Fintech startup Lamp sees valuation rise 32%, Mercury expands into consumer banking

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Welcome to TechCrunch FinTech! This week, we cover Ramp’s big raise and soaring valuation, Mercury’s expansion into personal banking, Klarna’s new credit card, a global funding round, and more.

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big story

lampThe spend management startup, which rivals the likes of Brex, Navan and Airbase, exclusively told TechCrunch last week that it had raised $150 million at a post-money valuation of $7.65 billion. Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund co-led the round, which represents a 31.9% valuation increase since the August 2023 raise. This is an impressive feat in a tough market with many down rounds. Also noteworthy, Ramp is one of the few major fintech companies that didn’t have to lay off staff. What’s driving investor interest in Ramp? CEO Eric Greiman believes it’s about the company’s continued growth and focus on AI.

This week’s analysis

business banking startup Mercury We are also expanding into consumer banking. The seven-year-old company now serves more than 100,000 businesses through its B2B operations, many of which are start-ups. CEO and co-founder Immad Akhund told TechCrunch that instead of going after the masses, Mercury wants to convert many enterprise customers into customers. Onyx Private, which offers a similar service, recently made the opposite move, pivoting from B2C to B2B. Industry experts I spoke to emphasized that business and personal banking are “two different beasts,” but at the same time Mercury isn’t starting completely from scratch.

You can listen to the Equity Crew discuss this week’s fintech news here.

dollars and cents

Berlin-based embedded fintech startup fin mid has raised $24.7 million in a Series A round at a post-money valuation of $107 million to further strengthen its product and enter new markets.

Since 2015, pulaThe Kenya-based insurtech company has been keen to strengthen access to agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers across emerging markets. So far, the insurtech has helped 15.4 million farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America get insurance, and with a $20 million Series B funding round is paying attention to.

midasThe fintech startup, which allows people in Turkey to invest in US and Turkish stocks, announced it has raised $45 million in a funding round led by Canada’s Portage.

Rumored to be an HR/fintech startup ripples has raised $200 million, with another $670 million worth of shares sold by existing shareholders.

what else are you writing?

Klarna The Swedish fintech giant has launched a credit card in the United States, it told TechCrunch in an exclusive interview. With the Klarna credit card, the company now competes with the likes of Apple and more recently Robinhood, as well as rival BNPL player Affirm, in offering credit cards in the US.

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