Rapyd acquires a piece of PayU from Prosus for $610M to scale its fintech-as-a-service platform

Rapyd, the fintech-as-a-service startup that provides APIs to enable payments, card issuing, digital wallet and other financial services to companies like Uber and Ikea, is taking a significant step forward in its growth with a big acquisition: it is paying $610 million to acquire a giant piece of PayU — the payments group of internet giant Prosus that focuses on emerging markets.

While full financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed, Arik Shtilman, Rapyd’s CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch that his company is “in [the] final stages of closing a new financing round of $700 million,” which points to how the deal will be financed. He also confirmed that Prosus does not become a shareholder with this acquisition.

Rapyd is currently valued at $8.75 billion and has raised more than $806 million, with its current investors including the likes of Fidelity, Dragoneer, General Catalyst and Target Global, as well fintech giant Stripe.

PayU’s operations span some 50 countries, and Prosus is not selling all of these: it is selling what it calls the “Global Payment Organisation” (GPO) and will continue to hold on to PayU’s operations in India, Turkey and Southeast Asia, arguably the three biggest regions for the business.

The deal underscores both ambitions for Rapyd — with roots in Israel but now headquartered in London — to build out more scale and reach globally for its wider payments operations en route to an IPO, with its fuller customer list now including Meta, Netflix, Adidas, Inditex (owner of Zara) and some 100 other major enterprise businesses.

“With the acquisition PayU GPO, Rapyd will now have 41 licensed or regulated countries we are operating from,” Shtilman said, adding that one important element of the deal is that it enhances Rapyd’s ability to offer a broader range of card acquiring capabilities across Latin America and parts of Europe which complements the over 1,200 local payment methods we can offer our customers globally.

On the other side, it also points to Prosus’ efforts to streamline its operations and to cut out assets that are dragging it down. In quarterly results reported in June, Prosus said it made $903 million in consolidated revenues from its payments business, with India profitable and driving the growth rate of the overall segment. But it also said that the GPO business contributed to overall trading losses of $83 million (and Prosus’ wider business also faced issues due to problems in other operations such as BYJU’s).

The deal must still go through regulatory clearance, Rapyd said, but Shtilman added that if it does, it will stand as the largest deal so far in 2023, with the fundraise to finance it accounting for 3% of all fintech fundraising for the year.
It will also provide more fuel to Rapyd for its next steps. IPO plans are so far not specific. “Timing will be dictated by a range of factors,” Shtilman said. “Like any other company that is weighing the benefits of going public, we are looking at multiple factors including market conditions, desire of investors, and the ability to fund a specific set of future initiatives for global expansion.”

At a time when privately-backed fintechs, as well as those trading on the public markets, continue to face a lot of negative pressure amid a wider downturn in technology finance, Rapyd plans to take advantage of that and make more acquisitions, Shtilman said.

Ironically, that was also the strategy for PayU over the years, acquiring businesses in Turkey, Latin America, India, and more, as well as taking stakes in a number of other fintech businesses. Some of those plans did not pan out as it hoped: a $4.7 billion acquisition of BillDesk abruptly got cancelled in October 2022, even after meeting regulatory approvals.

“PayU has built and scaled its GPO business successfully over a number of years. It is important to us that a company with a track record like Rapyd will take the business to the next level, expanding the GPO solutions to meet the evolving needs of the dynamic fintech landscape globally,” said Laurent le Moal, PayU’s CEO, in a statement. “I wish Rapyd every success as it continues to build its global payments platform.”

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Rapyd acquires a piece of PayU from Prosus for $610M to scale its fintech-as-a-service platform

Rapyd, the fintech-as-a-service startup that provides APIs to enable payments, card issuing, digital wallet and other financial services to companies like Uber and Ikea, is taking a significant step forward in its growth with a big acquisition: it is paying $610 million to acquire a giant piece of PayU — the payments group of internet giant Prosus that focuses on emerging markets.

While full financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed, Arik Shtilman, Rapyd’s CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch that his company is “in [the] final stages of closing a new financing round of $700 million,” which points to how the deal will be financed. He also confirmed that Prosus does not become a shareholder with this acquisition.

PayU’s operations span some 50 countries, and Prosus is not selling all of these: it is selling what it calls the “Global Payment Organisation” (GPO) and will continue to hold on to PayU’s operations in India, Turkey and Southeast Asia, arguably the three biggest regions for the business.

The deal underscores both ambitions for Rapyd — with roots in Israel but now based out of the U.S. — to build out more scale and reach globally for its wider payments operations en route to an IPO, with its fuller customer list now including Meta, Netflix, Adidas, Inditex (owner of Zara) and some 100 other major enterprise businesses.

But it also points Prosus’ efforts to streamline its operations and to cut out assets that are dragging it down. In quarterly results reported in June, Prosus said it made $903 million in consolidated revenues from its payments business, with India profitable and driving the growth rate of the overall segment. But it also said that the GPO business contributed to overall trading losses of $83 million (which also faced issues due to problems in other operations such as BYJU’s).

The deal must still go through regulatory clearance, Rapyd said, but Shtilman added that if it does, it will stand as the largest deal so far in 2023, with the fundraise to finance it accounting for 3% of all fintech fundraising for the year.

It will also provide more fuel to Rapyd for its next steps. IPO plans are so far not specific. “Timing will be dictated by a range of factors,” Shtilman said. “Like any other company that is weighing the benefits of going public, we are looking at multiple factors including market conditions, desire of investors, and the ability to fund a specific set of future initiatives for global expansion.”

At a time when privately-backed fintechs, as well as those trading on the public markets, continue to face a lot of negative pressure amid a wider downturn in technology finance, Rapyd plans to take advantage of that and make more acquisitions, Shtilman said. Ironically, that was also the strategy for PayU over the years, acquiring businesses in Turkey, Latin America, India, and more, as well as taking stakes in a number of other fintech businesses. Some of those plans did not pan out as it hoped: a $4.7 billion acquisition of BillDesk abruptly got cancelled in October 2022, even after meeting regulatory approvals.

“PayU has built and scaled its GPO business successfully over a number of years. It is important to us that a company with a track record like Rapyd will take the business to the next level, expanding the GPO solutions to meet the evolving needs of the dynamic fintech landscape globally,” said Laurent le Moal, PayU’s CEO, in a statement. “I wish Rapyd every success as it continues to build its global payments platform.”

source https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/31/rapyd-acquires-a-piece-of-payu-from-prosus-for-610m-to-scale-its-fintech-as-a-service-platform/

Nigeria’s Remedial Health gets QED backing in $12M round

Remedial Health, a Nigerian startup digitizing pharmacies and bringing efficiency to the pharmaceutical value chain, has raised $12 million Series A equity-debt funding, to scale operations in the West African country.

Fintech VC firm QED Investors co-led the round, banking on embedded financial opportunities like payments, and lending in the pharmaceutical sector. This is QED’s third investment in Africa after its involvement in the Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt), and Flapkap deals last year. Ventures Platform, also co-led the round, which saw the participation of existing investors like Y Combinator, Tencent and Gaingels.

Pharmacies and hospitals use Remedial Health’s platform to order pharmaceutical products sourced from reliable and trusted manufacturers and verified distributors. This helps to stem erratic prices, and the supply of fake and substandard products that are behind thousands of preventable deaths in Nigeria, and Africa at large. It also ensures a proper handling of the products, which can’t be said of the open drugs market in Nigeria.

QED closes on $925M to back fintech startups globally

A recent report by Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control estimates that about 15% of the medicine sold in the country is fake or sub-standard. Besides, it is estimated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, that half a million people die in sub-Saharan Africa owing to substandard or counterfeit medicine.

Remedial Health gets $4 million debt funding to scale inventory financing

Founded by Samuel Okwuada (CEO), and Victor Benjamin (COO) in 2021, Remedial Health plans to use the new funding to deepen its operations in Nigeria. The funding includes $4 million debt to help it scale inventory financing.

Okwuada told TechCrunch that priority at the moment remains on increasing penetration in 34 states by getting more pharmacies and hospitals signed up, especially in rural areas, where demand is growing.

“We are seeing more growth in rural areas, because they are difficult to reach, and are far from major open drug markets in Nigeria,” said Okwuada, adding that the startup currently has a “considerable market share” in at least half of the 34 of 36 states it operates in within Nigeria.

The YC-alumni currently serves over 5,000 pharmacies and hospitals, having grown its client count by 3X since November last year. It sources the over 8,000 products it sells from 300 manufacturers, among them GSK, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Its inventory financing, which enables its clients to restock without upfront payment, has helped grow its client count, and revenues by 7X over the last 10 months too.

“We are a B2B business and we are able to provide inventory to these pharmacies without requesting cash up-front, or at the point of delivery… We’ve seen them grow their businesses, open additional branches because they are able to get credit,” said Okwuada.

Remedial’s platform enables its customers to manage their operations including inventory management (through an app too), accounting, and financial reporting. It also provides real-time market intelligence that informs manufacturers on production and distribution.

Okwuada said its customers receive orders within 24 hours. The startup has a network of distribution hubs, spread across the regions it serves, and does last-mile delivery in-house or through partners. Other startups bringing efficiency in the pharmaceutical value chain include MyDawa, and DrugStoc.

Commenting on the investment, QED Investors partner, and head of Africa, Gbenga Ajayi said in a statement: “The success that Remedial Health has enjoyed to date is an indication of the market gap that exists, and their value in providing effective holistic services to thousands of pharmacies across Nigeria.”

“QED is particularly excited about the embedded financial services opportunities within the vertical — the ability to provide payments, embedded lending and other fintech solutions to this underserved but very crucial sector.”

Nigeria’s YC-backed Remedial Health raises $4.4M seed funding

Kenya’s MyDawa aims to be an all-in-one health platform backed by $20 million funding

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Nigeria’s Remedial Health gets QED backing in $12M round

Remedial Health, a Nigerian startup digitizing pharmacies and bringing efficiency to the pharmaceutical value chain, has raised $12 million Series A equity-debt funding, to scale operations in the West African country.

Fintech VC firm QED Investors co-led the round, banking on embedded financial opportunities like payments, and lending in the pharmaceutical sector. This is QED’s third investment in Africa after its involvement in the Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt), and Flapkap deals last year. Ventures Platform, also co-led the round, which saw the participation of existing investors like Y Combinator, Tencent and Gaingels.

Pharmacies and hospitals use Remedial Health’s platform to order pharmaceutical products sourced from reliable and trusted manufacturers and verified distributors. This helps to stem erratic prices, and the supply of fake and substandard products that are behind thousands of preventable deaths in Nigeria, and Africa at large. It also ensures a proper handling of the products, which can’t be said of the open drugs market in Nigeria.

QED closes on $925M to back fintech startups globally

A recent report by Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control estimates that about 15% of the medicine sold in the country is fake or sub-standard. Besides, it is estimated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, that half a million people die in sub-Saharan Africa owing to substandard or counterfeit medicine.

Remedial Health gets $4 million debt funding to scale inventory financing

Founded by Samuel Okwuada (CEO), and Victor Benjamin (COO) in 2021, Remedial Health plans to use the new funding to deepen its operations in Nigeria. The funding includes $4 million debt to help it scale inventory financing.

Okwuada told TechCrunch that priority at the moment remains on increasing penetration in 34 states by getting more pharmacies and hospitals signed up, especially in rural areas, where demand is growing.

“We are seeing more growth in rural areas, because they are difficult to reach, and are far from major open drug markets in Nigeria,” said Okwuada, adding that the startup currently has a “considerable market share” in at least half of the 34 of 36 states it operates in within Nigeria.

The YC-alumni currently serves over 5,000 pharmacies and hospitals, having grown its client count by 3X since November last year. It sources the over 8,000 products it sells from 300 manufacturers, among them GSK, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Its inventory financing, which enables its clients to restock without upfront payment, has helped grow its client count, and revenues by 7X over the last 10 months too.

“We are a B2B business and we are able to provide inventory to these pharmacies without requesting cash up-front, or at the point of delivery… We’ve seen them grow their businesses, open additional branches because they are able to get credit,” said Okwuada.

Remedial’s platform enables its customers to manage their operations including inventory management (through an app too), accounting, and financial reporting. It also provides real-time market intelligence that informs manufacturers on production and distribution.

Okwuada said its customers receive orders within 24 hours. The startup has a network of distribution hubs, spread across the regions it serves, and does last-mile delivery in-house or through partners. Other startups bringing efficiency in the pharmaceutical value chain include MyDawa, and DrugStoc.

Commenting on the investment, QED Investors partner, and head of Africa, Gbenga Ajayi said in a statement: “The success that Remedial Health has enjoyed to date is an indication of the market gap that exists, and their value in providing effective holistic services to thousands of pharmacies across Nigeria.”

“QED is particularly excited about the embedded financial services opportunities within the vertical — the ability to provide payments, embedded lending and other fintech solutions to this underserved but very crucial sector.”

Nigeria’s YC-backed Remedial Health raises $4.4M seed funding

Kenya’s MyDawa aims to be an all-in-one health platform backed by $20 million funding

source https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/31/remedial-health/

Google Assistant reportedly pivoting to generative AI

When Google had its unpleasant realization that it had been complacently spinning its wheels on a form of fake AI for a decade, chances are it started re-aligning itself that day. And it sounds like Assistant itself is now getting a generative facelift, according to an internal email reported by Axios.

The email says that the Assistant team leads “see a huge opportunity to explore what a supercharged Assistant, powered by the latest LLM [large language model] technology, would look like,” and describe some organizational changes to achieve that.

Of course, you don’t make sweeping changes to a successful division just because you want to see what something looks like. It feels more like they have already seen what it looks like as other companies have demonstrated it publicly, and they are in a hurry to catch up. At any rate the change in “vision” will unfold over the months to come.

Although there are numerous examples of LLMs powering chatbots and assistants, the technology has yet to be proven to be a practical evolution for this corner of tech. Services like Assistant, Alexa, and Siri were more like Mad Libs where users provided the subjects and verbs, like “traffic+downtown+now” or “teriyaki+near+me,” and while that isn’t quite what we call “AI” it can be very useful as an interface for simple digital interactions.

Is it really an improvement if, when you ask how long it will take to drive to the beach, its answer is informed by the entirety of the Western canon? You can tell it to give you the weather in sonnet form, and people will for a while, but the novelty wears off, much like it does in asking Alexa to tell you a joke.

LLMs are interesting things and their ability to follow the thread of a conversation can be useful, but it doesn’t seem like many people want to have a conversation with their navigation system, or discuss the merits of farmed versus wild-caught salmon when they ask about good sushi joints.

Perhaps it’s better to have an interface that’s capable of handling both and just call up its capabilities as needed. At the very least Google is betting that it should get its ducks in a row should that be the case.

Google is losing control

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Max Q: Solving artificial gravity with gravityLab

Hello and welcome back to Max Q!

In this issue:

• Solving artificial gravity with gravityLab
• News from Atomos Space and more

But first… The Aerospace Corporation and TechCrunch are joining forces to host a pitch competition to find the strongest startups using AI/Machine Learning to work with satellite data streams. Finalists will get the rare opportunity to pitch in front of our judges on the Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 and exhibit their AI/ML startup at Disrupt 2023 this September. Apply today!

Startups, apply to the Space Domain Awareness Challenge Pitch-off at TC Disrupt 2023

gravityLab wants to tackle the artificial gravity problem

Living without gravity spells disaster for the human body. Even a few weeks in microgravity can lead to issues with circulation and vision; over the longer term, the complications compound even further. The heart begins to degenerate and atrophy. Bones turn thin and brittle.

But what about Martian gravity, which is around 0.38 that of Earth? Or somewhere in-between — 0.16 G on the moon, or 0.91 on Venus? How do these gravity levels affect the body, plants and other organisms, even manufacturing processes? We have astonishingly few answers to these questions.

gravityLab wants to find some. Click the link above to learn how.

Image Credits: gravityLab (opens in a new window)

More news from across TC

• Astrobotic, Blue Origin and Varda Space are among the 11 awardees of new NASA funding for “tipping point” technologies.
• Atomos Space, an in-space logistics startup, will launch its first demonstration mission on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 in the first quarter of 2024, as the company looks to gain an early foothold in the emerging market for orbital transfer services.
• Congress heard from pilots on their encounters with unexplained aerial phenomena.
• Impulse Space, the space logistics startup headed by founding SpaceX employee Tom Mueller, has closed a $45 million Series A led by RTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies).
• NASA is launching its own streaming service, NASA+, later this year.
• The Federal Aviation Administration is in the early stages of formulating regulations for commercial human spaceflight, an industry that’s starting to pick up some speed.

Max Q is brought to you by me, Aria Alamalhodaei. If you enjoy reading Max Q, consider forwarding it to a friend. 

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via IFTTT

Google Assistant reportedly pivoting to generative AI

When Google had its unpleasant realization that it had been complacently spinning its wheels on a form of fake AI for a decade, chances are it started re-aligning itself that day. And it sounds like Assistant itself is now getting a generative facelift, according to an internal email reported by Axios.

The email says that the Assistant team leads “see a huge opportunity to explore what a supercharged Assistant, powered by the latest LLM [large language model] technology, would look like,” and describe some organizational changes to achieve that.

Of course, you don’t make sweeping changes to a successful division just because you want to see what something looks like. It feels more like they have already seen what it looks like as other companies have demonstrated it publicly, and they are in a hurry to catch up. At any rate the change in “vision” will unfold over the months to come.

Although there are numerous examples of LLMs powering chatbots and assistants, the technology has yet to be proven to be a practical evolution for this corner of tech. Services like Assistant, Alexa, and Siri were more like Mad Libs where users provided the subjects and verbs, like “traffic+downtown+now” or “teriyaki+near+me,” and while that isn’t quite what we call “AI” it can be very useful as an interface for simple digital interactions.

Is it really an improvement if, when you ask how long it will take to drive to the beach, its answer is informed by the entirety of the Western canon? You can tell it to give you the weather in sonnet form, and people will for a while, but the novelty wears off, much like it does in asking Alexa to tell you a joke.

LLMs are interesting things and their ability to follow the thread of a conversation can be useful, but it doesn’t seem like many people want to have a conversation with their navigation system, or discuss the merits of farmed versus wild-caught salmon when they ask about good sushi joints.

Perhaps it’s better to have an interface that’s capable of handling both and just call up its capabilities as needed. At the very least Google is betting that it should get its ducks in a row should that be the case.

Google is losing control

source https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/31/google-assistant-reportedly-pivoting-to-generative-ai/

Max Q: Solving artificial gravity with gravityLab

Hello and welcome back to Max Q!

In this issue:

• Solving artificial gravity with gravityLab
• News from Atomos Space and more

But first… The Aerospace Corporation and TechCrunch are joining forces to host a pitch competition to find the strongest startups using AI/Machine Learning to work with satellite data streams. Finalists will get the rare opportunity to pitch in front of our judges on the Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 and exhibit their AI/ML startup at Disrupt 2023 this September. Apply today!

Startups, apply to the Space Domain Awareness Challenge Pitch-off at TC Disrupt 2023

gravityLab wants to tackle the artificial gravity problem

Living without gravity spells disaster for the human body. Even a few weeks in microgravity can lead to issues with circulation and vision; over the longer term, the complications compound even further. The heart begins to degenerate and atrophy. Bones turn thin and brittle.

But what about Martian gravity, which is around 0.38 that of Earth? Or somewhere in-between — 0.16 G on the moon, or 0.91 on Venus? How do these gravity levels affect the body, plants and other organisms, even manufacturing processes? We have astonishingly few answers to these questions.

gravityLab wants to find some. Click the link above to learn how.

Image Credits: gravityLab (opens in a new window)

More news from across TC

• Astrobotic, Blue Origin and Varda Space are among the 11 awardees of new NASA funding for “tipping point” technologies.
• Atomos Space, an in-space logistics startup, will launch its first demonstration mission on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 in the first quarter of 2024, as the company looks to gain an early foothold in the emerging market for orbital transfer services.
• Congress heard from pilots on their encounters with unexplained aerial phenomena.
• Impulse Space, the space logistics startup headed by founding SpaceX employee Tom Mueller, has closed a $45 million Series A led by RTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies).
• NASA is launching its own streaming service, NASA+, later this year.
• The Federal Aviation Administration is in the early stages of formulating regulations for commercial human spaceflight, an industry that’s starting to pick up some speed.

Max Q is brought to you by me, Aria Alamalhodaei. If you enjoy reading Max Q, consider forwarding it to a friend. 

source https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/31/max-q-solving-artificial-gravity-with-gravitylab/

Walmart pays $1.4 billion to buy Tiger Global’s remaining Flipkart stake

Walmart paid $1.4 billion to buy out Tiger Global’s remaining holding of Flipkart shares as the retail giant further expands its stake in the Indian e-commerce startup.

The transaction took place in recent days and Tiger Global, which has cashed most of its Flipkart shares earlier, overall made a return of $3.5 billion on an investment of $1.2 billion, the New York-headquartered hedge fund told investors, according to a person familiar with the matter. Wall Street Journal first reported on the deal.

Flipkart is the only Indian startup in which Tiger Global had invested more than $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The U.S. investment giant has poured over $6 billion on Indian startups altogether.

The secondary Flipkart shares sale valued the Bengaluru-headquartered at $35 billion. Flipkart was valued at $37.6 billion in a funding round in 2021, but has since internally cut its worth by about $5 billion following the split of payments startup PhonePe.

Walmart, which paid $16 billion for a 77% stake in Flipkart in 2018, held 72% share in the firm as of last year, according to an analysis by market intelligence firm Tracxn. Tiger Global, prior to the recent transaction, held a 4% stake in Flipkart.

An alternative perspective on Walmart’s over $20 billion investment in Flipkart could be that the American giant has bought shares in a company that competes with the local division of Amazon, which was able to establish a similar business in-house for less than $7 billion.

The funding faucet for Flipkart probably won’t be turned off in the near future.

Flipkart has largely depleted the capital it raised in 2021 and now faces the need for another round of funding. Flipkart has gauged market interest in recent months, but no deal was struck due to a lower valuation. As such, it seems likely that it will turn back to Walmart to secure the majority of the financing needed for the next round.

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Tesla’s range-flation problem, Waymo reverses on self-driving trucks and Ford tweaks its EV playbook

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. 

Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.

Hey frens! I’m back from vacation and who-wee — a lot happened this week from automaker earnings and the Tesla range inflation drama to Waymo tapping the brakes on self-driving and Cruise expanding to yet another city.

One other note, you can find me on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, a place where I will show up on a semi-regular basis, including this episode that came out Friday!

Onward!

---

Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.

Reminder that you can drop us a note at tips@techcrunch.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging apps.

Micromobbin’

Is there anything else to talk about besides Lyft mulling the sale of its ebike division?

Lyft posted on its blog that it had received “strong inbound interest” in its bikes and scooters business.

The company stated:

As a leading bikeshare provider, supplying solutions to over 53 markets across 15 countries, it’s only logical for Lyft to listen to credible proposals and explore strategic partners and options in several forms to serve more riders in more cities. We expect this part of the business to continue to be a meaningful part of Lyft’s offering now and into the future.

The announcement runs contrary to what newly appointed CEO David Risher has told reporter Rebecca Bellan in past interviews. Risher, who is known as a big supporter of ebikes, did say the company planned to focus on its core ride-hailing business and become profitable, but it didn’t seem like the two-wheeled share service was on the chopping block.

The news prompted some here at TechCrunch to declare that shared micromobility was officially dead. I’m not so sure.

What do you think?

Deal of the week

Instead of a deal of the week, I’d like to call y’all’s attention to the list of deals below. See a pattern emerging?

Yup, me too. Software and EV charging sure seems like a thing, eh?

Other deals that got my attention this week …

Ampcontrol, an EV fleet management software startup, raised $10 million in Series A funding round led by the Westly Group. Other investors included AngelPad and Lorimer Ventures.

Aurora raised $820 million in a public and concurrent private offering (a deal we covered last week.) As I mentioned in the Equity podcast, tucked inside the SEC filing detailing the deal we learn that Uber invested $1 million in the private placement and $74 million in the public follow-on. When taking into account the Class B shares, Uber has a 22% stake in Aurora.

EV.energy, the UK-based EV charging software startup, raised $33 million in a Series B round led by National Grid Partners with participation from new investors Aviva Ventures, WEX Venture Capital and InMotion Ventures, as well as existing investors Energy Impact Partners, Future Energy Ventures and ArcTern Ventures.

Flipturn, a startup that developed a software management system for EV truck fleets, raised $4.5 million in a seed round led by Accel.

Field, the battery energy storage systems developer launched by former Bulb Energy co-founder Amit Gudka, raised £200 million from DIF Capital Partners.

Voltpost, a New York City–based startup that developed hardware that converts lampposts into EV charging spots, raised $3.6 million in a seed round led by RWE Energy Transition Investments with participation from Twynam Funds Management, Exelon Foundation, Good News Ventures and Climate Capital.

VW Group made a pair of deals with Chinese automakers aimed at shoring up sales in China, including taking a 5% stake valued at about $700 million XPeng as part of a deal to jointly develop and produce two mid-sized EVs for China. In a separate agreement, Audi expanded a partnership with SAIC. Reporter Rita Liao provides insight on what this deal could mean for future alliances between China and the West.

Notable reads and other tidbits

Autonomous vehicles

Cruise self-driving vehicles arrived in Nashville this week for testing; a robotaxi service is expected to follow. Cruise will also begin testing in multiple, new cities as part of its aggressive commercial ramp, according to the company. If the company’s careers page provides any hints, it seems Atlanta is one of them.

Want evidence that Cruise is accelerating? One year ago, Cruise only operated in San Francisco. Cruise has since expanded to Austin, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and most recently Miami.

Rafaela Vasquez, the safety driver who was behind the wheel of an Uber ATG self-driving vehicle when it struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe in 2018, pleaded guilty to endangerment. Vasquez was sentenced to three years of supervised probation.

Waymo is tapping the brakes on self-driving trucks and shifting most of its capital, resources and talent to one commercial bet: ride-hailing. I won’t call it a complete shutdown as limited testing will continue. But the program as it once stood is over. It seems most people on the team have kept their jobs at Waymo, per sources. (However, it’s still early; we’ll see how it all shakes out once the program is wound down.)

Earnings

Ford and GM both posted earnings this week and there were some general themes; namely that business is good if you’re selling gas and hybrid trucks and SUVs. The EV business? Well that’s a bit of a money loser. Both companies raised profit guidance for the year and GM said it would cut costs another $1 billion as it focuses on earning more money.

Ford, which now breaks out earnings for three business units, is tweaking its EV plans. The big line item is that Ford expects its EV business to lose $4.5 billion in 2023 — double what it previously forecast. And the company seems to be more bullish than ever on hybrids, which reminds me of Bill Ford’s comments way back in 2016 about viewing hybrids as a transitional, or bridge technology. At the time, the sentiment was about consumer adoption. These days Ford is learning that hybrid technology applied to trucks is particularly attractive to buyers.

Electric vehicles, batteries & charging

Ample, a San Francisco-based startup, is bringing its modular EV battery swapping technology to Mitsubishi Fuso’s electric trucks this winter.

GM isn’t going to kill off the Chevy Bolt EV after all. This is going to be a next-gen Bolt EV based on the new Ultium platform and battery design. I’m fascinated by this reversal because it happened so quickly (3 months!).  Will it still be assembled at the Orion plant? Reminder: Orion was supposed to be retooled for electric truck production once the Bolt went out of production at the end of 2023.

Tesla exaggerated the range estimates for its EVs for years, prompting owners to flood its service center over concerns that their vehicles needed service, according to a new detailed Reuters report. As I note in my own story, one of the nagging problems with range estimates is their variability, which allows some automakers to push the boundaries of the system. While the EPA does review and approve those estimates, it allows automakers to use one of two methods to reach those figures: use a standard formula that converts fuel economy results, or conduct additional tests to come up with their own range estimate. Tesla has always done the latter, which gives far better numbers.

Miscellaneous

Lacuna Technologies, a startup that sold software services to cities to help create and enforce transportation policies, has shut down, per a LinkedIn post from product lead Samuel Jackson. (h/t to the source who pointed me to the post).

Disrupt!

Beep beep! TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place in San Francisco on September 19–21, is where you’ll get the inside scoop on the future of mobility. Come and hear from today’s leading mobility entrepreneurs on what it takes to build and innovate for a more sustainable future. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code STATION. Learn more.

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Can we trust automakers to build an EV charging network that rivals Tesla’s Supercharger?

Automakers appear to have had an awakening last week: Electric vehicles are the future, and if they want to continue selling cars, they have to think beyond the car. I’m not talking about subscriptions, though; I’m talking about charging.

For years, major auto manufacturers were happy to leave the infrastructure to someone else. Tesla was the lone exception, building a globe-spanning network of speedy and reliable chargers that have placated range-anxious car shoppers who have bought the company’s EVs in droves. Other automakers, though, failed to connect the EV charging experience with EV sales. Perhaps it’s because infrastructure is unfamiliar territory. Or maybe they actually weren’t that interested in selling EVs.

Whatever the case, automakers’ recent come-to-Jesus moment culminated in an announcement last week that seven of the largest would be forming a joint venture to build a massive charging network across North America.

Consisting of no fewer than 30,000 charge points offering both Combined Charging System (CCS) and the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors, the as-yet-unnamed network promises to be a true rival to Tesla’s Supercharger and the Volkswagen diesel settlement-funded Electrify America.

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/aMnfvy9
via IFTTT

Can we trust automakers to build an EV charging network that rivals Tesla’s Supercharger?

Automakers appear to have had an awakening last week: Electric vehicles are the future, and if they want to continue selling cars, they have to think beyond the car. I’m not talking about subscriptions, though; I’m talking about charging.

For years, major auto manufacturers were happy to leave the infrastructure to someone else. Tesla was the lone exception, building a globe-spanning network of speedy and reliable chargers that have placated range-anxious car shoppers who have bought the company’s EVs in droves. Other automakers, though, failed to connect the EV charging experience with EV sales. Perhaps it’s because infrastructure is unfamiliar territory. Or maybe they actually weren’t that interested in selling EVs.

Whatever the case, automakers’ recent come-to-Jesus moment culminated in an announcement last week that seven of the largest would be forming a joint venture to build a massive charging network across North America.

Consisting of no fewer than 30,000 charge points offering both Combined Charging System (CCS) and the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors, the as-yet-unnamed network promises to be a true rival to Tesla’s Supercharger and the Volkswagen diesel settlement-funded Electrify America.

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

source https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/30/ev-charging-tesla-superchargers-rivals/

When you’ve got two exits under your belt by the age of 26

In this week’s edition of The Interchange, we get into M&As in the fintech space as AngelList nabbed a startup and Uplift got bought for less than it raised in venture funding. We get into those deals and much more. Want to receive this in your inbox every Sunday? Sign up here.

Shopify’s credit bet, Jeeves’ update and AngelList’s second buy

Last week, Shopify announced a new offering — Shopify Credit, a business credit card designed exclusively for its merchants. The new product marked Shopify’s first pay-in-full business credit card, said Shopify president Harley Finkelstein. It is powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank, “and accepted everywhere Visa is,” he added. My editor and I were intrigued by the fact that Shopify insisted it would charge no fees — no late fees, no foreign transaction fees, and no interest. But upon further digging into the fine print, as fellow fintech enthusiast Sar Haribhakti tweeted about, it turns out that Shopify is also describing the new offering as a “pay in full credit card.” So, merchants have 25 days after the close of their monthly billing cycle to pay their balance. And if they don’t? Well, according to Shopify’s website, the card will be locked and the merchant won’t be able to make any new purchases until the balance has been repaid. That explains how/why the company is not charging any interest! Unfortunately, I was traveling early last week and didn’t get to actually speak to Harley — our interview was over email, and somehow this little tidbit of information got left out. It certainly was not something that Shopify publicized. It feels like retail/commerce companies deciding to go into the credit card space should proceed with some caution, though, if Apple’s experience is any indication. The Information did a deep dive last week on how “the tech giant and the Wall Street titan went from ‘the most successful credit card launch ever’ to Goldman trying to exit the partnership.”

I also gave us an update on fintech startup Jeeves, which did something that us reporters wish more (actually, all) private companies would do — share financials. We’ve been covering the goings-on at Jeeves since the startup first emerged from stealth in July of 2021, announcing $131 million in debt and equity financing from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). It then announced a $57 million Series B exactly three months later. Jeeves is among the many players in the corporate card space — but CEO and founder Dileep Thazhmon believes it’s got an advantage over competitors in that it can serve clients in Latin America (its biggest market) and other regions by offering cards that can be paid in local currencies. That’s a big deal, he says, because businesses can save money on foreign transaction fees, for example. He told us: “This is a really big differentiator because it means we’re the only expense management company that can issue local cards in Latin America, North America and Europe. It takes time to build rails in other countries. If you look at U.S.-based expense management platforms, they cannot onboard a company headquartered in Mexico. If you look at Mexican expense management providers, they cannot onboard a company [that] is headquartered in the U.S. Jeeves can do both.” Read about how Jeeves entered 2023 with annualized revenue of $40 million, its recent expansion beyond corporate cards into prepaid cards and cross-border payments, and what its plans for the future are here.

I also got the exclusive on some big news out of AngelList — its purchase of fintech startup Nova and formal expansion into the private equity space. I talked both with AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli and Nova founder Pradyuman Vig about how the deal came about and what the expansion means for the organization. On Friday’s episode of the Equity podcast, Alex Wilhelm, Kirsten Korosec and I dug into what some might consider an unexpected move for AngelList — which has historically served early-stage investors. Hint: We thought it might have a little something to do with its 2022 raise that was co-led by a global investor that rhymes with Kiger. Private equity talk aside, it’s always cool to see a young founder with not just one exit under their belt, but two — by the age of 26. — Mary Ann

---

Image Credits: Founder Dileep Thazhmon / Jeeves

Weekly News

What do caregiving and divorce have in common? Financial stress for employees. This week, Christine reported on Helpful raising $7.5 million. The new app brings together insurance benefits, medical records and caregiving resources into one dashboard.

As reported by Manish Singh: “The world’s largest asset manager is re-entering India — and it’s doing so in a partnership with Asia’s richest man. Jio Financial Services and BlackRock have struck a deal to form a joint venture, called Jio BlackRock, aimed at serving India’s growing investor base. BlackRock and Reliance’s finance unit are targeting an initial investment of $150 million each into the new 50/50 venture, which will seek to offer tech-enabled access to ‘affordable, innovative’ investment solutions for millions of investors in India, they said.” More here.

Dan Macklin, co-founder of SoFi, has joined Summer as president to help more students and families navigate and reduce student loans. TechCrunch reported on his original departure from SoFi here.

We spotted a tweet (or whatever it’s called now) by Forbes’ Alex Konrad this week about his interview with Victor Lazarte (the former CEO of Brazilian games startup Wildlife Studios), who is Benchmark’s newest equal partner. Lazarte told Forbes that he will invest broadly but has an interest in startups in games, consumer and fintech. TechCrunch’s Connie Loizos caught up with Benchmark’s Miles Grimshaw in June to discuss AI investment. More here.

Also, feds raised rates, and now some fintechs are doing so, too. Wealthfront announced on X that the rate on its “Cash Account” is increasing to 4.80% APY (annual percentage yield), up from 4.55% through its partner banks. If you refer a friend, you get 5.30% APY. Perhaps an interesting note is the up to $5 million FDIC insurance (and $10 million for joint accounts) being offered. Not to be outdone is Robinhood, which also announced via X that it was offering 4.9% APY on accounts that were FDIC-insured up to $2 million through program banks.

What else we’re reading

Six ways FedNow may affect businesses’ cash flow 

Vesttoo investigation reveals $4B fraud involving fake letters of credit

John Collison’s land grab: A Stripe co-founder grows in power

Mastercard’s cease-and-desist letters halt cannabis debit card transactions

Clearwater Analytics to launch new generative artificial intelligence solution for investment management

American Express introduces commercial partner program

Fundings and M&A

Seen on TechCrunch

Upgrade acquires travel-focused BNPL startup Uplift for a song (This is particularly notable considering that Uplift got acquired for far less than it raised over its lifetime.)

GlossGenius raises $28M to expand its bookings and payments platform for beauty businesses

Bloom Money raises £1M to digitize finance for ethnic communities

a16z-backed Eco unveils Beam, a P2P crypto transfer service aiming to be a ‘global Venmo’

Bunq, the Dutch neobank, has raised $111M at a flat $1.8B valuation to break into the US 

Seen elsewhere

Inspectify, which sells software for property inspection services, lands $5.7M 

Digital MGA Foxquilt secures $12M funding

Houston workforce training startup acquired by California company

Mercury Financial secures $200M for its credit card business expansion

Deposit ‘marketplace’ launches with backing from BMO

Settle books $145M credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank 

---

Join us at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September as we explore the impact of fintech on our world today. New this year, we will have a whole day dedicated to all things fintech, featuring some of today’s leading fintech figures. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code INTERCHANGE. Learn more.

---

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Uhju2SD
via IFTTT

When you’ve got two exits under your belt by the age of 26

In this week’s edition of The Interchange, we get into M&As in the fintech space as AngelList nabbed a startup and Uplift got bought for less than it raised in venture funding. We get into those deals and much more. Want to receive this in your inbox every Sunday? Sign up here.

Shopify’s credit bet, Jeeves’ update and AngelList’s second buy

Last week, Shopify announced a new offering — Shopify Credit, a business credit card designed exclusively for its merchants. The new product marked Shopify’s first pay-in-full business credit card, said Shopify president Harley Finkelstein. It is powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank, “and accepted everywhere Visa is,” he added. My editor and I were intrigued by the fact that Shopify insisted it would charge no fees — no late fees, no foreign transaction fees, and no interest. But upon further digging into the fine print, as fellow fintech enthusiast Sar Haribhakti tweeted about, it turns out that Shopify is also describing the new offering as a “pay in full credit card.” So, merchants have 25 days after the close of their monthly billing cycle to pay their balance. And if they don’t? Well, according to Shopify’s website, the card will be locked and the merchant won’t be able to make any new purchases until the balance has been repaid. That explains how/why the company is not charging any interest! Unfortunately, I was traveling early last week and didn’t get to actually speak to Harley — our interview was over email, and somehow this little tidbit of information got left out. It certainly was not something that Shopify publicized. It feels like retail/commerce companies deciding to go into the credit card space should proceed with some caution, though, if Apple’s experience is any indication. The Information did a deep dive last week on how “the tech giant and the Wall Street titan went from ‘the most successful credit card launch ever’ to Goldman trying to exit the partnership.”

I also gave us an update on fintech startup Jeeves, which did something that us reporters wish more (actually, all) private companies would do — share financials. We’ve been covering the goings-on at Jeeves since the startup first emerged from stealth in July of 2021, announcing $131 million in debt and equity financing from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). It then announced a $57 million Series B exactly three months later. Jeeves is among the many players in the corporate card space — but CEO and founder Dileep Thazhmon believes it’s got an advantage over competitors in that it can serve clients in Latin America (its biggest market) and other regions by offering cards that can be paid in local currencies. That’s a big deal, he says, because businesses can save money on foreign transaction fees, for example. He told us: “This is a really big differentiator because it means we’re the only expense management company that can issue local cards in Latin America, North America and Europe. It takes time to build rails in other countries. If you look at U.S.-based expense management platforms, they cannot onboard a company headquartered in Mexico. If you look at Mexican expense management providers, they cannot onboard a company [that] is headquartered in the U.S. Jeeves can do both.” Read about how Jeeves entered 2023 with annualized revenue of $40 million, its recent expansion beyond corporate cards into prepaid cards and cross-border payments, and what its plans for the future are here.

I also got the exclusive on some big news out of AngelList — its purchase of fintech startup Nova and formal expansion into the private equity space. I talked both with AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli and Nova founder Pradyuman Vig about how the deal came about and what the expansion means for the organization. On Friday’s episode of the Equity podcast, Alex Wilhelm, Kirsten Korosec and I dug into what some might consider an unexpected move for AngelList — which has historically served early-stage investors. Hint: We thought it might have a little something to do with its 2022 raise that was co-led by a global investor that rhymes with Kiger. Private equity talk aside, it’s always cool to see a young founder with not just one exit under their belt, but two — by the age of 26. — Mary Ann

---

Image Credits: Founder Dileep Thazhmon / Jeeves

Weekly News

What do caregiving and divorce have in common? Financial stress for employees. This week, Christine reported on Helpful raising $7.5 million. The new app brings together insurance benefits, medical records and caregiving resources into one dashboard.

As reported by Manish Singh: “The world’s largest asset manager is re-entering India — and it’s doing so in a partnership with Asia’s richest man. Jio Financial Services and BlackRock have struck a deal to form a joint venture, called Jio BlackRock, aimed at serving India’s growing investor base. BlackRock and Reliance’s finance unit are targeting an initial investment of $150 million each into the new 50/50 venture, which will seek to offer tech-enabled access to ‘affordable, innovative’ investment solutions for millions of investors in India, they said.” More here.

Dan Macklin, co-founder of SoFi, has joined Summer as president to help more students and families navigate and reduce student loans. TechCrunch reported on his original departure from SoFi here.

We spotted a tweet (or whatever it’s called now) by Forbes’ Alex Konrad this week about his interview with Victor Lazarte (the former CEO of Brazilian games startup Wildlife Studios), who is Benchmark’s newest equal partner. Lazarte told Forbes that he will invest broadly but has an interest in startups in games, consumer and fintech. TechCrunch’s Connie Loizos caught up with Benchmark’s Miles Grimshaw in June to discuss AI investment. More here.

Also, feds raised rates, and now some fintechs are doing so, too. Wealthfront announced on X that the rate on its “Cash Account” is increasing to 4.80% APY (annual percentage yield), up from 4.55% through its partner banks. If you refer a friend, you get 5.30% APY. Perhaps an interesting note is the up to $5 million FDIC insurance (and $10 million for joint accounts) being offered. Not to be outdone is Robinhood, which also announced via X that it was offering 4.9% APY on accounts that were FDIC-insured up to $2 million through program banks.

What else we’re reading

Six ways FedNow may affect businesses’ cash flow 

Vesttoo investigation reveals $4B fraud involving fake letters of credit

John Collison’s land grab: A Stripe co-founder grows in power

Mastercard’s cease-and-desist letters halt cannabis debit card transactions

Clearwater Analytics to launch new generative artificial intelligence solution for investment management

American Express introduces commercial partner program

Fundings and M&A

Seen on TechCrunch

Upgrade acquires travel-focused BNPL startup Uplift for a song (This is particularly notable considering that Uplift got acquired for far less than it raised over its lifetime.)

GlossGenius raises $28M to expand its bookings and payments platform for beauty businesses

Bloom Money raises £1M to digitize finance for ethnic communities

a16z-backed Eco unveils Beam, a P2P crypto transfer service aiming to be a ‘global Venmo’

Bunq, the Dutch neobank, has raised $111M at a flat $1.8B valuation to break into the US 

Seen elsewhere

Inspectify, which sells software for property inspection services, lands $5.7M 

Digital MGA Foxquilt secures $12M funding

Houston workforce training startup acquired by California company

Mercury Financial secures $200M for its credit card business expansion

Deposit ‘marketplace’ launches with backing from BMO

Settle books $145M credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank 

---

Join us at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September as we explore the impact of fintech on our world today. New this year, we will have a whole day dedicated to all things fintech, featuring some of today’s leading fintech figures. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code INTERCHANGE. Learn more.

---

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

source https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/30/when-youve-got-two-exits-under-your-belt-by-the-age-of-26/