Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re exploring a revolutionary new dating app, the latest earnings results from Robinhood, and PayPal Ventures’ first investment in a startup in the finance industry. Let’s delve in!
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The major story
A unique dating app has been launched just in time for Valentine’s Day, but there’s a twist: you must have a minimum credit score of 675 to use it. Created by financial platform Neon Money Club, Score is a dating app exclusively for individuals with good to excellent credit, aiming to raise awareness about the importance of financial stability in relationships. TechCrunch’s Dominic-Madori Davis provides insights on what this startup is aiming to achieve and how it came to be. The comments on X and LI regarding this are also quite entertaining!
Analysis of the week
According to Reuters, Robinhood’s stock received a significant boost last week after the company announced a surprise profit in the fourth quarter, driven by higher interest income and a rebound in trading from customers repaying loans. It also revealed its potential to break even or even turn a profit by next year. Shares reached their highest price in nearly two years and closed at $14 on Friday, a 17% increase from a close of $11.94 on February 13. When publicly traded fintech companies perform well, it typically bodes well for privately held fintechs. Co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev spoke at last year’s TechCrunch Disrupt – you can read more about it here.
Funding Updates
- The European challenger bank Finom has raised €50 million ($54 million) in a Series B equity round of funding targeted towards small and medium-sized enterprises and freelancers.
- FlowFi, a startup building a marketplace for finance professionals to assist entrepreneurs, has secured $9 million in seed funding. The investment was led by Blumberg Capital.
- Colombian financial technology company Bold has received $50 million in Series C funding in a round led by current investor General Atlantic. The company is developing an electronic payment infrastructure in Colombia.
- Rasa, an AI platform focused on enterprise and servicing financial services firms, has raised $30 million in a Series C round co-led by StepStone Capital and PayPal Ventures – the latter of which marked PayPal’s first AI investment.
Other Articles We’re Writing
India is struggling to implement long-delayed regulations to limit the dominance of PhonePe and Google Pay in the country’s popular UPI payments network, which processes over 10 billion transactions each month.
Following recent launches in the United Kingdom and Ireland, workforce management platform Rippling is continuing to pursue ambitious international expansion with the establishment of its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Sydney, Australia. The company has also hired Eisar Lipkovitz from JPMorgan to serve as its new Chief Product Officer.
Apple’s recent decision to increase the interest rate for its Apple Card savings account to 4.5% has prompted its competitor Cash App to follow suit. The company announced that it will now offer up to a 4.5% APY (annual percentage yield) for its Cash App Savings customers, with certain conditions applied.
In Other Headlines
- Once valued at $11 billion, Bolt drastically reduced its share price by 97% in a repurchasing move.
- Venture capital firms are optimistic about a rebound in fintech deals in 2024.
- Parlay has secured $1.3 million in funding to provide inclusive access to financial resources for small businesses.
- Mia Share has raised $6.5 million to assist in facilitating digital tuition payments.
- Sequoia is putting pressure on former leader Michael Moritz to vacate his seat on the board of Klarna.
- Airbase has hired procurement expert Mathew Schulz, a seasoned veteran from Forrester.
- Last week, fintech accounted for over a third of the €745 million invested in European tech.
- Follow me on X @bayareawriter for the latest updates on events in fintech, posts about coffee, and more!
Remember to subscribe to receive the biggest and most important fintech stories from TechCrunch right in your inbox every Sunday at 7:30 a.m. PT!
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