2023: Top five funding rounds of the year
From big ticket raises for multinational companies to start-up seed rounds, fintech companies have managed to snag themselves varying levels of funding this year despite a continued funding drought and turbulent market conditions.
As we near the end of 2023, FinTech Futures takes a look back at some of the year’s top fundraising rounds in fintech.
Stripe raises $6.5bn in funding at reduced valuation of $50bn
Stripe raised a mammoth $6.5bn this year
Back in March, US fintech giant Stripe raised more than $6.5 billion from investors at a $50 billion valuation, a significant drop from the $95 billion valuation the company secured after its $600 million funding round in March 2021.
Stripe said at the time it “does not need this capital to run its business” and the new funds will instead be used to pay current and former employees and address employee withholding tax obligations relating to equity awards.
Co-founder and president John Collison says the funding will give current and former employees the opportunity “to access the value they’ve helped create”.
Investors in this latest round included many existing shareholders such as Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, MSD Partners and Thrive Capital.
PhonePe raises $850m over 2023
In May, Indian payments giant PhonePe secured an additional $100 million from existing backer General Atlantic to take its total primary capital raised to $850 million over the year. Of that, General Atlantic has contributed a total of $550 million.
PhonePe kicked off its latest funding drive in January, with General Atlantic investing $350 million in the paytech firm at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. Then in February, PhonePe bagged an additional $100 million from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds.
The payments giant capped off March with a $200 million investment from majority investor Walmart, and April saw another $100 million coming in from General Atlantic.
Rippling raises $500m following collapse of banking partner SVB
In March, company payroll and spend management fintech Rippling raised $500 million in a Series E financing round following the collapse of its primary banking partner Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
Rippling raised $500m over one weekend
Following the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) takeover of SVB on 10 March, Rippling extended $130 million of its own capital to fund customer payments to their employees.
The firm leveraged its backup payments infrastructure with JP Morgan Chase to ensure most customers’ employees received their pay that same day, with the remainder receiving their pay Monday morning.
Nonetheless, Rippling CEO Parker Conrad says “$545 million of our customers’ money was still locked up at SVB”.
“We had a number of sources of capital but raising a funding round was our best option,” he adds.
Turning to long-time investor Greenoaks, Rippling was able to raise $500 million by the following Monday morning.
Hong Kong fintech Micro Connect raises $458m Series C funding
In August, Hong Kong-based fintech start-up Micro Connect secured $458 million in a Series C funding round from new and existing investors.
According to Forbes Asia, the funding round valued the start-up at $1.7 billion. The Series C saw participation from new investor Baillie Gifford, Forbes Asia reported, as well as from Sequoia China, Lenovo Capital, Vectr Fintech and Dara Holdings.
The start-up is also backed by Li Ka-shing, a billionaire based in Hong Kong, and entrepreneur Adrian Cheng.
Founded in 2021, Micro Connect operates a financial market platform that connects China’s micro and small businesses with global capital through a revenue sharing investment and financing model. The start-up last raised $70 million in a Series B funding round in March last year.
DMI Finance bags $400m equity funding led by MUFG
DMI Finance raises $400m
Back in April, Indian digital lender DMI Finance raised $400 million in an equity investment round led by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group through its subsidiary MUFG Bank (MUFG).
Also taking part in the round was existing investor Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. The funding brings the firm’s total equity investment to more than $1.5 billion.
Founded in 2008 and based in New Delhi, DMI Finance provides consumption, personal and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) loans through various digital channels, particularly as an embedded finance partner for businesses including Samsung, Google Pay and Airtel to provide financial products to their customers across India.
