Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech!
This week, we look at the latest on the fintech bench, Robinhood’s $45 million settlement, some M&A deals, some exciting fundraisers, and more.
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The big story
After the start of accounting Bench shuttered Dec. 27 and bought in a firefight by Employer.com, Bench clients are now learning that they can’t simply take their financials and walk away. And some people are very unhappy about it. Meanwhile, Bench claims that “the only way they can get their data is if they choose to give Employer.com permission to access their data because the only other entity that currently has that data for authority no longer exists and is in an active bankruptcy process.”
Dollars and cents
Float Financialan expense management and corporate card startup focused on the Canadian market, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round. The Toronto-based fintech has been likened to US-based fintech giants Brex and Ramp, but says it’s different in that its sole focus is on Canadian SMEs.
At age 24, Pryce Yebesi already has an exit: selling cryptocurrency pricing company Utopia Labs to Coinbase for an undisclosed sum. On Monday, Yebesi announced the launch of his new company, Open Ledgerwhich integrates automated accounting software into products that businesses and small businesses already use. It has already raised $3 million in a round led by Kindred Ventures and Blank Ventures.
Focused primarily on cross-border payments for merchants across Asia and the Middle East, NomuPay has raised $37 million in funding at a $200 million valuation to expand its operations.
Financial services company Moody‘s agreed to acquire Cape Analyticsa geospatial artificial intelligence startup, for an undisclosed sum.
Clearwater Analyticsa company that develops accounting, compliance and risk reporting tools for asset managers has agreed to acquire investment management platform Injection for $1.5 billion.
What else are we writing?
Robinhood has agreed to spend $45 million to settle an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into several alleged violations, including one related to this 2021 hack.
As digital payments transform into strategic assets, India offers a model for other nations seeking to reduce reliance on Western payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.
GrowwIndia’s largest retail broker, is preparing to file for an IPO in 10 to 12 months, seeking a valuation between $6 billion and $8 billion, sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
High interest titles
In HR software news, Bucka human resources software provider based in Santiago, Chile; raised $50 million in Series B funding round at a valuation of approximately $850 million. This is higher than the $417 million valuation it had achieved in 2021.
based in Toronto Hum it was acquired from a fellow HR software company Employment Heroas the Australian company seeks to “gain ground in Canada.”
Fintech giant Plaid told TechCrunch that he plans to do so open an office in Raleigh, North Carolina. Headquartered in San Francisco, Plaid now employs over 1,000 people and has additional offices in New York. Washington, DC; London; and Amsterdam. A spokesperson told TC that “Raleigh is the next step in expanding Plaid’s footprint to meet growing demand for its technology as the financial services sector increasingly moves online.”
Thanks for reading. See you again next week!
