The Fintech Wave (Issue #1🎉🎉)

The inaugural issue of Fintech Wave

and

Oct 05, 2021

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Fintech Wave! This is your weekly source of what’s going on in the Fintech world in Europe and North America. Feedback is welcome (you can contact us at fw@fintechwave.co) and if you like this newsletter please share with friends and encourage them to SIGN UP HERE.

Europe News and Funding

Fintech APIs are on 🔥

French banking-as-a-service startup Swan raised 16 million euros, Fintech infrastructure is developing rapidly in Europe, due to the adoption of fintech solutions in SaaS platforms and marketplaces. Companies are looking for white label solutions to offer accounts, cards, and IBAN numbers. With Swan, companies can create fintech solutions within minutes.

Online insurers are becoming the thing in Europe

Sweden-based Hedvig, raised 45 million USD, for its car insurance business. The startup currently operates in Nordics markets, where they have 40% growth YoY, with more than 70.000 customers. They were able to catch younger customers since everything is done via the app. The cool thing in the claim process is that you just need to submit a voice message, and somebody from their team will assist you. Much better than filling the forms.

North America News and Funding

Earn credit card💳 points when paying for rent

Credit card points are a popular way to save money for traveling and a lot of people are trying to maximize it. Traditionally you cannot earn points while paying the rent, but Bilt Rewards is trying to change that. The startup just raised $60M to offer credit cards for paying the rent and earn points. The target market is pretty good - 100 million Americans are renting and the rental market is worth $500B/year.

KYC startup became a unicorn🦄

The easy onboarding process is the key to the wider adoption of Fintech products. Historically, this process involved a lot of manual works and checks. Alloy just raised another $100M to make the whole process easier. Alloy platform works in the way that it connects financial institutions with over 120 identity providers to help avoid frauds during the onboarding process. The company has more than 200 customers and now is valued at $1.35B

The gig economy deserves great insurance products

The gig economy involves the exchange of labor for money between individuals or companies via digital platforms. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. are just some of the examples. Based on statistics, around 50 million people in the USA are part of the gig economy. The problem here is that insurance products were not following that growth, so it was hard for Uber drivers to get reasonably priced insurance. Insurtech startup Buckle just raised $60M to change that and offer full-service insurance products for gig workers.

Crypto ₿ites

Now you can tip people on Twitter with Bitcoin

A few months ago Twitter rolled out a new feature that allows you to tip your favorite creators on that platform. Now, people in the USA and El Salvador (who recently adopted bitcoin as a legal currency) can send and receive tips in Bitcoin using Strike.

Stablecoins are making DeFi more inclusive

Stablecoin startup, Angle Labs, raises $5M to build a more inclusive DeFi. Current problem is that 90% of stablecoins are connected to USD, so Angle Labs is launching stablecoin connected to Euro on Ethereum network - agEUR. Later, the idea is to offer other stablecoins based on Swiss Franc, British Pound, etc. The lead investor in this round is Andreessen Horowitz. Seems like they invest in every crypto project out there.

Infrastructure is the key to mass adoption of crypto

More and more financial institutions want to integrate digital assets into their offering. Zero Hash, which just raised $35M, is building a new fintech vertical of digital-assets-as-a-service. They offer B2B embedded infrastructure platform that allows their clients to integrate digitals assets into their platform, so they can buy, sell, send and receive cryptocurrencies. Finance 2.0 🚀