Latest from Mary Ann Azevedo
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This YC alum just raised $31M to build the ‘TurboTax for construction permitting’
Anyone who has ever tried to build or renovate a house knows the pain of obtaining construction permits. Challenges in receiving permits not only add frustration, but also time and expense to any project. It’s no surprise then that the startup world has seen a flurry of startups focused on…
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re looking at a new finance-based dating app, Robinhood’s earnings results and the startup in which PayPal Ventures made its first…
The Equity crew is highlighting deals of the week, YC’s new call for startups, Foundry Group’s exit, and venture capital’s year of transition.
It’s no fun as a customer to have an interaction with a bot when it’s clearly a bot with which you’re engaging. Rasa is a startup that claims to have…
Foundry Group, an 18-year-old venture firm with nearly $3.5 billion in assets under management, has quietly decided to shut down and not raise any more funds. The move was unexpected…
Venture capital firm Homebrew is targeting $50 million for a new fund, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing comes as a bit…
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! We’re back after a brief hiatus, and I can tell you that judging by the volume of pitches I received last week, venture…
Hello, and welcome to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.
Could 2024 be the year for fintech IPOs? Quite possibly, according to F-Prime Capital’s State of Fintech 2024 report. F-Prime — a VC firm with over $4.5 billion in assets…
Plaid has named Jennifer (Jen) Taylor, who most recently served as Cloudflare’s chief product officer, as its first president. The move is notable in that it comes just months after…
Adam Neumann, who co-founded flexible workspace provider WeWork in 2010 and notoriously stepped down nine years later, is attempting to buy the company out of bankruptcy, according to multiple reports.…
Fintech
Metronome’s usage-based billing software finds hit in AI as the startup raises $43M in fresh capital
Metronome, a startup that helps software companies offer usage-based billing, has raised $43 million in a Series B funding round led by NEA. Existing backers Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst…
Spend management startup Ramp has acquired AI-powered startup Venue as it expands its procurement offering. Venue was founded in 2022 by TK Kong, Young Kim, and Kevin Chan, and its…
PayPal has begun company-wide layoffs, according to multiple reports, including an article published by The Information. It is not yet clear at the time of writing how many people will…
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! In this edition, I’m going to look at Brex’s latest round of layoffs, the state of fintech investing in 2023 and more! I…
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance…
Bilt Rewards, whose platform aims to allow consumers to earn rewards on rent and daily neighborhood spend, has raised $200 million at a $3.1 billion valuation, the company announced today.…
Expense management startup Brex, which was valued at $12.3 billion two years ago, laid off 282 people, or about 20% of its staff today. The once high-flying fintech startup sent…
Covering companies’ growth from the seed stage gives reporters a glimpse of what investors must feel like.
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance…
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and…
Fintech
Briq, a startup that uses AI to automate finances in construction, brings in $8M extension at a $150M valuation
At a time when many startups are struggling to raise funding or are raising but at lower valuations, it’s notable when companies raise at flat or higher valuations. Especially when…
Argentinian payments infrastructure startup Pomelo has raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding. The Buenos Aires-based company started in 2021 with the goal of giving fintechs and embedded…
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! In this edition, I’m going to look at some hits and misses in the real estate fintech space, Carta’s missteps (again), and more!…
Startups
When it comes to startups’ flight to quality, have we swung too far in the other direction?
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and…
Welcome to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Friday show,…
Historically, vacation rental companies have managed homes for homeowners. While this model has proven popular, it also has its drawbacks. Customer complaints around quality get routed through the companies to…
Downpayments, a real estate fintech startup, is emerging from stealth today with the mission of helping investors purchase new properties with interest-free down payments. It’s a lofty claim. The Miami-based…
Treasure Financial has laid off 14 employees, the fintech startup confirmed to TechCrunch today. The layoffs took place in December. The move affected some 60% to 70% of the company,…
Fintech
Another proptech startup’s investment platform crashes and burns, cites ‘current interest rate environment’
Here, a fractional short-term vacation rental marketplace, has shut down its investment platform after just over two years of operation. The Miami-based startup, which had raised a known $5 million…
