The 25 biggest fintech funding rounds: August 2022

In August, total funds raised for fintech startups declined to $2.5 billion, according to Dealroom statistics. That is less than half the amount raised by fintech firms the previous month and the lowest total since August 2020. 

While the total is indicative of the larger economic downturn as investors pull back from risky fintech bets, a few mega-rounds still slipped through. The month's most significant raise went to EarlySalary, a personal financial management platform that raised $110 million. MENA-based buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) player Tamara followed suit, raising $100 million. 

Payments 

Payments startups raised the most last month — $670 million was brought in by the likes of Tamara and Geopagos. 

Tamara provides a buy-now-pay-later payment solution to Saudi Arabia and MENA customers. It raised $100 million in Series B funding in a round led by Sanabil Ventures.

PayIt, a company that provides digital payments technology to governments, raised $90 million. The round was led by Macquarie Capital Principal Finance. 

AtoB is a payment platform for truck drivers and fleet operators. It raised $77.5 million in Series B funding along with an equal amount in debt capital in a round led by General Catalyst. Collaborative Fund, Contrary Capital, XYZ Venture Capital and Leadout Capital also participated. 

Buenos Aires-based payments infrastructure company Geopagos raised $35 million. The round was led by Riverwood Capital, with participation by Endeavor Catalyst.

Shopic, a startup that creates payment devices for shopping carts, raised $35 million. The round was led by Qualcomm Ventures with participation by  Vintage Investment Partners, Clal Insurance, IBI Tech Fund, Tal Ventures, Claridge Israel and Shufersal. 

Financial management

Financial management and administration companies raised $377 million last month, making it the second most-favored subsector by fintech investors last month. 

EarlySalary, an Indian personal financial management platform, raised $110 million from TPG Growth and Norwest Capital. Piramal Capital and Housing Finance also participated in the round. 

SME accounting startup Ageras Group raised $35 million in growth capital. The round was led by CIBC Innovation Banking. 

Nitra, a financial management startup aimed at medical professionals, raised a $31 million seed equity round and $31 million in debt capital. Investors included a16z, Pantera Capital and KB Financial Group among others. 

Zayzoon, a flexible earned wage access platform, raised $12.5 million in equity funding. The round was led by Carpae Investments and Alpenglow Capital. 

Another flexible earned wage platform also raised funding in August. Jify bagged $10 million from Accel and Nexus Venture Partners as part of its Series A funding round. 

Lending 

Third place goes to the lending subsector — these startups raised $354 million last month. 

Parafin, an embedded finance company offering sellers lending options, raised $60 million in a round led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. Thrive Capital and Ribbit Capital also participated.

Arc, a startup offering debt funding to SaaS startups and banking services, raised $20 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Left Lane and included participation from NFX, Y Combinator and Bain Capital. 

Founderpath also aims to connect SaaS startups with debt financing options. It raised $10 million in equity financing led by Singh Capital Partners and $135 million in debt. 

CredAble, an Indian startup that enables capital financing across enterprise ecosystems, raised $9 million from Indian banking giant Axis Bank. 

Pezesha provides digital lending infrastructure for small and medium-sized businesses in Africa. It raised $6 million from investors including Verdant Frontiers, Women's World Banking, CFund and Input Output Global. 

Banking

Neobanks and banking-as-a-service startups raised $239 million in August. 

QED Investors made its first African investment in TeamApt, a business banking platform. According to Techcrunch, the startup raised $50 million in a round led by QED. Novastar Ventures, Lightrock and BII also participated. 

Indian neobank Fi Money scored $17 million in Series C funding. Investors in the round included Temasek and QCM Holdings. 

Singaporean neobank Unobank raised an $11 million seed funding round led by Creador. 

Embedded banking startup BankiFi raised $4.8 million in a round led by Paetura Ventures. It will use the funds to expand to the US. 

Banking-as-a-service platform Anchor raised $1 million in pre-seed funding as it came out of stealth. Investors included Byld Ventures, Y Combiantor, Luno Expeditions, Niche Capital and Mountain Peak Capital. 

Wealthtech

Wealth management and investing startups raised $216 million last month. 

Agora, a real estate investment platform, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Insight Partners, with participation from Aleph. 

Kasisto, a company that provides artificial intelligence technologies for JP Morgan and Westpac among others, raised a $15.5 million Series C round. 

VRGL, a startup that provides analytics and data for the wealth management industry, raised $15 million in Series A funding. The round was led by MissionOG and Fintop Capital. 

Treasury management startup Hazeltree secured a $14 million funding round led by Fintop Capital. 

South Korea's QuotaBook, an equity and fund-management platform for startups, raised an $11 million round led by Elefund. Draper Associates, Access Ventures, Hana Securities and Toss participated.