Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week we take a look at some of the fintech startups in Africa, how the closure of Mint was a win for Copilot and why venture capital firms have doubled down on one particular expense management startup.
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The big story
Although venture funding in Africa (like elsewhere in the world) has been down recently, last week was a good one for the region's fintech ecosystem. TC reporter Tage Kene-Okafor reports how Uber led a $100 million investment in African mobility fintech Moove as the startup's valuation reached $750 million. He also wrote about how Zone raised $8.5 million to scale decentralized payment infrastructure. Annie Ng'ang'a reported how Tanzanian payments company Nala's successful pivot to offering a remittance service in 2021 also led to the building of a business-to-business payment platform.
Analysis of the week
Intuit's decision to shut down budgeting app Mint has created an opportunity for startups in this space. Kristin Hall wrote about how Copilot has grown more in the past four months than it has in the past four years, and the startup was able to parlay that growth into a $6 million Series A funding round led by Nico Wittenborn's Adjacent. TC previously reported on Copilot when it first launched with $250,000 angel funding and then again when it added support for Apple Card. Ozi Osman, co-founder of Monarch Money, also told TechCrunch that Mint's loss was their gain.
Dollars and cents
Unsexy industries can also attract investors. Expense management startup Coast is going after companies that have so-called field employees and real-world fleets to manage. It claims to have seen revenue growth of 550% last year and has just attracted another $25 million in equity funding.
Digital bank Onyx Private goes B2B. The YC-backed startup raised $4.1 million last year with the goal of serving high-income millennials and Generation Z. But last week, it informed customers it would end banking operations and close their accounts.
Swiss fintech nsave, which makes banking services in Switzerland more accessible to people in countries with unstable banking sectors or those facing high inflation, has raised $4 million in seed funding.
What else do we write?
Despite all the recent growth in fintech, Eric Jaliman, co-founder and CEO of Ramp, believes the industry, and companies like his, are still scratching the surface. Jaliman recently said on the TechCrunch Found podcast that despite how much his startup's ticket and startup expenses have grown so far, he's only tapped 1% of his potential market share. Fun fact: Ramp and Deel turned five years old this week — just one day apart.
In its wide-ranging antitrust complaint against Apple and its iPhone business, the US Department of Justice specifically targets Apple's massive financial business.
Other titles of great interest
An unexpected pairing: Bolt and Checkout.com team up for frictionless commerce
Rewards startup Fetch is capitalizing on the private credit boom, raising $50 million from Morgan Stanley
Wealthfront postpones IPO plans
Affirm Holdings CEO Keith Rabois sold shares worth more than $318,000
Cloud banking technology provider nCino acquires DocFox
Marco raises $12 million to support trade finance in Latin America
PayPal-backed NX Technologies raises $24 million to simplify car payments
Pricepool receives a cease and desist from the FDIC for false and misleading statements
DLocal appoints Pedro Arnett as CEO while Sebastian Kanovic steps back
Ryan Zauk has joined OMERS Ventures as a fintech investor
ICYMI: Klarna targets Visa and Mastercard with open banking payments
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