Fintech
There’s a real appetite for a fintech alternative to QuickBooks
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week we’ll look at the continuing fallout from Synapse’s failure, how Layer wants to revolutionize SMB accounting, and so much more!
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered straight to your inbox every Tuesday at 7 a.m. PT, sign up here.
The big story
The outlook for a struggling Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) startup Synapses it went from bad to worse last week, when a U.S. trustee filed an emergency motion seeking to convert the company’s Chapter 11 debt reorganization bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation due to “gross mismanagement” of its assets . Up to 20 million fintech depositors are reportedly at risk because of this failure. As Jason Mikula of Fintech Business Weekly relationships“Numerous fintech end users who have had their ability to access their funds frozen have shared the devastating impact this has had on their lives with the court and hundreds of participants connected to the hearing [on Friday].” Unfortunately, the fallout from Synapse’s collapse continues.
Analysis of the week
There appears to be real interest in an alternative to QuickBooks, the traditional accounting alternative for SMBs, judging by the attention this story about Layer’s $2.3 million raise received. Layer it’s leaning into what it describes as a better user experience through embedded accounting. Its customers are those who work with small and medium-sized businesses to offer bookkeeping and bookkeeping features within their products. Better Tomorrow Ventures led the preliminary investment in the startup and was joined by a group of executives from companies including Square, Plaid, Unit and Check.
Dollars and cents
PayHOA, a previously launched Kentucky-based startup offering software for self-managed homeowners associations (HOAs), is an example of how real-world problems can turn into opportunities. He is alone raised a $27.5 million Series A round in an environment where nearly $30 million Series A rounds are no longer common.
Buy now, pay later services have become so ubiquitous that BNPL might as well just be another way of saying “debt.” But in Mexico, where the BNPL platform is located Aplazo work, a great one unbanked population makes BNPL more like a cash alternative. A recent one $45 million Series B round led by QED Investors should help it further expand its reach, both virtual and physical.
Speaking of QED, it also brought a 10 million dollar round in Complimentswhich uses artificial intelligence to understand consumers’ spending habits so it can provide more personalized financial advice.
Aeropay, a provider of bank payment solutions for businesses that started out helping cannabis retailers and gaming companies with their payments, is now entering Visa and Mastercard territory by innovating payment networks. And that’s right raised $20 million in a Series B round.
What else are we writing
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is. prosecute SoLo Fundsa fintech company that enables peer-to-peer lending, alleging that the company used “digital dark patterns” to deceive borrowers and illegally took commissions by advertising to consumers that there were no commissions.
Titles of great interest
CFPB Takes Action Against Chime Financial for Illegally Delaying Consumer Refunds
Deel partners with Carta to offer capital tax withholding functionality
Insurtech Cover Genius Raises $80 Million in Series E Funding (TC covered its latest raise Here)
Yendo raises $165 million for ‘vehicle-insured’ credit card.
FinLocker Raises $17 Million in Series B Funding Round
Bunq enters the insurance market through a new partnership
Square adds new integrated restaurant solutions
Integrated accounting startup Teal raises $8 million
ICYMI: Baselayer raises $6.5 million in seed funding
Do you want to contact us with a suggestion? Email me at maryann@techcrunch.com or text me on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the entire TechCrunch team at tips@techcrunch.com. For safer communications, Click here to contact uswhich includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and links to encrypted messaging apps.