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This week, we’re looking at the latest with embattled fintech Bench, Robinhood’s $45 million settlement, a couple of M&A deals, some cool fundraises, and more.
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The big story
After accounting startup Bench abruptly shut down on December 27 and was bought in a fire sale by Employer.com, Bench customers are now learning they can’t easily just take their financial data and leave. And some are very unhappy about it. Meanwhile, Bench claims that “the only way that they can get their data at all is to opt into giving Employer.com permission to access their data, because the only other entity that currently has that data to begin with no longer exists and is in active bankruptcy proceedings.”
Dollars and cents
Float Financial, an expense management and corporate card startup focused on the Canadian market, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round. The Toronto-based fintech likens itself to U.S.-based fintech giants Brex and Ramp but says it is different in that its sole focus is on Canadian SMBs.
At 24 years old, Pryce Yebesi already has one exit: selling his crypto invoicing company Utopia Labs to Coinbase for an undisclosed amount. On Monday, Yebesi announced the launch of his new company, Open Ledger, which embeds automated accounting software into products that enterprises and small businesses already use. He’s already raised $3 million in a round led by Kindred Ventures and Blank Ventures.
Focused primarily on cross-border payments for merchants across Asia and the Middle East, NomuPay has raised $37 million in funding at a $200 million valuation to expand its business.
Financial services firm Moody’s has agreed to acquire Cape Analytics, a geospatial AI startup, for an undisclosed sum.
Clearwater Analytics, a company developing accounting, compliance, and risk reporting tools for asset managers, has agreed to acquire investment management platform Enfusion for $1.5 billion.
What else we’re writing
Robinhood has agreed to fork out $45 million to settle an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over several alleged violations, including one related to this 2021 hack.
As digital payments morph into strategic assets, India is offering a template for other nations seeking to reduce dependence on Western payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.
Groww, India’s largest retail stockbroker, is preparing to file for an IPO in 10 to 12 months, seeking a valuation between $6 billion and $8 billion, sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
High-interest headlines
In HR software news, Buk, a Santiago, Chile-based human resources software provider, raised $50 million in Series B round funding at a valuation of about $850 million. That’s up from the $417 million valuation it had achieved in 2021.
Toronto-based Humi has been acquired by fellow HR software company Employment Hero, as the Australian company seeks “to gain a foothold in Canada.”
Fintech giant Plaid told TechCrunch it is planning to open an office in Raleigh, North Carolina. Headquartered in San Francisco, Plaid now employs over 1,000 people and has additional offices in New York; Washington, D.C.; London; and Amsterdam. A spokesperson told TC that “Raleigh is the next step of expanding Plaid’s footprint to meet rising demand for its technology as the financial services sector moves increasingly online.”
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you again next week!
