Fintech has been within the dumps for some time now, and with firms like Brex as soon as once more reducing workers as they attempt to rein in prices, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the marketplace for monetary know-how merchandise is struggling.
Nicely, probably not.
Brex may not be having a very good couple of quarters, however there’s adequate optimistic information from the world of fintech to offset all of the negativity across the sector. Bilt Rewards’ new large spherical is an effective instance of the opposite aspect of the coin: The rewards-focused startup simply raised 9 figures at a considerably greater unicorn valuation.
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Elsewhere, BNPL large Klarna has been busy retooling its enterprise for extra revenue and continued development. So, yeah, whereas there was a stark lack of fintech firms going public just lately, capital is flowing into the sector as a result of enterprise buyers are nonetheless cautiously optimistic about it.
So, which startups are drawing essentially the most reward from buyers? We are able to reply that query comparatively simply right now due to a new checklist compiled by GGV US that highlights 50 fintech startups enterprise capitalists assume are scorching stuff. We additionally spoke to GGV managing companion Hans Tung, about what he’s seeing within the sector right now.
We’ll dig into the sub-sectors shortly, however if you wish to reduce to the chase: Lending, treasury administration, and the CFO stack are items of the fintech puzzle properly value researching.
The issue with (2021) fintech
Earlier than we dig into the excellent news, let’s discuss narratives. Why does fintech seem like it’s caught in first gear right now? An excellent portion of the present angst seemingly arises from various typically robust startups that raised an excessive amount of at very excessive valuations a number of years in the past. These large fundraises typically led to overhiring and fairness costs that don’t align with right now’s norms.