The Road Ahead
Theme of the Week
An article by Felicis highlights the value creation potential for adding fintech products for VMS companies. Successful past examples have included Toast and Shopify; other applications can include loyalty credit card programs. Recent examples include GlossGenius launching Genius Loans for small businesses and Topkey who provides a financial management hub for rental property management companies.
By leveraging fintech tools to serve as an initial wedge, startups can introduce superior, bespoke financing solutions that are significantly better than legacy options to gain traction into large, underserved markets. After attracting customers with these financial solutions, startups can then expand their offerings with more specialized financial and software products, enhancing customer value and reducing acquisition costs.
Market Insights
Fintech franchises (Alex Johnson)
VC Insights
From incorporation to venture rounds (Peter Walker – LinkedIn)
The venture capital math problem (Fred Wilson)
Financial services are the new wedge (Felicis)
Subtle differentiation (or why there are no 10x products in fintech) (Kunle.app – Substack)
VC Fundraises
Introducing Inspired Capital Fund III (Inspired Capital)
Editorials
Venture debt was supposed to dry up after SVB. Instead, competition increased (The Information)
Cash-rich venture capital firms eye new investments in Latin American startups (Bloomberg)
Thrasio, once king of e-commerce aggregation, files for Ch. 11 (TechCrunch)
Notable Capital Raises
Uber to back Nigeria’s Moove in up to $100M round (Bloomberg)
Canadian paytech Helcim completes $20M series B funding round (Fintech Futures)