in the market of the "haves and the have-nots," one London-based investor told Insider. Market consolidation will be driven by price, one fintech fund partner told Insider.

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