Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! In this installment, I’ll be taking a look at some of the real estate fintech successes and failures, Carta mistakes (again), and more!
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The big story
Stock management platform Carta has been in the news. . . once again. And not for good reasons. once again. A prominent client has accused Carta of misusing sensitive information startups entrust to the company for its own goals. The allegation raised broader questions about how Carta operates, even as Carta said the incident was isolated and led to the company closing its secondary business operations. So what happens to Karuta now? Rebecca Szkotak takes a deep dive. Meanwhile, Alex and Anna argued that Carta’s growth story had been overshadowed by the chaos of stock trading.
Analysis of the week
The real estate fintech space continues to have its ups and downs. We started the week by reporting the news that the short-term fractional vacation rental market we first reported on in 2022 has closed its investment platform after just over two years of operation. The company claimed it was still alive, but we’re not exactly sure what’s left. Despite the fact that many companies in the industry have faced difficulties or closed their doors, investors are not giving up.
This week I also reported on Down Payments Mission to help investors purchase new properties with interest-free down payments.
Finally, we took a look at Overmoon, which also has a unique model that is a mix of Airbnb and hotels – but with the best of both worlds. Listen to the Equity crew discuss more about Overmoon here:
Dollars and cents
Latin American startups continue to attract investment dollars. We reported two increases outside the region:
Conta Simples secured another $41.5 million for its approach to expense management in Brazil
Prometeo raises $13 million from PayPal, Samsung and others to bring open banking to Latin America
Meanwhile, in Africa, YC-backed African fintech Cleva, founded by Stripe and AWS alumni, has raised a $1.5 million seed round
Here in the US, Pier Banks has committed $2.4 million to launch “Stripe for Credit.”
What else do we write?
Dive into the deal: A secondary deal worth paying attention to: There appears to be a wave of buyers looking to acquire shares in the company in recent months.
Arc wants to make venture debt popular again: Arc is taking on the $30 billion venture debt industry with a new marketplace for startups.
GenAI could effectively make KYC useless: There is no evidence that GenAI tools have been used to fool a true KYC system – yet. But some relatively convincing fake ID photos are cause for concern.
scoop: Treasure Financial lays off employees just months after reporting ‘exponential growth’: The layoffs affected about 60% to 70% of the company.
Other titles of great interest
Fintech-focused Vetamer Capital is shutting down its hedge fund
Fintech funding halved last year, but VCs are excited about these areas and deals in 2024
Dispatch raises $8 million in seed funding
PitchBook Analyst Note: Vertical opportunities in reopened IPO window
Follow me on X @bayareawriter for breaking fintech news, coffee posts, and more.