Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we look at how many fintech companies made it into Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort, how much funding went down in the first quarter, and more!
To get a collection of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 7:00am. PT, register here.
The big story
Y Combinator held demo days for its Winter Cohort this week. As always, the TC team was on top of everything. One thing that stood out to me was how much fintech representation is shrinking in their cohorts. Of the 260 companies in the latest cohort, nearly 30 of them, or 8%, were classified as fintech. This compares to 10% in summer 2023, 21% in summer 2022 and 24% in winter 2022. So there were a third of the percentage of fintech companies this year compared to two years ago. Of the companies selected this year, Christine observed that cross-border fintech is hot right now.
Analysis of the week
Fintech Funding down 16% quarter-over-quarter during the three-month period ended March 31, according to CB Insights’ Q1 2024 State of Business Report. But even more concerning than the double-digit drop was the fact that the $7.3 billion raised globally by fintech startups in the quarter marked the lowest level the industry has seen since early 2017. On the plus side, there was a 15% increase stock dealmaking in the last quarter, which “means investors continue to show interest in fintech solutions — particularly payments technology,” according to a CB Insights spokesperson. During the three-month period, 904 investments were made in fintech startups, up from 786 in the previous quarter, marking smaller deal sizes.
Dollars and cents
Manish Singh reports that Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal is in talks to raise capital for his new Indian fintech startup Navi. Bansal is in talks with investors to raise about $2 billion in a valuation, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. A source said it wants to raise between $200 million and $400 million. Bansal has largely self-funded Navi until now, and this would be the Bangalore-based startup’s first major external fundraising since its inception in 2018.
What else are we writing?
For years, banks have financed large renewable energy projects, from utility-scale solar farms to wind farms stretching across the horizon. But smaller projects, such as installing a heat pump in someone’s home or retrofitting affordable housing, are often breached. They just weren’t lucrative enough. But the demand is there, so advocates are asking the federal government to back a so-called green bank to take on these kinds of projects.
This green bank is now a reality. Last Thursday the EPA was announced that it had awarded $20 billion in grants from the Inflation Reduction Act to eight organizations that will use the money to make loans to help with these projects, reports Tim De Chant.
High interest titles
Hapax launches with an AI builder for financial services
Houston tech platform raises Series C round backed by Mastercard
Brim Financial Closes $85M Series C Led by EDC to Fund US Expansion
Come buy Ryan Reynolds-backed fintech Nuvei in $6.3 billion deal
Want to get in touch with a tip? Email me at maryann@techcrunch.com or send me a message on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the entire TechCrunch crew at tips@techcrunch.com. For more secure communications, click here to contact uswhich includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and links to encrypted messaging applications.
