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receive to TechCrunch Fintech ! It ’s good to be back .
This week , we ’re see at the wild drive that was Bench ’s closing and acquisition ; lashings of party that are rent in the fintech space ; lawsuits against PayPal ; an initial public offering update ; and more !
This variant is a chip longer than normal since we were on a hiatus for a few weeks . well-chosen New Year , btw ! Here ’s hoping for a peaceable and elated year for us all .
To get a roundup of TechCrunch ’s big and most of import fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT , support here .
The big story
It ’s always intelligence when a company that has raised more than $ 110 million in venture fundingsuddenly fold . But it ’s even more eyebrow - rearing when days later , that same company — in this typeface , Bench — gets acquired . Sadly , thousands of customers and hundreds of employees alike must be feel the whiplash .
In thisdeep dive , TechCrunch ’s Charles Rollet breaks down the particular of what led to Bench ’s shutdown and just who swoop in to bribe this fintech , which was backed by the ilk of Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures . One tidbit : The move was so sudden that one client who kept years of data on Bench ’s website , and was even featured on its front page before it go offline , learned of the shutdown only when TechCrunch called him for a reaction .
Dollars and cents
We kicked off the raw year with news that Thomson Reuters hadacquired taxation automation companySafeSendin an all - cash dealings valued at $ 600 million . found in 2008 , Ann Arbor , Michigan - base SafeSend serves a cloud - base platform design to streamline the processing and sharing of raw financial documents .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
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TechCrunch EIC Connie Loizos interviewedRobinhoodCEO and co - founder Vlad Tenev about his company being namedYahoo Finance ’s “ comeback stock ” of the year , and much more . Catch uphere .
ICYMI
Uzbekistan ’s mobile - sole camber , TBC Bank Uzbekistan , raised $ 37 millionin a new funding round to bolster its dominating digital presence in the Central Asiatic nation by uprise new AI and technical school product and pull more tech - savvy customer .
Tyme Group , a South African fintech , secured $ 250 millionin a Series D round , promote its valuation to $ 1.5 billion . Notably , the financial backing was led by Nu Holdings — which own Latin America ’s most valuable fintech , Nubank — induct $ 150 million for a 10 % stake .
What else we’re writing
Last calendar week was n’t a swell one forPayPal . First , Dominic - Madori Davis broke the news that PayPal isbeing suedby the father of venture firm Andav Capital , Nisha Desai , who claims she was exclude from the defrayment giant ’s diverseness and equity course of study because she is Asiatic . Then anothernew lawsuitalleges that the PayPal - owned internet browser extension Honey is screw creators out of money .
Meanwhile , Zack Whittaker reported that a U.S. online talent circuit board store , MyGiftCardSupply , has plug an on-line storage server that waspublicly exposinghundreds of chiliad of customer politics - issued identity element document to the cyberspace .
And , Tage Kene - Okafor wrote about how Africa ’s tech ecosystem late got a boost of attention , with South Africa’sTymeBankand Nigeria’sMoniepointbothraising fundsin late week at valuations of over $ 1 billion , joining the coveted unicorn pantheon .
IPO news
Is 2025 the yr for the fintech IPO ?
Before 2024 came to a finale , Manish Singh wrote about how shares of digital payment firmMobiKwiksurged 82 % to ₹ 507.5 ( $ 6 ) ontheir first day of tradingand how the Amerindic fintech ’s $ 69 million IPO fare amid fierce challenger from larger challenger . He also looked at the fact thatAye Finance , a lender targeting small- and average - sized businesses in India , is seeking to put forward $ 171 million from itsinitial public offering .
Meanwhile , Julie Bort reported on how digital bankChimefiled itsconfidential paperworkwith the SEC , a present moment the company has been prepping for since it hire banker Morgan Stanley last September , with an eye to IPO in 2025 .
High-interest headlines
Thanks for reading . We ’ll see you again next week !
