Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week we’re looking at layoffs at startup BaaS unit and auto insurance company Loop, as well as Brex’s decision to ditch the co-CEO model, Apple scrapping its Pay Later feature, and more!
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The big story
lonliness is the latest banking-as-a-service startup to lay off employees, with co-founders Itay Dhamti and Doron Sumich Pointing out the blog post On June 17, the company (last valued at $1.2 billion) laid off about 15% of its employees. (Synctera cut staff in March and Treasury Prime It reduced its workforce by half in February). The unit declined to share the number of employees affected or how many employees remain.
In other BaaS news, the Fed has done just that Bank development order (Partner at Synapse and Mercury) “to strengthen its risk management programs around fintech partnerships as well as anti-money laundering laws.” Meanwhile, the CEO of troubled fintech Synapse was reportedly named It raised $10 million To start new robots up while Questions remain About the whereabouts of $85 million in customer savings.
Analysis of the week
In an exclusive interview, Brix Co-founders Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi told TechCrunch that the expense management company is ditching the co-CEO model in an effort to move faster and be more attractive to investors as the startup prepares to eventually go public. “I think we’ve reached a level where we’re starting to see some cracks in the co-CEO model,” Dubugras said. “We thought this would enable much faster and better decisions.” Looks like Brix is getting bigger. The pair also said that a secondary sale of shares is likely to take place before it goes public. The company also told TechCrunch that it has launched a new corporate checking account in partnership with Column, a fintech company started by Plaid co-founder William Hockey, as well as access to Brex business accounts upon founding through Stripe Atlas.
Dollars and cents
Founded by two former Flexport accounting graduates, Mary Anthony and Kelsey Gutnick, Flexport is a fintech company for automated financial reporting. in range It raised a $4.3 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Speaking of Lightspeed, the company also led a $35 million round FinelobeWhich aims to reduce the burden on e-commerce companies through its accounting programs.
India’s largest wealth manager focuses on ultra-high net worth individuals, 360 WAMhas agreed to acquire the popular Indian mutual funds investment app Et money For about $44 million.
IQ AccountsThe Dublin-founded accounting technology company has raised €60 million (about $65 million) to build the “finance function of the future” for mid-sized companies.
Let it be there a light! A Danish startup is emerging from stealth with $13 million in seed funding to bring artificial intelligence to public ledgers.
What else do we write?
Just over a year after it was announced at WWDC, applePay later is no longer available in the US only. As TC’s Brian Heater wrote: “Pay Later had a very short life, as it officially launched in late March 2023. However, in the end, the move was not a surprise. Apple announced at WWDC 2024 last week that users will have access to… Loans through it Confirm the third-party application Through Apple Pay service.
episodeThe auto insurance company co-founded by Harlem Capital co-founder John Henry has laid off employees as the company struggles to raise funds. Dominique Madori-Davis gives us the scoop.
High interest titles
Wells Fargo Bet on a glamorous rental credit card. This is costing the bank dearly, as the Wall Street Journal reported. TC covered the startup’s $200 million raise earlier this year. But both companies He denies any problems.
Airbase adds analytics and vendor management to its spend orchestration platform
Intuit acquires Zendrive to expand usage-based auto insurance
Rental inspection company Findigs raises $27 million in Series B funding
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