🌊The Fintech Wave #54

Nov 21, 2022

Hi all,

we are welcoming 219 new members that joined us last week (nice growth). This week was pretty slow in the fintech world; everything is still about FTX bankruptcy and layoffs. The top 50 FTX customers lost $3B combined. More about this is in the crypto section below.

If you like this newsletter please share it with friends and encourage them to sign up👇

European News and Funding

Irish fintech unicorn lays off 200 people

Revenue-based financing startup, Waylyer is cutting costs because interest rates are going up and they will have to figure out how to be profitable. 40% of the total workforce is impacted. Unfortunately, this doesn’t come as a surprise as the company grew super fast. Almost every 6 months they were announcing a new financing round.

Wayflyer is providing capital to SaaS startups and e-commerce businesses and within the current macroeconomic environment, lending money to these businesses is getting riskier.

Insurance for pets raised £15M Series A🐕

Pet insurance is becoming popular in Europe; there are already a couple of players in different countries. London-based Napo also caught this train with new Series A funding.

I went to check the pricing and it would cost around £50/month (for data I put 2 yrs old English Bull Terrier). We don’t know much about pricing but this seems a bit high. That would cover up to £8K of vet fees. The price is also including free video vet appointments 24/7.

Americas News and Funding

Onbo is shutting down

“Lending-as-a-Service” startup Onbo is shutting down. The website is no longer in service. Onbo was a sister company of Stilt (fintech for immigrants).

Onbo allows any business to build and offer a credit product, without needing a bank sponsor in the background. Onbo leverages Stilt's state lending licenses and compliance framework so companies can focus on developing their own product. The idea is really great, but for some reason, they couldn’t scale. Probably we will find out soon why.

Crypto ₿ites

Looks like Bahamas authorities took control of FTX digital assets. There is almost no fund or exchange that is not directly impacted by FTX fraud and bankruptcy. Over 100 crypto companies went bankrupt because they held their assets in FTX. Their top 50 customers lost $3B combined.

Jump Capital took a massive hit and there are rumors it will shut down, although they claim they are well capitalized. Crypto exchange Voyager paused all transactions and is looking to raise $1B so it can continue its operations. Binance expresses an interest to acquire Voyager.

Also, the new FTX CEO that will lead FTX through bankruptcy is making a decent salary - $1300/hour😂