Greetings from TechCrunch Fintech! This edition dives into the notable acquisition of Skuad by Payoneer for $61 million, the impressive Q2 outcomes for Robinhood and Dave, alongside advancements from X in payment solutions and more.
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Headline News
Recently, I discovered that the publicly traded fintech powerhouse Payoneer successfully acquired the Singapore-based startup Skuad for a hefty sum of $61 million in cash, potentially rising to $81 million. Skuad’s journey, spearheaded by founder Sundeep Sahi since its inception in 2019, aimed at streamlining global employment and attracted $19 million in venture capital. Both companies focus on serving SMBs across international landscapes, especially within emerging markets, with Payoneer opting to enrich its portfolio by integrating Skuad’s payroll and contract management functionalities.
Week’s Analysis
Last week saw stellar performances by publicly listed fintech firms. Robinhood outperformed its Q2 earnings forecasts, unveiling a 40% revenue increase to $682 million. Citizens JMP’s Devin Ryan highlighted to Yahoo Finance Robinhood’s “exceptional quarterly results,” underlined by substantial profitability and a 40% surge in new deposits. Meanwhile, neobank Dave’s Jason Wilk informed TechCrunch about attaining 2.3 million paying users and a 31% rise in revenue to $80.1 million, alongside $15.2 million EBITDA and a significant 26% reduction in CAC to $15 year-over-year. Such robust figures from public fintechs signal promising prospects for their private equivalents.
Financial Insights
CloudPay, established through a collaboration in 1996, continues to defy its age, venturing into AI enhancements for its workflow automation solutions with a fresh $120 million investment for further development.
With traditional banking models often resulting in high expenses and slow transaction times, businesses are increasingly turning to fintech alternatives promising lower costs and swifter settlements. One such solution is Conduit, a B2B cross-border payments platform pivoting from crypto to traditional banking strategies, now gaining traction in Africa by addressing the continent’s unique market challenges, along with a $6 million seed fund extension from Helios Digital Ventures, part of Helios Investment Partners.
Additional Insights
PayPal announced on August 6 that its quick guest-checkout feature, Fastlane, will be accessible to all U.S. merchants, following successful trials with select businesses. Use of PayPal’s existing payment processing services, such as PayPal Braintree or PayPal Complete Payments, is required to implement Fastlane.
X (previously known as Twitter) is steaming ahead with its payment system development, moving closer to Elon Musk’s all-encompassing app concept. App researcher Nima Owji stumbled upon a new “Payments” tab under the bookmarks section, hinting at forthcoming payment functionalities like “transactions, balance, and transfer,” as shared with TechCrunch.
Top Headlines
US fintech firm Octane secures $50m Series E funding from Valar Ventures (TC previously reported on Octane’s last funding, a $52 million round valuing the company over $900 million, back in August 2021.)
Mexico’s fintech showcase, Stori, garners $212 million in mixed equity and debt finance (TC covered Stori’s preceding fundraise, a $50 million venture at a $1.2 billion valuation, in 2022.)
Greenlight collaborates with Google for Fitbit-centric financial education initiative
Robinhood appoints former Cruise and Lyft executive Jeff Pinner as chief technology officer
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