Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! It's good to be back.
This week, we look at the wild ride that has been the bench's shutdown and acquisition; Dozens of companies that are hiring in the fintech space; Lawsuit against PayPal; An IPO update; And more!
This version is a little longer than usual because we've been on hiatus for a few weeks Happy New Year, btw! Here's hoping for a peaceful and happy year for all of us.
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big story
It's always news when a company that has raised over $110 million in venture funding sudden fold. But it's even more eyebrow-raising when, days later, that same company — in this case, the bench – is achieved. Sadly, thousands of customers and hundreds of employees must be experiencing whiplash.
in between deep diveTechCrunch's Charles Rowlett breaks down the details of Bench's shutdown and exactly who jumped in to buy the fintech, which was backed by the likes of Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures. A tidbit: The move was so sudden that a customer who had years of data on Bench's website and was even featured on its front page before it went offline only found out about the shutdown when TechCrunch called him for comment.
dollars and cents
We start the new year with news from Thomson Reuters Acquired tax automation company send securely in an all-cash transaction valued at $600 million. Founded in 2008, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based SafeSend provides a cloud-based platform designed for the processing and sharing of sensitive financial documents.
Interviewed by TechCrunch EIC Connie Loizos robinhood CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev about naming his company Yahoo Finance's “Comeback Stocksk” of the yearand much more. take here.
ICYMI
Mobile-Exclusive Bank of Uzbekistan, TBC Bank Uzbekistan, raised $37 million in a new funding round to strengthen its dominant digital presence in the Central Asian country by developing new AI and technology products and attracting more tech-savvy customers.
time groupFintech in South Africa, $250 million secured In a Series D round, it pushed its valuation to $1.5 billion. Notably, the fund was led by Nu Holdings – which owns Latin America's most valuable fintech, Nubank – investing $150 million for a 10% stake.
What else are we writing?
Last week was not a great one PayPal. First, Dominique-Madori Davis broke the news of becoming PayPal A case is being filed Nisha Desai, founder of venture firm Andav Capital, who claims she was excluded from the payments giant's diversity and equity program because she is Asian. Then another New case Allegations that the PayPal-owned browser extension Honey is cheating creators out of money.
Meanwhile, Jack Whittaker reported that a US online gift card store, MyGiftCardSupplyAn online storage server secured what was make public Thousands of consumers on the Internet have government-issued identity documents.
And, Tage Kene-Okafor writes about how Africa's tech ecosystem has recently gained attention, along with South Africa Timebank and Nigeria Moneypoint Both fund raising At a valuation of more than $1 billion in recent weeks, the coveted unicorn has joined the pantheon.
IPO News
Is 2025 the year for fintech IPOs?
Before 2024 ends, Manish Singh writes about the digital payments firm's shares MobiKwik Up 82% to ₹507.5 ($6). Their first day of trading And how the Indian fintech's $69 million IPO comes amid intense competition from larger rivals. He also looked into the matter AI FinanceA lender targeting small and medium-sized businesses in India, is looking to raise $171 million from it Initial public offering.
Meanwhile, Julie Bort reports on how digital banks Chim his filing confidential documents With the SEC, a moment the company has been preparing for since hiring banker Morgan Stanley last September, eyeing an IPO in 2025.
High interest headlines
- While fintechs are still hiring, many of them don't have as many open roles as they did a few months ago. However, there are still Lots of open positionsAnd there are some companies that are even hiring more Introduction than they were last summer.
- Three crypto industry groups – DeFi Education Fundthe Blockchain AssociationAnd Texas Blockchain Council — is case Internal Revenue Service to block new regulations requiring decentralized finance (DeFi) entities to report customer data.
- How Mike Butcher sees revenue-based financing startups Continue to raise capital In MENA, that's where the model seems to be working.
Thanks for reading and we'll see you again next week!