Fintech’s fortunes, DAO dreams, Asia’s reseller revival

Keeping up with the latest technology money movements

despite slowing down Venture capital activity still has a lot of money flowing into startups today. TechCrunch+ launches a series of posts covering recent notable venture rounds, exit activity, and other news related to the financial side of building new technology companies.

Banks are coping with the crisis caused by the collapse of the famous startup-friendly Silicon Valley Bank, but startup tech companies are still busy raising money. They are looking for an exit too. The former over the latter given the frozen IPO market. But while we wait for the critical exit points for startups to reawaken, we can monitor where and how the money is flowing.

Notable rounds of the week

Etoro reloads at $3.5 billion valuation

• After the SPAC deal fell through, consumer trading service eToro was left without the expected new capital tranche and new valuation mark. However, if the SPAC deal fails, it has previously secured new funding commitments and is now raising funds.
• The round is significant for its size (nine figures), industry (fintech has seen its valuation skyrocket in recent quarters), and underlying financial results. The company shrank compared to his 2021 period last year, even though in 2022 he posted some growth from 2020. This means that large consumer fintech companies are setting new valuations in difficult circumstances.Fintech founders should take note.

Seed Club Ventures Comes Out of Stealth with $25 Million to Realize DAO Dream

• Many thought that interest in DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) had waned over the past year, along with the fortunes of the Crypto Brothers. But it turns out that there are still a lot of people who are passionate about the concept of a community that decides for themselves how their millions of dollars are spent.
• Seed Club Ventures, a 63-member consortium of VCs, private investors, family offices, and various entities that still believe in web3, recently raised $25 million to help the DAO do just that. raised funds to exit the stealth state.
• This is important because this $25 million will be used for a very early stage project to build a much-needed tool for DAOs. We are already backing projects like Guild, Stability AI, Lens, Metalabel and more. Tools like this really help bring his DAO to a level where he can realize some, if not all, of the possibilities that a fully decentralized system offers.

IntegrityNext raises $109M to ensure companies’ supply chains are ESG compliant

• There is a lot of politics around environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment policies, and for good reason. Companies need to examine the breadth and depth of their operations to ensure that their business is conducted responsibly in order to comply with ESG norms. This can be expensive, cumbersome, and very time-consuming.
• Munich-based IntegrityNext is doing something very special to help companies solve that problem. We help companies audit their supply chains, helping them quickly discover where and how they can be optimized and compliant with ESG requirements.
• This funding is really good news for European companies. Because as EU regulations tighten, it will be easier time to adopt his formerly “nice-to-have” ESG policies that are soon to become “mandatory.”

Kream’s valuation soars to $742 million

• Some things are rare in a world of abundance. That is why resale platforms for luxury goods exist. His Kream, a spin-out from South Korean e-commerce giant Naver, has only existed for two years, but still sells high-end and unusual sneakers, watches, bags, accessories, and clothing.
• Kream’s $168 million funding round is an interesting one. That’s because the company is investing heavily in its industry peers and looking to build a reseller network that spans much of Asia. That means someone in Japan can buy a limited edition sneaker that was only released in Japan.
• It’s also good news for the growth of the Asian resale market. It shows consumer interest in collectibles and other luxury items, which may encourage further investment in this sector.

Kredivo Raises $270 Million in Series D

• It’s no secret that the large unbanked population of developing Asia is a big market for fintech to disrupt, with Kredivo aiming to increase access to credit in Indonesia and Vietnam. and certainly struck gold with a user base roughly as large as Indonesia’s credit card holding population.
• The company’s $270 million Series D is a testament to the fact that it has the growth it needs to make people’s lives easier and help them easily and seamlessly access banking services.

Other Startup and Venture Capital News

Venture slowdown is slowing down even in the fastest startup category

• It’s a sad reality of the world that even diamonds sometimes have no buyers, and it seems to be gaining ground in the startup world now: Even formerly popular API startups are suffering from a slowdown in ventures. I’m here.
• Startups in this category raised about $2.15 billion in 2022, less than half what they raised a year ago, according to GGV data that tracks funding for 63 API companies. . The number of transactions is also declining. In Q4 2022, such startups raised just $134 million, which is lower than his three quarters earlier in the year. That’s a big deal.
• API startups are taking the lead with usage-based pricing models, which is arguably the future of software sales. Their struggles show that no matter how enthusiastic the sector you are in, it’s likely to become harder and harder to get your hands on the dollar.

Coinbase Executives Angry That SEC Is Raining Parade

• The crypto world is not happy with the way lawmakers are being treated. The Coinbase CEO recently said the government should make up its mind on regulation after the SEC sent the Wells notice. This basically means that the government will pursue Coinbase and companies like it for “violating federal securities laws.” ”
• We agree with Coinbase here: there isn’t much precedent for what the crypto world is going through, and adapting the SEC’s nearly 100-year-old law to the crypto economy is a square peg and triangle hole. It feels like the situation of
• It’s clear that the SEC really needs to strengthen its beliefs about how cryptocurrencies are traded so that the wider ecosystem can follow the rules.

Roofstock cuts staff by 27% in second round of layoffs

• Proptech’s start-up now seems to have the time, and its employees paying the price. Rising mortgage rates and a general downturn in the housing market haven’t been good for companies that rely on people to live out the American Dream.
• But buying a house in this economy? A lot of people basically said, “Yeah, that’s right.” This essentially led to Roofstock, which allows people to buy and sell rental homes in dozens of U.S. markets, and decided he needed to lay off 27% of his staff. Less than two quarters.
• It makes sense that the company is trying to survive in a sinking housing market, but it makes sense that it was valued at $1.9 billion a year ago. This is currently not good news for the wider proptech market.

4 Indian investors explain how their investment strategies have changed in 2021 and beyond

• Indian startups started 2022 with a pretty good outlook as the global venture slowdown has yet to reach India. bottom.
• The country’s investors were sure it was coming, but how did they recalibrate their sensors to the new climate? jugmeat First of all, it turns out that they chose to bet on the safer side and generally slowed down to ensure portfolio companies had enough to ensure how long this recession would last. .
• Indian investors are also telling startups to take a step back, solidify their business models and focus on the basics to reach their next milestone. And, if necessary, raise a down round since life > death.

Focus on HR unicorns as tech IPO market reopens

• can you hear me? Here’s Alex giggling in anticipation of all the S-1s he could likely get if the HR unicorn continued to grow as rapidly as it has in the past.
• As unicorns such as Deel, Velocity Global, Gusto and Ripple continue to grow in new markets and categories, the startup group’s ARR growth rate and typical EBITDA output, and therefore valuations, are largely impacted by the slowdown. It doesn’t seem like
• This means that when IPO season hits, HR tech companies are likely to be the first to enter. How much can the startup in question grow without going to war with each other, perhaps in the form of price cuts?