March fintech funding roundup: Fintech funding continues to falter this year

Quick Take

According to Dealroom, fintech funding has raised $8.3 billion last month, compared to $12.2 billion in January 2022.
In March, Cross River Bank and Acorns scored some of the biggest rounds, raising $620 million and $300 million respectively.

After hitting its lowest levels since May last year in February, monthly fintech funding has yet to return to the double-digit billions. This month, despite several mega raises over the $100 million mark, only $8.3 billion was raised — compared to the heady days of January 2022 when $12.2 billion was plowed into the industry.

That’s not to say that the monster raises have altogether dissipated. Cross River Bank raised a mammoth $620 million in March and investment app Acorns tapped a $300 million Series F after abandoning its SPAC ambitions.

Read on to find out what went down in fintech in March.

Payments

Usually the queen bee of fintech funding, payments took a back seat this month, netting a mere $1.2 billion — the lowest of our five categories.

Stax, an all-in-one payment solution for businesses, raised $245 million at a valuation of $1 billion. Investors such as HarbourVest Partners and Blue Star Innovation took part in the round.

Branch App, a startup that helps businesses offer accelerated pay to its workers, raised a $75 million Series C led by Addition VC.

Fintech firm Zeller, a startup that facilitates b2b payments alongside banking services, raised a $72 million Series B led by Spark Capital.

Cashback and BNPL payment provider tabby raised a $54 million Series B thanks to Sequoia India.

SVB Capital and Salesforce Ventures invested $50 million into Modern Treasury, a software platform that simplifies business payments.

Wealthtech

Startups aiming to simplify the world of investing raised $1.4 billion last month.

Acorns, a fintech firm that popularized the spare change investment feature, raised a $300 million Series F after scrapping its SPAC. It recently added bitcoin exposure to its offerings.

Roofstock, a marketplace for investing in real estate, closed a $240 million Series E led by SoftBank.

SaaS capital markets platform Capitalois raised $110 million in a round co-led by Canapi Ventures, 9Yards Capital, and SVB.

India’s Vivriti Capital raised $55 million in Series C funding. The company says that it’s a marketplace that brings together capital markets investors with SMEs and individuals.

Moonfare, a Berlin-based startup that offers retail investors access to private market and VC funds, raised $35 million from Vitruvian Partners.

Financial management

Financial management startups raised $1.3 billion in funding last month.

Ramp, a financial automation platform founded in 2019, is now valued at $8.1 billion after a $200 million equity round.

Expenses fintech Jeeves raised $180 million in a round led by China’s Tencent. Founder Dileep Thazhmon told The Block last month that they’ll start to explore a crypto product later this year.

CERC, a Brazilian fintech firm that sees itself as an alternative to notaries, closed a $100 million funding round as it gears up for an IPO.

Finally, a startup that automates accounting and finance for SMEs, raised $95 million in Series A funding.

Yokoy, an spend management startup based in Switzerland, raised $80 million in a round led by Sequoia.

Banking and banking-as-a-service

Banking had a busy month with a bunch of mega raises that netted the sub-sector $1.6 billion last month.

Cross River Bank, a technology infrastructure provider for fintechs, has raised $620 million in funding at a valuation of $3 billion. It’s reportedly building out a crypto product.

Cloud-based clearing bank ClearBank has raised $229 million as it pushes to expand globally.

Neobank Dave.com struck a partnership with FTX to introduce digital asset payments on its platform alongside raising $100 million from its venture arm.

Lunar, a neobank located in the Nordics, raised $77 million in a round led by Heartland. It also launched a blockchain arm and began the rollout of its crypto product.

Thought Machine, a startup that builds cloud-native technology for banks, raised $54 million from Intesa Sanpaolo, one of Italy’s largest banks.

Farmers need neobanks too, apparently. UK-based Oxbury Bank raised $26 million from Hambro Perks and Grosvenor Group.

Lending

Investors showed the most love for lending last month — $1.8 billion flowed into lending platforms in March.

Consumer loan platform Best Egg hatched a $225 million Series E thanks to the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.

Creadvenue, an Indian startup that claims to give easy access to debt solutions, raised $55 million in Series C funding from Lightstone India and Creation Investments.

Neo car financing platform AutoFi accelerated into March with an $85 million round courtesy of Crosslink Capital, SVB Capital, and Santander UK.

Capchase, a company that provides capital for businesses dependent on subscriptions, raised an $80 million Series B.

Money View, a loan platform based in India, raised $75 million in capital from Tiger Global and Accel amongst others.