Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech ! It’s finally cooling down here in my home base of Austin, Texas, and that makes me happy.
In this week’s newsletter, we’re looking at a big raise in the embedded fintech software space, a flurry of M&A activity and SMB-focused fundraises and more.
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The big story
Miami-based Finally picks up $200 million in debt and equity
The SMB-focused bookkeeping, accounting and finance startup Finally raised $50 million in a Series B round of funding and secured a $150 million credit line, TechCrunch was the first to report. The deal came just months after a $10 million growth raise. While the Miami-based company wouldn’t disclose valuation, its CEO told TechCrunch it was “an up round.” In some respects, SMB-focused Finally competes with the likes of Brex and Ramp as it offers expense management and a corporate card. But the company maintains it’s “a multi-product platform” that, for example, also offers payroll processing. Overall, according to PitchBook , enterprise fintech bounced back slightly in the second quarter, with deal value up 27.1% quarter-over-quarter after two consecutive quarters of decline.
Analysis of the week
Paylocity to acquire Airbase
Last week, I broke the news that Paylocity was acquiring corporate spend startup Airbase for $325 million (although the deal is actually valued higher, according to inside sources). It marked the second exit for founder Thejo Kote, and while it was a sales price that was markedly lower than what Airbase was valued at in 2021, it appeared to be an impressive exit. Estimates based on information provided by Paylocity ( here and here ) peg Airbase’s revenue run rate to have been somewhere between $14 million and $15 million, which would represent about a 22x multiple.
In other M&A news, digital banking startup Mercury quietly announced it had acquired Teal , a seed-stage startup that builds accounting products and recently raised $8 million.
And in even more M&A news, C&R Software announced it has agreed to acquire social impact fintech SpringFour . And Dubai-based open banking platform Tarabut said it had acquired U.K.-based Vyne in an effort to expand its fintech services.
Dollars and cents
A new $378.5 million fund
PruVen Capital , a fintech and insurance tech venture fund founded by former Battery Ventures and Citi Ventures VC Ramneek Gupta, has closed a new $378.5 million Fund II to invest in financial services and enterprise-focused startups.
Founded by former Uber and PayPal alums, Palm announced a $6.1 million seed round led by Speedinvest and Target Global. The company has built an all-in-one platform to let businesses move money between hundreds of bank accounts and subsidiaries in a more efficient way.
What else we’re seeing
A bunch of SMB-focused startups raise money
Besides Finally, there were other SMB-focused startups that raised money last week. Validus , a Singapore-based digital lending platform for small and medium businesses, secured $50 million in debt financing from HSBC under the ASEAN Growth Fund strategy.
Drip Capital , a fintech that provides working capital to SMBs, picked up $113 million — $23 million in equity from Japanese institutional investors GMO Payment Gateway and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and $90 million in debt financing.
And Dubai-based Ziina , which now counts 50,000 retail and business customers after expanding its offerings to meet the needs of micro, small and medium-sized businesses in the UAE, netted $22 million in Series A funding led by Altos Ventures.
Also, more drama , including a restraining order, in the ongoing Bolt saga.
High-interest headlines
FDIC eyeing plan to protect customers from fintech failures
Agree kickstarts with $3M to enhance agreement automation
Bad loans pile up at Nubank, Latin America’s new No. 1 bank
PayPal pushes into in-person payments with cashback rewards, Apple integration
Klarna CEO reveals plan to reduce workforce by 50% and replace it with A I (Read more comments from Sebastian here .)
Colombian real-time payments startup raises $35M Series B
Thatch raises $38M in Series A funding
BMO helps newcomers make real financial progress through Nova Credit partnership
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