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Wannabe ‘social bank’ Kroo swerves VCs to raise a $24.5M Series A from HNWs

TechCrunch

Launched in February 2019, Kroo, the London-based consumer-facing fintech, raised some seed funding last year for its prepaid card service which claims to offer more “social features” in its drive toward offering full-blown banking services. Kroo will use the funding in its drive toward a full banking license in early 2022.

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UK challenger bank Starling raises $376M, now valued at $1.9B

TechCrunch

Challenger banks continue to see huge infusions of cash from investors bullish on the opportunity for smaller and faster-moving tech-based banking startups to woo customers from their larger rivals. The bank is already profitable. It posted operating profits for a fourth consecutive month, and net income currently exceeds £1.5

Banking 275
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Nigerian digital bank Carbon hit $240M in payments processed last year, up 89% from 2019

TechCrunch

The company’s annual reports reveal numbers on gross earnings, profit/loss before and after-tax, net impairment loss, total assets, liabilities, and equity, among others. Also, in its quest to become a digital bank, Carbon acquired a microfinance bank license. Image Credits: Carbon.

Banking 291
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Daily Crunch: Kanye West reaches agreement to acquire social media platform Parler

TechCrunch

That, that, that don’t kill me, can only make me stronger ” : Two of our top stories for today centered on the same topic — Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, surprising us all by announcing he was going to buy the conservative social media site Parler. The TechCrunch Top 3. Manish has the basics on the deal. You can sign up here.

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YC W22 batch nets 24 African startups, including 18 from Nigeria

TechCrunch

Founders : Before beU delivery, Hao Zheng, who leads the team as chief executive, was the founder and CEO of Yooul, a social networking app in China. Abdigani Diriye, Khalid Keenan and Youcef Oudjidane, the other co-founders, have combined experience across engineering, investment banking and venture capital. Website : [link].

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Social stock trading services Public raises $65M Series C

TechCrunch

Less than a year after it raised a $15 million Series B, Public , a social-focused free stock trading service, has raised a $65 million Series C. The founding duo told TechCrunch that they had plenty of cash in the bank from their preceding round, but saw the raise as a way to double-down on their model. So far it has worked.

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Fintech startup Brex was among the bidders for SVB’s early-stage and growth portfolios

TechCrunch

The idea actually came from a customer, he said, who thought Brex “could handle those customers better than big banks.” The first week after the SVB meltdown , the FDIC was not going to accept any bids from entities other than banks. Mary Ann Digital banking for seniors Different demographics can have different banking needs. .

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