PayPal Ventures

Democratizing financial technology with a suite of API-based solutions

FinTech Infrastructure

London-based Modulr provides infrastructure for lending, banking, FinTech, travel, etc. websites and apps to embed a range of solutions. The company primarily offers a full-stack payment-as-a-service platform and white-label infrastructure to use APIs to create payment products and services. Modulr’s infrastructure platform enables a range of payment services including payment accounts, cards, direct debits, and payments via open banking, and others. It supports several payment rails including SWIFT, CHAPS, Faster Payments, and SEPA.In addition to payment services, Modulr also offers the infrastructure for enterprises to embed banking, lending, and wealth management services. In May 2024, Modulr launched a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29864">travel payment solution</a> targeted at online travel agents and travel industry intermediaries to enhance operational efficiency, streamline reconciliation, improve cash flow processes, and increase margins by ensuring timely payments within the travel industry. Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2022, the platform was used by over 200 businesses (and millions of end customers), including Revolut, Wagestream, Sage, and BrightPay. Modulr also enables faster payments through its direct access to the Bank of England, Visa, Mastercard, and its possession of an electronic money license from the Central Bank of Ireland.Funding and financialsThe platform reportedly processed more than USD 100 billion in annualized transactions as of May 2022. In the same month, Modulr <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10527">raised USD 108 million (GBP 83 million) in Series C </a>funding led by General Atlantic, to invest in expanding its geographic footprint and in product developments.

London-based Codat provides an API-based integrated offering to share business data. The platform offers real-time data connectivity by allowing software providers and financial institutions to build integrated products for their small business customers. It facilitates automatic reconciliation, business dashboarding, loan decisions, and various other use cases by integrating data across small business systems within banking, digital lending, spend management, payments and point-of-sale, and cross-border payments, providers.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2024, Codat had over 300 clients, including banks and FinTechs such as Brex, Jeeves, Pipe, and Clover, and ongoing partnerships with J.P. Morgan, Shopify, and Plaid.

Raisin DS was formed through the merging of two German financial services providers, Raisin (a B2C platform for savings and investments) and Deposit Solutions (DS; an open banking infrastructure provider). Accordingly, Raisin DS offers a B2B open banking platform that lets depositors connect with financial institutions, without opening multiple accounts.Raisin DS also offers B2C platforms across Europe (under several brands, including “Raisin”, “WeltSparen”, “Savedo”, and “ZINSPILOT”) and in the US (through “SaveBetter”). In addition to the above, the company also offers exchange traded fund (ETF)-based investment and pension products in Germany.Key customers and partnershipsThe company collaborated with around 400 banks and financial institutions (FIs) from over 30 countries, as of July 2021, and serviced over 550,000 end users. Raisin DS intends to invest in its platform, broaden its product range, and expand into newer markets in the future. Accordingly, in October 2021, Raisin DS partnered with Germany’s second-largest direct bank, Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB), to offer 4.8 million DKB customers access to Raisin DS’s overnight and term deposit accounts.

UK-based PPRO offers payment infrastructure through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for payment service providers (PSPs), banks, and enterprises, to build payment gateways, payment processing, and merchant acquirer services.The infrastructure integrates localized payment methods, which enable cross border transactions and allows merchants to expand their operations globally. In essence, PPRO looks to mitigate the barriers to international trade caused by the fragmentation of payment systems, as popular payment methods tend to vary by country.PPRO noted that the transaction volume through its platform rose 60% year-over-year in 2020 to reach USD 11 billion in processed payments.The company expanded its operations to Indonesia and Singapore during 2020, and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8970">subsequently acquired Alpha Fintech </a>, a cloud-based digital payment infrastructure provider primarily focusing on Asia Pacific (APAC), in March 2022. PPRO maintained its expansion momentum in the region in 2023, by broadening <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16445?industryIds=53">its presence to South Korea </a>, in February, and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18050">partnering with NIPL </a>to enable access to UPI (Indian real-time payment system for cross-border transactions) in April.Key customers and partnershipsAs of March 2021, PPRO had over 100 large global customers, including PayPal, Mastercard Payment Gateway Services, Stripe, and Citi.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30123">May 2024</a>, PPRO partnered with Denmark-based digital banking platform Lunar and Sweden-based mobile payment provider Swish to enhance payment capabilities and expand product reach in Sweden. In September 2022, The company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13080">partnered with Australian BNPL solutions provider ZIP</a>, as well as with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13262?industryIds=53">the most popular e-wallets in Malaysia</a> – GrabPay and Touch ‘n Go – to expand its global operations. In September 2022, The company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13080">partnered with Australian BNPL solutions provider ZIP </a>, as well as with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13262?industryIds=53">the most popular e-wallets in Malaysia </a>– GrabPay and Touch ‘n Go – to expand its global operations.Funding and financialsIn March 2021, PPRO raised USD 90 million in a funding round led by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Eldridge shortly after receiving unicorn status through a USD 180 million funding round in January 2021. Alongside the funding, PPRO also partnered with JPM to enable the bank’s credit card business to gain more global traction as a payment method and to help JPM’s business banking customers expand in more markets worldwide.

A decentralized version of the web powered by the blockchain

Web3 Ecosystem

Based in Canada, LayerZero Labs develops omnichain interoperability protocols (called LayerZero) to connect different blockchains that allow dApps to exist on multiple chains. The LayerZero protocol works by using on-chain nodes and non-upgradable smart contracts, with users only required to pay for transaction fees on the source chain. The protocol connects over 30 mainnet blockchains including EVM-compatible chains such as Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon. In December 2023, the company introduced its v2 iteration, launching over 40 testnets for the blockchain networks it supports. The upgraded release aims to streamline third-party development, enhance security, and improve throughput.The company also offers a cross-chain liquidity transfer protocol Stargate, which is built on top of the LayerZero protocol.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsNotable customers using its technology include PancakeSwap, Sushiswap, and Uniswap.In July 2022, LayerZero Labs collaborated with Singapore-based GameFi company Ethlas to enable the latter’s metaverse platform to be accessed by users in other blockchains such as Ethereum, while enabling users to move tokens (money) across the different networks. It also entered into a strategic&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21768">partnership with Google Cloud</a> in September 2023, with the latter serving as an outside verifier to attest to the reliability of the information transmitted on its protocol.&nbsp;In October 2024, the company&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34401">partnered with EigenLayer</a> to launch the open-source CryptoEconomic Decentralized Verifier Networks (DVNs) Framework, enabling users to create DVNs on EigenLayer using various tokens. The framework enhances blockchain interoperability by allowing verifiers to stake assets like ZRO, EIGEN, and ETH to secure cross-chain message verification.As of April 2023, LayerZero Labs had processed over USD 6 billion in transactional volume.

Aptos is an open-source layer-1 blockchain that uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to validate transactions. It is developed by Aptos Labs, which comprises former developers of <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/5">Meta’s</a> discontinued blockchain network–Diem. The platform’s mainnet was launched in October 2022, and Aptos Labs claims that the blockchain can execute around 130,000 transactions per second using its parallel execution engine-Block STM. In addition, the platform provides tools such as SDKs, CLIs, and APIs for developers to create dApps on its blockchain.In addition, the company offers a web-based cross-platform self-custodial wallet called <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31181">Aptos Connect</a>. The wallet enables users to create and manage Aptos blockchain accounts using their existing social login credentials, such as Google or Apple ID, without remembering private keys or mnemonics. It utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to securely tether social logins with blockchain accounts while masking the user's identity and the identity of the login provider.Key customers and partnershipsThe company has partnered with Google Cloud as an infrastructure provider for its ecosystem, with the latter also launching a validator node in November 2022 with data indexing features to help developers using the blockchain. In addition, the two companies had conducted an accelerator program to support Web3 startups and builders on its network. The latest collaboration between the companies was in March 2024, to launch <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27634">Aptos GameStack</a>, a Web3 game development platform that incorporates Google Cloud’s solutions such as data, analytics, and AI/machine learning.Moreover, Aptos <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20875">partnered with Microsoft</a> to utilizes Azure OpenAI Service to launch Aptos Assistant, which seeks to address any complexities or challenges that users might encounter when onboarding to the Aptos blockchain, and to aid developers to build smart contracts and dApps on the blockchain by directing them toward relevant and accessible resources.Aptos also partnered with MoonPay to integrate the latter’s fiat on-ramp feature to its native wallet Petra. This allows users to buy APT (the network’s native token) using any major payment method, including Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay. In addition, it <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14786">collaborated with gaming studio Npixel</a> to bring blockchain games to its platform and will host the latter’s Web3 gaming universe, Metapixel.

Magic Labs is a wallet-as-a-service provider. It enables companies to easily incorporate non-custodial wallets to their dApps to onboard customers. Its SDK is implemented in a vendor’s code base and allows non-custodial wallets to be instantly created by customers using their existing email, social, SMS, or federated logins. The company offers both plug-and-play wallets as well as white-label wallets. These wallets include features such as NFT checkout and minting and fiat on-ramps via credit, debit, and bank transfers, with 20+ user authentication methods.Key customers and partnershipsThe company’s notable customers include some of the Fortune 500 companies in the retail, music, fashion, and gaming space, such as Mattel, Macy’s, and Xsolla. As of May 2023, its platform was being used by 130,000+ developers and had facilitated the creation of more than 20 million unique wallets.Funding and financialsThe company raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18985">USD 52 million in a strategic funding </a>round in May 2023, led by PayPal Ventures. It had planned to use the fresh funds to develop more product features and for geographical expansion across the EU and Asia-Pacific regions.

Retail investors demanding sophisticated passive investment strategies are looking for an edge.

Retail Trading Infrastructure

Acorns operates a micro-investing app that automatically invests contributions from users into diversified portfolios consisting of stock and bonds. The platform enables users to set up automated investments through small amounts of change money. The app rounds up debit or credit card purchases made from a linked card to the nearest dollar and invests the change on behalf of the individual. The company also enables users to set up recurring investments on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, and provides additional features such as automated portfolio rebalancing and educational tools to improve financial literacy.&nbsp;Acorns offers three subscription tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The Bronze plan costs USD 3/month and provides basic investing tools to start your financial journey. The Silver plan is USD 6/month, offering additional saving and investing tools. The Gold plan, at USD 12/month (with the first month free), provides a full suite of saving, investing, and learning tools for you and your family. Each tier builds upon the previous one, adding more features. The Gold tier offers the most comprehensive set of services, including investment accounts for kids with a 1% match, the ability to customize portfolios with individual stocks, and banking for kids through GoHenry. Higher tiers also provide increased benefits such as higher bonus investment matches and additional financial planning tools.Key customers and partnershipsIn March 2023, the company managed USD 6.3 billion in assets, serving a user base of 6.58 million.In January 2024, Acorns extended its&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25326">partnership with Helix</a>, a banking-as-a-service platform, to launch its new debit card, the Mighty Oak Debit Card.

Ellevest is a hybrid investment management platform that specifically targets women, with an algorithm that takes into account gender-specific factors such as career breaks, longer life expectancy, and income differences.Ellevest offers a single plan at USD 12 per month. This plan includes investing and educational resources as well as up to 50% off all financial planning sessions. Unlike some investing companies that charge separate advisory fees based on a percentage of invested assets, Ellevest incorporates investment advice into the plan fee. For clients with USD 1 million or more to invest, Ellevest provides Private Wealth Management services with fees based on total assets under management, covering both financial planning and investment management. The company's investment portfolios incur fund fees or expense ratios, which are built into the purchase price of investments. For Ellevest core (non-Impact) portfolios, ETF fund fees range from 0.05% to 0.10% per year, while Ellevest Impact Portfolios have ETF and mutual fund fees ranging from 0.13% to 0.19% per year.Ellevest reported assets under management (AUM) of USD 2 billion as of March 2024.

New data privacy regulations have opened up space for a new wave of compliance-focused startups.

Digital Privacy Tools

Mine provides a platform for users to manage their personal data, which it achieves by connecting to a user’s email inbox and analyzing subject lines to map all companies with which they have interacted. The company was founded in Israel by two staffers of the cybersecurity unit within the Israeli Defense Forces. Mine’s platform independently scans these companies’ data collection and privacy policies and provides a risk score. Through the platform, the user can send requests to companies asking them to delete any data stored involving the user, in line with the “right to be forgotten” stipulated within the GDPR. As of October 2020, Mine offered its platform for free but aimed to move to a subscription model with additional features.The company also offers MineOS, a data privacy and governance platform that provides end-to-end solutions for businesses to manage their data privacy, compliance, and AI governance needs. MineOS offers a suite of tools, including data mapping, data subject request (DSR) automation, consent management, and AI asset discovery. The platform utilizes AI and machine learning to provide automated, no-code solutions and integrates with popular platforms like Asana, WordPress, and Google Analytics to provide comprehensive data governance capabilities. The company's solutions help businesses comply with various data privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, Colorado Privacy Act, and HIPAA.Key customers and partnershipsThe MineOS platform reportedly serves hundreds of customers across the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Notable clients include Reddit and HelloFresh.As of September 2024, the company reported it had more than 4 million individual users and claimed 40% of users reduced their footprint and online exposure.

Founded in 2019 as Laika, Thoropass provides a platform for businesses to implement compliance practices that meet regulatory requirements such as the GDPR and CCPA. The platform unifies customizable automated information security (InfoSec) workflows, security audits, risk assessment, monitoring, and vendor due diligence solutions. Thoropass also supports companies by providing them with dedicated on-call compliance architects and a customer service manager to guide them through the compliance processes and attain security certifications.The platform has pre-built integrations such as AWS, GitHub, and Datadog for evidence gathering that verifies whether a company has adapted InfoSec and privacy policies. The company has trained more than 3,000 employees in security certification courses and offers its platform under a software-as-a-service (SaaS) monthly subscription model.Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, Thoropass counted 50+ of the Fortune 500 among its customer base. Notable customers included Peach, PactFi, SteadyMD, Finsync, Kado, Nord Security, and Benefix.

Buy Now, Pay Later

Gynger offers a flexible B2B payments platform that allows businesses to purchase software, cloud, and other technological infrastructure through flexible payment terms. The company provides unsecured lines of credit to its users, allowing them to finance their technology-related expenses and pay vendors upfront while repaying Gynger over an extended period.The platform leverages advanced AI and data analytics that allow businesses to apply for financing, receive credit decisions within a day, and access funds immediately upon approval. Gynger facilitates payments to vendors on behalf of its users, who then repay Gynger through structured payment plans over 3–12 months or in extended net terms of 30, 60, and 90 days.The company reported over 700% YoY growth in revenue and a 5x YoY growth in its customer base in June 2024.Key customers and partnershipsGynger serves a wide range of customers, from early-stage startups to mature, pre-IPO companies across various industries, including technology, real estate, retail, and healthcare. As of June 2024, Gynger has provided flexible payments for businesses across hundreds of software vendors, including AWS, Google Cloud, Okta, Cisco, Salesforce, HubSpot, Oracle, GitHub, Snowflake, and Amplitude.

Tabby is an online and in-store BNPL solution provider based in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Customers can defer payment for 14 days or pay in four equal installments. It claims that by using its platform, merchants can witness more than a 20% improvement in sales conversion rates. Tabby does not charge customers if loans are repaid on time. It generates revenue through commission-based fees from merchants plus a flat per-transaction fee. It also charges customers late payment fees between SAR 15-SAR 30 (approximately USD 4-8). Tabby announced the suspension of its activities in Egypt by March 2023. The company secured a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20725">permit from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) </a>to expand its operations within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in August 2023. In February 2024, Tabby launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26975">Tabby+</a>, a monthly subscription-based flexible payment offering that allows users to pay in four installments.In September 2024, Tabby entered a&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33218">definitive agreement to acquire</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://v">Tweeq</a>, a Saudi-based digital wallet licensed by the Saudi Central Bank, for an undisclosed sum. Following the acquisition, Tweeq will continue to operate independently while partnering with Tabby to expand its services within Tabby's ecosystem. It will allow Tabby to expand its financial products suite to include digital spending accounts, cards, and money management tools, subject to regulatory approval.Key partnerships and customers<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27703">In March 2024</a>, Tabby partnered with Bahrain-based EasyPay, a POS and online payment gateway provider, to offer Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services in Bahrain. Tabby inked a partnership with Visa and M2P Fintech, Asia's largest API infrastructure company, to launch a digital BNPL Visa card for in-store payments in May 2022. Users can access the digital card (currently in invite-only access in the UAE) via the Tabby app or add it to their digital wallets to split payments at in-store checkouts. Other partners include DHL, DXBUY (a UAE B2B e-commerce platform), and First Abu Dhabi Bank.As of November 2023, Tabby had over 30,000 merchant and brand partnerships and serviced over 10 million users across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait. In May 2023, Tabby had a merchant footprint of more than 15,000, which includes Adidas, IKEA, H&amp;M, Bath &amp; Body Works, Nike, Marks &amp; Spencer, Vivo (June 2023), LuLu hypermarket and Flyna (August 2023). It also reported over 4 million active platform users. The company reported that it had grown 10x in revenue, 8x in active customers and 3x in active retail partners in the first six months of 2022, compared to that of 2021.

Making banking work, without the paperwork

Neobanks

Brazil-based Neon is a digital bank serving retail and micro-entrepreneur individuals (MEI). The bank serves its retail customers through its mobile app, which provides access to a digital account, credit and debit card, and a digital wallet. In addition, customers will be able to conduct PIX payments, an account-to-account payment mechanism created by the Central Bank of Brazil. The bank also offers investment products, where customers can either save in fixed amounts or through daily or monthly installments. Neon Bank does not charge any annual fees on its credit cards and allows its customers to make unlimited payments and transfers for free as well. It also provides personal and payroll loans facilities, and customers are also eligible for three free ATM withdrawals per month. Moreover, Neon had plans to venture into new verticals such as insurance and other credit alternatives such as loans and guarantees in the future.Neon serves its micro-entrepreneur customers through its mobile MEI Fácil app and helps them obtain a CNPJ (tax registration number). MEI is a regulation by the Central Bank of Brazil that allows micro-entrepreneurs to pay fewer taxes and enjoy other benefits. To be eligible to open the account, a micro-entrepreneur’s annual revenue is required to be below BRL 81,000, it should employ at least one worker, and it should be engaged in a permitted activity. Through the MEI Fácil account, Neon’s customers can order a POS machine (costing BRL 78 with no monthly fees), which is linked to the digital account allowing customers to track sales, accept PIX and card payments, and issue invoices. Businesses are also given a debt and credit card with a limit of BRL 15,000 with no monthly fees. Customers can also use the app to pay bills and monthly taxes, and conduct one free withdrawal (ATM or outside bank transfer) per month, with additional withdrawals costing BRL 6.90 per transaction. In addition, Neon provides accounting services (BRL 69.90 per year) and educational content to its micro-entrepreneurs.Neon’s rapid expansion can be attributed to a series of strategic acquisitions made in recent years. In September 2019, it made its first acquisition–MEI Fácil, expanding its services to micro-entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it expanded its product offerings to private payroll loans in November 2020 with the acquisition of ConsigaMais+, which had more than 430,000 customers and a loan portfolio worth BRL 150 million (USD 28 million). To further consolidate its foothold in the payroll loan segment, it acquired Biorc in January 2022, and the bank claimed it is the largest payroll loan provider in Brazil as of May 2022.Key customers and partnershipsAs of August 2023, Neon had ~20 million customers, consisting primarily of retail customers (~70%). Its debit and credit cards are provided in partnership with Visa.Funding and financialsIn February 2022, Neon raised USD 300 million from a Series D funding at a valuation of USD 1.6 billion from existing investor Banco BBVA, through its VC fund–Propel, thereby increasing its stake to 29.7%. Neon was expected to use the fresh capital to launch new products and improve its technological and marketing capabilities.In FY2021, Neon reported a financial income of BRL 152.5 million (USD 28.3 million), net financial operating profit of BRL 5.7 million (USD 1.1 million), and a net loss of BRL 542.2 million (USD 100.6 million).

UK-based Monese provides banking services to individuals and businesses via a web portal and a mobile app. Under its B2C segment, the platform enables individuals to create bank accounts (both single and joint) solely using a photo of their ID and a selfie; it requires no additional details, such as addresses or credit checks. Through these accounts, individuals are able to deposit, receive and send money, and use debit cards which can also be used via digital wallets, such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The platform also offers ‘money pots’ which enables customers to create separate sub-accounts to set money aside for specific purposes and also provides account details in multiple currencies, which include GBP, EUR, and RON. In addition, the platform facilitates payments, via the UK Faster Payments Network, and also allows international money transfers at real-time exchange rates, with no additional fees.In addition, the platform also provides Personal Finance Management (PFM) tools with features such as spending overviews, budgeting tools, and transaction details to help customers manage their finances. Moreover, in September 2019, the company announced a partnership with Raisin, a savings and investment marketplace, which would allow customers access savings products offered via Raisin, directly via Monese’s app, and earn interest. It also offers a credit improvement service known as Credit Builder (launched in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8126">January 2022</a>), through which customers with little or no credit history can initiate a loan, which they repay in twelve monthly installments that are locked away and returned at the end of the loan term. The repayments are reported to the three main UK credit agencies and lenders, thereby improving customers’ creditworthiness.The company also offers business banking accounts launched in 2018, which can be used as standalone products or linked with personal accounts. The business banking account includes a checking account, debit card, foreign currency spending and transfers, and money pots.In line with Monese’s broader strategy to expand into offering credit to the self-employed, the company acquired financial services provider, Trezeo, in December 2021, to launch credit and lending products in the UK. Through this acquisition, Monese is also expected to expand its reach into European markets through an increased focus on Ireland.The company’s individual accounts are offered under three tiers: 1) Simple, 2) Classic, and 3) Premium. The Simple account is offered free of charge, while Classic and Premium are priced at GBP 5.95 and 14.95 per month, respectively. Additional benefits offered under its paid packages include higher ATM withdrawal limits and higher limits on foreign currency spending. Meanwhile, the business account is priced at GBP 9.95 per month. Monese operates in the UK and all 30 countries included under the European Economic Area.In October 2024, the&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34700">Pockit announced plans for acquiring the company</a> for an undisclosed sum. Following the acquisition, Pockit aims to launch new services and benefit from Monese's regulatory infrastructure, operational synergies, and complementary product offerings such as multi-currency accounts and salary advance offerings.Key customers and partnershipsAs of 2020, the company had over two million customers.&nbsp;

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Founded by ex-employees of Meta, Aptos Labs develops a layer 1 blockchain network that uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Based on elements of Meta’s discontinued blockchain network Diem, the solution enables developers to build dApps and run them on the Aptos network. The company launched its public mainnet in October 2022.&nbsp;In April 2023, Aptos launched delegated staking, an update which lowers the amount of Aptos (the platform’s native token) needed to participate in staking and lets users earn rewards for staking without needing to run nodes.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAptos Labs partnered with a number of companies for feedback on the project, including cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase as well as video infrastructure platform Livepeer and NFT platform Rarible.The company has partnered with Google Cloud as an infrastructure provider for its ecosystem, with the latter also launching a validator node in November 2022 with data indexing features to help developers using the blockchain. In addition, the two companies had conducted an accelerator program to support Web3 startups and builders on its network.In April 2024, Aptos Labs <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28630">partnered with Microsoft, SK Telecom, and Brevan Howard (a fund management firm)</a> to launch a new DeFi platform named Aptos Ascend. Designed for institutional use, the Aptos Ascend platform offers a range of features such as customizable tokens, regulated transaction access, zero-knowledge transaction privacy, and upgradable network controls. Through this partnership, Aptos planned to leverage Microsoft's Azure cloud infrastructure as well as its Open AI solutions to further develop the product offering. Moreover, SK Telecom will provide users access to its wallet-as-a-service technology to ensure regulatory compliance, while Brevan Howard will provide asset management services.&nbsp;Funding and financialsIn July 2022, Aptos Labs <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11847">raised USD 150 million</a> in a Series A funding round led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto to support the development of the project.

Anchorage Digital offers a crypto-native digital asset platform that provides services such as custody, trading, staking, governance, and financing for large businesses such as publicly traded companies, hedge funds, and banks, to streamline investments via blockchain technology. The platform allows users to trade and stake up to 80 supported crypto assets to earn returns and participate in protocol governance. The company also received a federal banking charter in January 2021.In June 2022, the platform launched an Ethereum staking option for institutional users of its platform. This feature enables users to collect rewards on their ETH in custody by staking with an Anchorage validator. In February 2024, the company launched Porto, a self-custody wallet designed for institutions. The solution provides users access to over 200 tokens including Bitcoin, Ether, Aptos, and Sui as well as several security features such as biometric authentication and asset recovery. Users can connect to dApps and engage in restaking and yield farming to earn returns.In August 2021, the company began offering blockchain governance voting services beginning with Aave to enable institutions and token holders to use its governance portal to participate in on-chain decisions relating to the Aave lending protocol. The system uses a separate voting key so that digital assets can remain safely in storage without the risk of moving it between wallets.Key customers and partnershipsAnchorage also allows institutional investors to access USD loans without having to liquidate their ETH holdings through a partnership with BankProv, a US commercial bank. Clients can store their ETH with Anchorage as collateral to borrow USD through BankProv. This product was launched as an addition to Anchorage’s pre-existing Bitcoin-backed loan schemes. Anchorage also allows for the staking of Ethereum for its institutional clients.In June 2022, Anchorage formed an exchange custody network via integration with Binance US, CoinList, Blockchain.com, Wintermute, and Strix Leviathan to give institutions direct access to several trading pairs across exchanges. The company went on to partner with Bitkub, Dream Trade, FBG Capital, GMO-Z.com Trust Company, IOSG Ventures, and Antalpha in October 2022 to increase its institutional reach within Asia and develop a JPY-denominated stablecoin.In February 2024, Anchorage announced a partnership with wealth management platforms Onramp and FusionIQ to offer regulated crypto products to their respective client bases. Specifically, the company planned to leverage its partnership with Onramp to offer a block trading feature that enables fund managers to enter multiple trades across their entire book of clients as a single order.Funding and financialsIn December 2021, the company raised USD 350 million in a Series D led by KKR with participation from several other investors including Goldman Sachs, Alameda Research, Andreessen Horowitz, and PayPal Ventures. The funds were earmarked for investment in product development as well as increasing the number of features and integrations with DeFi products.

Cryptocurrencies

Paxos is a leading regulated blockchain infrastructure platform that tokenizes, custodies, trades, and settles assets on the blockchain. Its technology enables instantaneous movement of assets globally in a secure and trustworthy manner, revolutionizing the traditional financial system. Paxos offers a stablecoin called Pax dollar, where one token is equivalent to USD one and can be redeemed for US dollars. The platform generates revenue through transaction fees for buying and selling cryptocurrencies, yields from cash reserves, and holding digital assets for customers.
Paxos has successfully integrated cryptocurrency into numerous Latin American fintech apps like Mercado Libre, Nubank, and PicPay, capitalizing on the region's robust embrace of digital assets driven by factors such as hedging against inflation and facilitating cross-border remittances. As of April 2023, Paxos powered over ten million active digital wallets globally through its regulated brokerage product, enabling leading financial services companies to offer digital asset solutions to their users securely.
Notably, Paxos has established strategic partnerships with major enterprises like PayPal, Interactive Brokers, Mastercard, and Bank of America, allowing them to integrate digital assets into their existing offerings seamlessly. In a pilot program with Mastercard, Paxos converts stablecoins into US dollars, enabling crypto enthusiasts to spend their digital currencies more widely. Paxos envisions a future where all global assets, worth nearly USD 700 trillion, will be re-platformed on the blockchain, positioning itself as a key infrastructure provider for this transition.

Front Finance is a fintech company that provides a mobile application to serve as a companion for investment platforms like Robinhood and Coinbase. Launched in 2020, Front's app aims to guide novice investors in making better investment decisions across different asset classes including stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other securities.
The company's core product is a smartphone app available on iOS and Android that integrates with popular retail investment platforms. Front's app analyzes a user's current holdings and trading activity, and provides data-driven guidance and education to improve their investment strategy and portfolio management. This includes portfolio analysis, risk management tools, asset allocation recommendations, and tutorials on investing fundamentals.
As a registered investment advisor (RIA) regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Front employs a freemium model where its app's core functionality is available for free to all users. The company may offer premium tiers with advanced features and more personalized advice for a subscription fee. By targeting self-directed retail investors on established investment platforms, Front aims to democratize access to professional-grade portfolio management tools and financial guidance typically available only to institutional or high net-worth investors working with human advisors.
Front's key differentiator appears to be its ability to integrate investment data across multiple broker accounts into one unified interface and provide customized recommendations powered by quantitative models and algorithms. This allows users to seamlessly manage all their investment activities within the Front app ecosystem.

Bringing the benefits of blockchain to the enterprise

Enterprise Blockchain Solutions

Paxos is a regulated blockchain infrastructure platform that provides a range of solutions for enterprises to tokenize, custody, trade, and settle assets. Paxos operates as a trust company under the oversight of the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and offers two USD-backed stablecoins, including Pax Dollar (USDP) and PayPal USD (PYUSD). It leverages this underlying transaction infrastructure to offer enterprise-focused settlement services for securities and commodities. The solution utilizes a private permissioned blockchain and a hybrid settlement model to enable businesses to clear and settle transactions with increased security.The platform is interoperable with existing settlement systems and features real-time multilateral netting to enable users to settle transactions at increased speeds. Users can reportedly benefit from the same netting efficiencies as a central counterparty model with the capital benefits of a bilateral model.Its commodities settlement product leverages Loco London as a clearing and cash-based correspondent banking network to enable users to perform secure and simultaneous settlement for precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, as well as cash. Users can automate settlement workflows and bridge tokenized assets, including Pax Gold (PAXG), the company’s regulated tokenized gold product.Key customers and partnershipsPaxos has established partnerships with several global enterprises to facilitate the adoption of its blockchain solutions. As of May 2024, Paxos’ commodities settlement network included over 250 enterprises. Its notable customers include Bank of America, PayPal, Mastercard, Interactive Brokers, StoneX, TD Securities, Instinet Holdings, and Koch Metal Trading.The company has also secured partnerships with regulatory bodies, such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where it was licensed as a major payments institution.

<div>
 
 TRM Labs offers a suite of products for financial and governmental institutions that cater to different aspects of financial security and crime prevention. These include TRM Transaction Monitoring, an automated and risk-based transaction monitoring solution for crypto assets; TRM Know-Your-VASP (virtual asset service providers), a tool to measure and monitor the risk of cryptocurrency businesses; TRM Forensics, a product to trace the flow of funds and link suspicious activity to real-world entities; and TRM Tactical, a tool to collect, investigate, and triage blockchain data on the frontline​​. Additionally, the company provides training through TRM Academy, offering courses for certified investigators, crypto fundamentals, crypto-compliance specialists, and advanced crypto investigators​​.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 TRM Labs announced a partnership with K2 Integrity in November 2022, aiming to deliver a combined solution to the public and private sectors, enhancing connectivity between traditional finance, virtual asset service providers, and public sector agencies. The collaboration supported financial institutions, governments, regulators, virtual asset service providers, Web3 startups, NFT marketplaces, DeFi platforms, and other emerging service providers in proactively managing the risks of virtual assets and their related technologies​​.
 
 
 TRM Labs&rsquo; solutions were integrated by Binance Custody in October 2022 to enhance regulatory compliance and risk mitigation for client holdings. TRM's analytics and intelligence technology will assist Binance Custody in screening high-risk wallets, monitoring suspicious transactions, and managing regulatory and reputational risks associated with digital assets. The integration strengthened Binance Custody's commitment to secure and compliant services for clients in the rapidly growing digital economy.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company raised USD 70 million in Series B funding in November 2022 led by Thoma Bravo, with participation from new investors like Goldman Sachs and existing investors such as PayPal Ventures and Citi Ventures. The proceeds were used for investment in product development and talent and to meet the growing demand in response to fraud incidents in the crypto space.
 
 
 
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Distributed workforces require new solutions for office operations, HR, payment, and more.

Remote Work Infrastructure

Oyster offers a SaaS HR and benefits platform for enterprises. Its services include payroll, benefits, and onboarding. In addition, the company assists organizations in dealing with cross-border regulations and tax laws when hiring remotely.Notable product launches include 1) Oyster Embedded (November 2023), allowing third party organizations to access Oyster’s hiring, payroll and rewards software from within their own applications, 2) Oyster Pearl (September 2023), an AI-driven chatbot offering personalized responses to inquiries related to benefits, taxes, and other aspects of global employment, 3) Oyster for Impact (September 2021), a program that offers certified nonprofits and benefit corporations discounts on Oyster’s distributed HR tools, financially backed by PayPal Ventures and HR Tech Investments.As of April 2024, Oyster was able to run payroll in 120+ countries, and manage employee hires across 180+ countries. The company was also in the process of launching ‘Oyster Shell’, its misclassification insurance for extra protection when hiring global contractors using its platform.The platform generates revenue through monthly subscription per hired individual, with plans including: independent contractors (USD 29), payroll for employees (USD 50) and EoR (USD 499).Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2023, the company had over 1,100 clients. As of April 2024, the company offered integrations with over 65 companies, ranging from talent acquisition services, workplace tools, compliance services and benefits, among others.Funding and financialsIn its most recent funding round (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9841">April 2022</a>), Oyster raised USD 150 million in Series C funding led by Georgian, valuing the company at over USD 1 billion (up from its previous valuation of USD 475 million valuation in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/1329">June 2021</a>). The fresh funds were earmarked for platform development and to invest in the “People Ops” community.In 2021, Oyster’s revenue grew by over 20x and the number of employees on the platform increased by 17x. Notably, in the first quarter of 2022, Oyster attracted over 20,000 job applications for client vacancies.

New insurance models are disrupting a centuries-old industry with a focus on personalization and convenience

InsurTech: Personal Lines

Jetty is a company primarily offering insurance products for renters who occupy its partner properties. The company partners with property managers to bundle renters insurance with leased properties. Jetty allows for 24/7 purchasing of policies through its online portals where it uses a series of algorithms to determine unique pricing for the customer.Additionally, Jetty also provides insurance for security deposits, enabling property managers to onboard tenants without having to collect security deposits, while still being protected against damage or lost rent.Key customers and partnershipsJetty’s key property and finance partners include LivCor, Beam Living, Citi Habitats, and Freddie Mac.Fundings and financialsThe company raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21695">USD 2 million in venture funding</a> in September 2023, from Citi Ventures, Experian Ventures, Fundrise, and PayPal Ventures. However, it did not disclose the use of proceeds.As of September 2021, the company reported to have contracted 2.2 million units (up 193% YoY).

Giving creators the power of content monetization and audience engagement.

Creator Economy

StreamElements is an all-in-one platform for content creators that provides engagement tools, sponsorship opportunities, and monetization solutions for streaming on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. Its technology includes features like customizable alerts, overlays, chatbots, and analytics, as well as YouTube-specific tools like real-time engagement options and dynamic channel banners. Products and services include SE.Merch for merchandise sales, SE.Tips for donations, Ground Control for sponsorship management, and SE.Live for streamlining live streaming setups. StreamElements offers an easy-to-use interface, professional templates, and comprehensive support to help creators monetize their content and grow their communities.In&nbsp;<a href="https://digiday.com/marketing/why-streamelements-is-launching-a-side-sponsorship-tool-to-widen-creators-advertising-options/">September 2024</a>, StreamElements launched a “side sponsorship” tool called SideSpons, which allows creators to display multiple sponsors simultaneously, aiming to increase monetization opportunities for streamers.In&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.streamelements.com/streamelements-acquires-youtube-mcn-paragon-to-launch-a-new-partnership-model-for-creators-1c70d326dc1c">October 2021,</a> StreamElements acquired Paragon, a YouTube multichannel network (MCN) focused on gamer-centric digital content creation, to enhance its support for creators. The acquisition integrates Paragon's expertise in content strategy, channel management, rights management, and optimization with StreamElements' broadcasting, monetization, and audience engagement tools. A new partnership model eliminates user-generated content commissions and transactional and standard advertising revenue, providing more lucrative opportunities for creators. This strategic move aimed to expand StreamElements' presence in the video-on-demand space while helping creators like SypherPK and xNestorio grow their brands and revenue streams.Key Customers and partnerships&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://esports-news.co.uk/2020/12/18/streamers-can-avoid-payment-fees-donations-streamelements-vibepay/">January 2021,</a> StreamElements partnered with payment management solution provider VibePay to allow streamers to receive 100% of their tips without payment fees.

Helping employers provide personalized, high-touch, and holistic financial wellness tools to their entire workforce.

Financial Wellness Tools

Northstar provides a financial wellness platform for employers which connects employees with certified financial advisors to obtain personalized financial coaching. The platform also offers a compensation management solution that allows to manage fringe benefits. Northstar’s mobile app for employees links with the user’s bank accounts and helps them to set and track financial goals such as retirement planning, building emergency funds, and managing debt. The platform provides recommendations and tools to automate savings, debt payoffs and investments to achieve these goals.&nbsp;Northstar also provides financial coaching via a direct-to-consumer subscription model, and charges USD 25 in monthly subscription fee per user.Key customers and partnershipsNorthstar’s platform is in use by companies such as Snap, Zoom, 23andMe, Virgin Orbit, and NerdWallet. While Northstar’s platform is primarily offered as an employee benefit, the company also sells a direct-to-consumer personal membership at USD 25 per month.

AI-based solutions for evolving digital threats

Next-gen Cybersecurity

<div>
 
 Deep Instinct uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide threat detection and automated remediation for enterprise endpoints. The company&rsquo;s Deep Neural Network (D-brain) technology detects known and unknown malware, ransomware, and other forms of threats.
 
 
 In March 2021, Deep Instinct started including a performance guarantee to ensure an extremely low false-positive rate and a ransomware warranty of up to USD 3 million per company for a single breach.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of February 2020, the company served customers in the Fortune 500 operating across financial services, healthcare, aviation, insurance, and technology. Deep Instinct partnered with Cloud Distribution in July 2021 to launch its prevention platform through UK channel partners. The company also partnered with Tanium, a cyber asset and inventory management provider in November 2021 to deliver an integrated threat response solution for endpoint security.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In September 2022, the company 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13159">
 raised USD 62 million
 </a>
 from BlackRock and Jupiter Fund Management, bringing the total funding raised to USD 322 million. Deep Instinct had plans to further extend this round with additional USD 18 million. Reportedly, this is also the company&rsquo;s last funding round before it looks at going public over 2023, depending on public market conditions.&nbsp;
 
 
 Additionally, the company also made a decision to 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20432">
 lay off 46 employees
 </a>
 , or 16% of its total workforce across Israel, the US and Europe in July 2023 following a management restructuring, and reportedly planned to stop making new hires in Israel.
 
 
 In March 2023, Deep Instinct 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16956">
 received an undisclosed investment from PayPal Ventures
 </a>
 , with the funding expected to be used to accelerate the growth of the company and its threat prevention technology.
 
 
 In 2022, Deep Instinct grew its customer base by three fold, which includes numerous Global 2000 companies spanning across the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
 
</div>

Using AI to automate, enhance and optimize marketing activities

Marketing Automation

Israel-founded Anzu.io specializes in video game advertising, providing an in-game programmatic advertising platform. The firm’s platform allows brands to place real-world display and video ads in-game, with the ability to update ads in real time in response to data signals and first-party data.&nbsp;The firm’s competitive edge is its claim to be the only in-game advertising platform covering all video game mediums (20+) including consoles, PC, mobile, esports tournaments, and live game streaming. The firm also claimed to provide the first 3D digital advertising solution for games, which results in a 23% increase in ad viewability compared with traditional 2D advertising.&nbsp;&nbsp;Anzu.io was also featured in our <a href="https://sp-edge.com/insights/9587">EDGE 100 list</a> of rising startups.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of July 2024, the platform served 150 million monthly active users, including Vodafone, Pepsi, Samsung, Fanta, and American Eagle.The firm has also partnered with leading game developers such as Ubisoft, Xbox, Vivid Games, and Lion Castle Entertainment, giving advertisers and brands access to 16,000+ game titles. The firm has also partnered with ad marketplaces including OpenX, AdColony, Smart, and Azerion to make its in-game programmatic advertising available to advertisers. In February 2022, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8799">NBCUniversal became the global sales partner</a> and exclusive third-party seller in the US and UK for Anzu.io’s game ads inventory. In February 2023, the firm <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16502">extended its partnership with Livewire,</a> a gaming and GameTech provider, to expand Anzu.io's services in Germany and France.

Platforms, apps, and cards to keep the corporate wallet in check

Business Expense Management

<div>
 
 Pliant is a Germany-based company offering a corporate credit card-issuing platform (Cards-as-a-Service), which encompasses physical, virtual, and single-use cards, which can be issued to all employees with custom spend limits. The platform automates accounting and helps monitor and manage expenses when users upload the accounting data (such as G/L accounts, VAT codes, creditors, and cost center) after transactions. Accordingly, Pliant can be integrated with several accounting and ERP platforms, such as DATEV, BMD, Holded, and sevDesk, and can also be linked with Apple Pay.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Besides standard features such as custom limits and receipt management, Pliant also offers a &ldquo;Pliant Earth,&rdquo; where travel-related carbon emissions are calculated, and certified providers provide automatic compensation.
 
 
 
 In addition to enabling enterprises to offer cards to employees, Pliant also provides infrastructure services to other fintechs, such as 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/603723">
 Circula
 </a>
 and 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/308271">
 Candis
 </a>
 , enabling them to offer card solutions to their clients.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 The company follows a freemium business model, where its standard package is offered free of charge for up to 10 users, and premium packages start at EUR 50 per month. Premium packages offer additional benefits such as unlimited virtual and single-use cards as well as unlimited integrations.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 In August 2023, Pliant obtained an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from Finland, enabling the company to extend its credit card and financial services across 25 countries within the European Economic Area (EEA). The company's multi-currency capabilities include 11 currencies, to facilitate non-Euro transactions.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 Pliant targets businesses of all sizes and reportedly had 1,500+ enterprise customers as of February 2023. Notably, the credit cards are issued in partnership with Visa, and, therefore, users can access cashback and premium perks (such as insurance packages and airport lounge access) offered by Visa.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 In April 2024, Pliant secured more than 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28681">
 EUR 18 million
 </a>
 (~ USD 19 million ) in Series A extension financing led by PayPal Ventures (after raising 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25591">
 EUR 8 million
 </a>
 in January 2024 and&nbsp; 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16511?industryIds=76">
 EUR 26 million
 </a>
 in February 2023 ). The funding was earmarked to fuel expansion into the UK and other markets outside the EU.
 
</div>

AI, robotics, and IoT to streamline the flow of goods and information

Logistics Tech

Cart.com provides unified commerce and logistics solutions for retail and ecommerce needs, including storefront creation, customer engagement, growth marketing, channel management, fulfillment, unified analytics, inventory and order management (via <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26820">Constellation OMS)</a>, warehouse and and transport management (via <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31921">Constellation WMS and TMS).</a> The company pitches its products toward B2B companies, consumer brands, and public sector agencies. It operated ~14 omnichannel facilities across the US, as of April 2024, with offices in the US, Mexico, and Poland.The company’s pricing strategy differs based on the product offering. For example, online storefront services are offered for a base subscription and a percentage of sales, while fulfillment services are charged on a per-order basis.The company has made several acquisitions to expand its capabilities and market reach including 1) Amify, an Amazon optimization and advertising solutions provider <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28162">(April 2024),</a> DataFeedWatch, a data-feed management solution provider <a href="https://cart.com/newsroom/cart-com-acquires-datafeedwatch-expands-to-europe-and-increases-brand-access-to-2000-channels">(March 2022);</a> 2) SellerActive, a provider of SaaS multichannel ecommerce tools <a href="https://cart.com/newsroom/cart-com-acquires-selleractive-bolstering-multichannel-ecommerce-software-capabilities">(January 2022);</a> 3) FB Flurry, a technology-driven fulfillment and customer care operator for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cartcom-acquires-fb-flurry-tripling-fulfillment-footprint-and-enabling-next-day-delivery--to-majority-of-us-301457300.html">(January 2022);</a> 4) 180Commerce, an online sales partner <a href="https://cart.com/newsroom/cart-com-acquires-180commerce-to-fuel-marketplace-growth-for-sellers">(November 2021);</a> 5) Sauceda Industries, a fulfillment services provider for ecommerce brands <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cartcom-acquires-sauceda-industries-to-provide-full-service-3pl-support-for-ecommerce-brands-301342299.html">(July 2021);</a> 6) DuMont Project, an omnichannel growth marketing consultancy firm <a href="https://cart.com/newsroom/cart-com-acquires-leading-digital-consultancy-dumont-project-to-accelerate-dtc-growth-marketing">(July 2021);</a> 7) Cheap Cheap Moving Boxes, a DTC moving box brand <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005315/en/Cart.com-Acquires-Cheap-Cheap-Moving-Boxes">(February 2021);</a> and 8) AmeriCommerce, an enterprise ecommerce storefront software platform <a href="https://cart.com/newsroom/new-player-in-the-ecommerce-space-completes-acquisitions-of-americommerce-other-strategic-assets-to-build-out-ecommerce-ecosystem">(January 2021).</a>As of January 2024, Cart.com handled more than USD 8 billion in gross merchandise value and witnessed a 50% YoY business growth in 2023.Key customers and partnershipsAs of July 2024, Cart.com provided services to over 6,000 multichannel merchants, including <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32156">City Chic,</a> <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31338">Represent,</a> <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29285">ModCloth,</a> Janie and Jack, Adidas, Guess, Swarovski, Under Armour, Pandora, Toms, Portland Leather, ADM, Pacsun, and Luminess.

Promises increased productivity, cost-efficiency, and competitiveness in the legal industry

LegalTech

Robin AI is a legal technology company that leverages generative AI to automate and accelerate the process of drafting, negotiating, and reviewing contracts. Founded in 2019 by Richard Robinson, a former lawyer at Clifford Chance, and James Clough, a machine learning research scientist from Imperial College, Robin AI offers an AI-powered legal copilot that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Word.The company's core offering is an AI contract copilot that can reduce the time required to review contracts by up to 85%. It combines Anthropic's Large Language Model (LLM) Claude 2.1, which excels at processing lengthy prompts up to 150,000 words, with Robin AI's proprietary dataset of over 2 million contracts. An in-house team of legal professionals further refines the model to ensure the highest levels of quality and accuracy.Robin AI operates a unique hybrid approach, blending cutting-edge AI with human expertise. Its free version allows users to experience the copilot's capabilities, while more advanced features cater to enterprise clients like Pepsico, PwC, Yum! Brands, AlbaCore Capital Group, and BlueEarth Capital. The company has witnessed significant growth, with a 4x increase in customers and a 5x surge in revenues over the past year, driven by strong demand from the private equity sector.In January 2024, Robin AI secured USD 26 million in Series B funding led by Temasek, a global investment company based in Singapore. The investment will fuel the company's expansion into the US, where it already generates 75% of its revenue, and facilitate its entry into the Asia-Pacific region through the establishment of a new office in Singapore. Additionally, the funding will support the expansion of Robin AI's AI and machine learning teams.Key customers and partnershipsRobin AI's customer base spans a diverse range of industries, from large multinational corporations to SMEs and scale-ups. Notable clients include Pepsico, PwC, Yum! Brands, AlbaCore Capital Group, and BlueEarth Capital. The company has witnessed particularly strong demand from the private equity sector, where speed and efficient tracking of obligations to investors are critical.Earlier in 2023, Robin AI became one of Anthropic's launch partners, integrating the latter's advanced LLM, Claude, into its legal copilot. This collaboration underscores Robin AI's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies while maintaining a focus on safety and reliability.

Providing AI-driven market intelligence and workflow automation to give firms an edge

Capital Markets Tech

Talos is a technology provider that offers an integrated platform to support digital asset trading for institutional clients. Talos' offerings span the full trading lifecycle, encompassing liquidity sourcing, price discovery, automated execution, clearing, settlement, lending, borrowing, and portfolio management tools.&nbsp;At the core of Talos' platform is an advanced execution management system that aggregates liquidity from multiple venues, including exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) desks. This allows clients to implement sophisticated trading strategies across various digital asset markets. The platform also provides algorithmic trading capabilities, smart order routing, and advanced analytics for in-depth transaction cost analysis.Talos builds institutional-grade technology tailored to the needs of traditional financial firms venturing into digital assets. The company prioritizes aspects such as compliance, security, and operational efficiency.&nbsp;In May 2024, Talos acquired Cloudwall, a developer of digital asset risk technology, to strengthen Talos’ existing portfolio management system. During the same month, Talos also acquired Skolem, a platform for institutional investors to manage their exposure to DeFi. The acquisition was to enable Talos’ clients to integrate DeFi into their workflows.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsTalos has secured partnerships with several prominent entities across the financial services industry. In June 2022, the company forged a strategic alliance with Trading Technologies, a provider of professional trading software and infrastructure. This collaboration aimed to broaden Trading Technologies' cryptocurrency offering by leveraging Talos' market connectivity and trading services.Additionally, Talos announced a partnership with BCB Group, a crypto payment services provider, in February 2023. This partnership allows clients of both firms to access a comprehensive suite of front-, middle-, and back-office trading services, streamlining the trade lifecycle process.&nbsp;In November 2023, Talos achieved a significant milestone by integrating with CME Group, enabling its clients to trade CME's Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts directly through the Talos platform. This integration enhances Talos' offering with access to regulated, liquid derivative products in the digital asset space.

Threat Prevention Toolchain

Seal Security is a cybersecurity company that specializes in open source vulnerability and patch management. The company's solution focuses on securing open source dependencies for organizations. It provides standalone patches that enable security teams to quickly resolve critical and high-security issues. This approach has been particularly beneficial for maintaining FedRAMP compliance and handling vulnerabilities associated with CentOS End-of-Life (EoL) packages. Seal Security's advanced secure artifact server allows organizations to integrate open source security patches seamlessly into their existing security policies. This results in a significant reduction in Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and related labor costs, while also improving both internal and external security postures. Seal Security was operating in stealth mode and had 17 employees. The company was founded by three software vulnerability experts with over 30 years of combined experience in vulnerability mitigation and exploitation. Seal Security is SOC2 and ISO27001 compliant, demonstrating its commitment to maintaining high standards in information security and operational processes.

Ensuring the right people access the right resources at the right time

Identity & Access Management

Bureau is an identity verification and fraud prevention platform founded in 2020. The company's platform provides real-time risk decisioning for identity verification, fraud prevention, and compliance management through a single API integration. Bureau's technology creates an identity network by mapping digital personas (mobile numbers, emails, devices, IPs) to physical identities using document verification, OCR, Facematch, biometrics, and government database checks. The platform employs link analysis and predictive AI models to detect fraud networks and analyze behavioral patterns for anomalies. As of December 2023, Bureau had verified over 400 million identities and protected more than USD 500 million in digital transactions. In July 2023, Bureau acquired inVOID, a Y Combinator-backed identity verification startup, to strengthen its compliance and risk management capabilities.
Key customers and partnerships
Bureau's customers include major financial institutions and enterprises across India, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and North America. Notable clients include FIS Global, Enformian, Tweeq, Goibibo, Rapido, Bajaj Finance, and IIFL. In July 2023, Bureau formed a strategic partnership with GMO Payment Gateway, Japan's largest payment service provider, to expand its services globally. The company serves various sectors including banking, fintech, insurance, gig economy, and real money gaming.

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

Rasa provides infrastructure for enterprises to build GenAI assistants by combining its proprietary CALM (Conversational AI with Language Models) technology with a low-code user interface. Features include building conversation flows through drag-and-drop components, testing functionalities, and managing training data.&nbsp;This platform enables developers to create AI assistants capable of engaging in contextual conversations while allowing businesses to leverage LLMs for language understanding. Rasa addresses common issues like hallucinations in AI interactions by maintaining control over conversation flows and bot responses.&nbsp;The technology allows AI assistants to handle various tasks, from checking account balances to offering technical support for router issues. Rasa disclosed that it “roughly doubled” its annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2023 compared to 2022.The company offers a free plan for developers to explore AI assistant projects. Its paid plan offering full access to the platform is priced at USD 35,000 and upwards.Key customers and partnershipsAs of February 2024, Rasa had been downloaded by developers more than 50 million times, with notable clients like Adobe, Dell, Accenture, and American Express.

Bureau is a no-code identity and risk orchestration platform that tackles friction and fraud. It assists businesses in automating decisions, onboarding good customers, preventing fraud, and enabling seamless user experiences. The platform utilizes real-time insights, instant logins, and risk profiling to secure and simplify authentication and accelerate onboarding. Bureau provides extensive protection throughout the entire customer journey with solutions that include customer onboarding, account monitoring, device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, and transaction monitoring. Its unique Identity Bureau Network utilizes contextual data to deliver actionable insights, enabling businesses to make well-informed choices regarding digital identities.

Robin AI is a legal infrastructure business that rethinks how contracts are drafted, negotiated, and used. Robin AI caters to a broad spectrum of clients, ranging from large multinational corporations to SMEs and scale-ups. Its self-serve software enables SMEs to streamline contract processing with greater speed and cost efficiency. For larger enterprises, advanced AI features facilitate the efficient editing and querying of high-volume contracts, complemented by specialized support from the company's 45 in-house legal professionals.

Paymob is a regional digital payments enabler that builds payments infrastructue technologies empowering the underserved with access to financial services. Paymob is bridging the financial inclusion gap in MEA region by enabling businesses of all sizes to benefit from the power of digital payments and what it unlocks.  Paymob was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.

Chaos Labs is a fully automated on-chain economic security system that allows crypto protocols to optimize risk management and capital efficiency while safeguarding user funds. Chaos Labs offers a more secure and safe operating environment for crypto protocols. Chaos Labs uses technology and risk management expertise to help protocols navigate the often volatile crypto markets and make informed decisions. The platform is currently available for protocols on the Ethereum network, with plans to expand to other blockchains such as Terra, NEAR, and Polygon in the future.

Gynger is the first payments platform for technology purchases with embedded financing. We're revolutionizing the way businesses buy and sell technology by providing a seamless tool to instantly unlock flexible payment terms for any tech purchase.

Data is powering innovation across industries, but it also introduces new risks. Organizations struggle to control and oversee their data as it flows across systems and third parties. This prevents them from harnessing the full potential of their data.  Zendata offers comprehensive data protection, surpassing mere data mapping. It provides insights on data usage, identifies risks in third-party integrations, and aligns with existing policies and data agreements. Using advanced AI, we can stitch together disparate data sources into a unified view to unlock deeper insights while maintaining security and compliance.

Pliant is dedicated to reimagining credit cards and facilitating the growth of companies by offering an intelligent payment solution that scales with their business. Through its application and API-driven solutions, Pliant provides companies with the capability to issue both physical and virtual credit cards, automate payment procedures, monitor expenditures, and seamlessly incorporate all this data into their financial infrastructure.

Ume is a credit platform capable of reaching competitive prices and creating an economic environment to make credit simple and democratic.

SingleInterface (SI) is Asia’s largest hyperlocal marketing-to-commerce software for storefronts.  Since 2016, SI has been powering the digital discoverability of 250+ national and global brands, across India and South-East Asia, helping them achieve monumental location-level growth. Aligning to modern-day digitally-driven consumer behaviour, SI helps business locations build a robust online presence, drive purchase intent through consumer engagement, and enable conversions. Offering advanced capabilities such as Business Listings Management, Review Management, Automated Chats, and eCommerce-powered Location Pages across Digital Search, Social Platforms, Maps, and Local directories, SI allows business locations to build a virtual personality, efficiently manage operations, interact with consumers, and identify business opportunities. Thus, in today’s dynamic landscape, SI helps the world’s foremost physical retail & service businesses to compete and thrive in the digitally connected ecosystem. As a leading player in the Hyperlocal marketing space, SI’s capabilities have proven to be massively beneficial across segments such as Banking & Financial Services (BFSI), Automobile, Food & Beverages, Fashion & Lifestyle, Consumer Durables, and more. SI continues to be trusted by several prominent logos and collaborators, for its wide-ranging portfolio and offerings. SI has made a tangible impact on its esteemed clients, helping them actualize unprecedented expansion. As the industry acknowledges SI’s product stack and contributions, the company’s focus continues to remain on the value it delivers. With acknowledgment from global giants such as Deloitte (featured on Technology Fast 50), Financial Times and Statista (High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2023), and several eminent industry forums, SI’s proven capabilities continue to help enterprise retail brands achieve exponential growth.

Qoala is a disruptive InsureTech company that leverages big data, machine learning, IoT, and blockchain aiming to revolutionize the insurance landscape in Indonesia. Qoala partners with big companies, including e-commerce and travel platforms, to enhance their customer experience through unique and innovative insurance products.

NX Technologies develops technologies for the energy sector.

bezahl.de automates, digitizes, and streamlines the entire receivables process, from invoicing and dunning to financial accounting booking. Bezahl is a financial technology startup.

PPRO is a fintech company that provides digital payments infrastructure to businesses and banks so that they can scale their checkout, acquiring, and risk services through one connection. Payment platforms, acquirers, and merchants that plug into PPRO’s infrastructure can access payment methods, fraud screening tools, and other essential products from multiple providers. Every product can be deployed and controlled with clicks, not code. With the company's orchestration layer directing process flows and data like clockwork, PPRO’s partners can rest easy knowing they’re delivering seamless end-to-end services to their customers. Citi, PayPal, and Stripe are just some of the names that depend on PPRO to accelerate their roadmaps, boost their conversions, and eliminate the complexities of digital payments.

Rasa is the leader in generative conversational AI, empowering enterprises to optimize customer service processes and reduce costs by enabling next-level AI assistant development and operation at scale. Combining pro-code and no-code options, our platform allows cross-team collaboration for smarter and faster AI assistant building to accelerate time-to-value significantly.  Our unique approach transparently leverages an LLM-native dialogue engine that makes Rasa a reliable and innovative partner for enterprises seeking to significantly enhance their customer interactions with seamless conversational experiences. Rasa provides the data privacy, security, and scalability our Fortune 500 enterprise customers need.  Rasa is privately held, with funding from PayPal Ventures, StepStone Group, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, and Basis Set Ventures. www.rasa.com

Seal Security seamlessly integrates with various coding languages, patch management systems, and open-source platforms through powerful APIs and CLI. Navigate your open-source journey with unparalleled protection and compliance.

Founded in 2020, Mesh aims to build an open, connected, and secure crypto ecosystem. As the modern connectivity layer for crypto, Mesh unlocks new use cases such as crypto payments and payouts, deposits, on and off-ramping, transfers, and more within a unified platform. With over 300 integrations, Mesh is pioneering the creation of a connected and embedded crypto ecosystem that benefits both businesses and users.

We are the leading fintech infrastructure company connecting global corporations with financial institutions in Latin America and the United States. Specializing in the creation of advanced technological infrastructure, we focus on banking Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Our innovative technology provides access to the largest network, with over 500 connections to 283 financial institutions across 11 countries. With Prometeo, clients worldwide can connect to financial institutions more simply and securely, while reducing friction and costs. At Prometeo, we automate and simplify access to banking data, bank account validation, and account-to-account payments. As the single API for cross-border banking, we are driving the future of financial connectivity.

The Privacy, Governance & Compliance Operating System from Mine! As the #1 rated data privacy platform on G2, businesses prefer MineOS over the competition for its simplicity, unique automation, and ML-assisted features, which make quick work of compliance. Discover data quickly and thoroughly, highlight and act on relevant risks, manage data requests and customer consent beautifully, prevent breaches and ensure compliance stays effortless - with MineOS.

Tabby creates financial freedom in the way people shop, earn, and save by reshaping their relationship with money.

Stitch is a payments infrastructure company that helps businesses launch and scale faster, and operate more efficiently. Stitch payments APIs and tools dramatically reduce the effort required for businesses across sectors to connect to the financial system and deliver delightful experiences for their users.

Anzu is the most advanced intrinsic in-game ad solution for mobile, PC, console, and the metaverse. Anzu’s in-game ads put players first and help advertisers reach audiences programmatically in a non-disruptive and highly engaging way. A patented 3D ad tracking engine, the first to bring viewability measurement in-game with Oracle Moat and IAS, partnerships with trusted AdTech vendors, and compliant with the industry measurement standards outlined by the MRC and IAB make Anzu the preferred in-game advertising partner for brands and agencies worldwide. Anzu helps game developers monetize their titles with ad placements that complement the gameplay, and by monetizing the entire game session, they benefit from consistent and reliable revenue streams. Supporting all major and custom built game engines, and a full-stack ad monetization solution that provides complete control over ad placements makes Anzu the preferred in-game ad monetization partner for developers worldwide. Backed by Sony Innovation Fund, NBCUniversal, Samsung Next, Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund, WPP, PayPal Ventures and many other prominent investors, Anzu is on a mission to make advertising in games better. Better for brands, better for game developers, and better for gamers. Learn more at https://www.anzu.io/

Our cross-border eCommerce platform enables Latin American marketplaces to enter the cross-border world, and empowers international sellers to increase their selling volumes in Latin America. Forget long and frustrating international adventures. Reward your customers with a comfortable domestic-feeling shopping experience no matter where the products are coming from.

Magic is a wallet-as-a-service provider that helps businesses onboard users into web3 with instant non-custodial wallet creation. It uses email or social logins, while removing the need for seed phrases and browser extensions - making it indistinguishable from standard web2 experiences that everyday users are accustomed to. Magic offers features for end-to-end web3 onboarding including authentication, fiat onramps, NFT Minting and NFT Checkout. Its solutions are trusted by top brands in web2 and web3, including Mattel, Macy's, Xsolla, Immutable, and more. The company's solution makes use of a plug-and-play kit and blockchain infrastructure to enable individuals to build applications with quick, customized, password-less login with just a few lines of code, allowing developers to include password-less authentication in their applications.

Finanzguru is an AI-powered financial assistant that assists users in managing their accounts and contracts. Finanzguru determines a user's disposable income in real time based on their income and expenses. It even considers its contractual partners' upcoming bookings. This provides users with a single number that contains all of the information they require. Finanzguru gives users complete control over their finances and safely and reliably guides them.

Deep Instinct applies artificial intelligence’s deep learning to cybersecurity. Leveraging deep learning’s predictive capabilities, Deep Instinct’s on-device solution protects against zero-day threats and APT attacks with unmatched accuracy. Deep Instinct safeguards the enterprise’s endpoints and/or any mobile devices against any threat, on any infrastructure, whether or not connected to the network or to the Internet. By applying deep learning technology to cybersecurity, enterprises can now gain unmatched protection against unknown and evasive cyber-attacks from any source. Deep Instinct brings a completely new approach to cybersecurity enabling cyber-attacks to be identified and blocked in real-time before any harm can occur. Deep Instinct USA is headquartered in San Francisco, California and Deep Instinct Israel is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

MintOak Innovations is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that allows banks to broaden their payment offerings to merchants. It has so far built a modularized, cloud-native, and API-first payments platform that enables banks and merchant acquirers in India, Africa, and the Middle East to deploy and rapidly scale value-added services to their small and medium enterprise (SME) customers, such as payments, lending, and engagement.

Aspire is a finance operating system for growing businesses in SouthEast Asia. Its portfolio of services now includes business accounts for cross-border businesses, corporate cards, and automated invoice processing, all of which are connected to financial management software. The company also operates an incorporation service for Singaporean companies called Aspire Kickstart. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in Singapore.

Tazapay provides accessibility to essential financial technology tools and services on its platform, which it says helps to remove current trust barriers SMBs face when conducting cross-border trade and payments. It provides a full-stack payment solution including cards and local payment methods globally with buyer and seller protection.

TRM Labs is a blockchain intelligence company that helps financial institutions, crypto businesses, and government agencies detect and investigate crypto-related financial crime and fraud. Our products are trusted by leading companies including PayPal, Visa, FTX, Uniswap, Anchorage, and federal agencies such as the FBI and IRS. Every day, we tackle challenges in data engineering, data science, and threat intelligence to advance our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people. To accomplish our mission, we have raised over $79M from JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Citi, PayPal, Block, Tiger Global, and Bessemer. Our team is made up of world class experts from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, US Treasury Department, McKinsey, Coinbase, and top-tier tech companies. TRM is a remote-first workplace, with hubs in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and London.

At Thoropass, we’re compliance experts so you don’t have to be. Pairing easy software that’s always getting smarter with expert guidance and continuous monitoring, we integrate into your process to prepare you to pass any audit, every year, with flying colors. Hundreds of growing companies use Thoropass’s compliance automation platform, expert services, auditors and partner ecosystem to get and stay compliant over the lifetime of their business. We offer SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and other infosec and privacy frameworks. Learn more at www.thoropass.com.

At Northstar, we believe financial wellness starts with a single paycheck. We work with leading companies to provide 1-on-1 financial advisors and personal finance tools as an employee benefit. Northstar’s financial wellness program helps employees make the most of their total compensation, and helps companies support their teams at scale. Our employer customers include Zoom, Snap, NerdWallet, Superhuman, Virgin Orbit, and more.

Carro is a modern dropshipping marketplace that connects Retailers who want to expand their product catalog and grow average order value to high-quality, DTC Suppliers who want to develop new sales channels.  Carro helps Retailers avoid the hassle and risk of traditional wholesale agreements such as upfront capital, inventory commitments, and handling fulfillment. Meanwhile, Carro lets Suppliers control who they partner with, grow their brand awareness without investing in marketing, and acquire new customers – they get customer data when their products are bought on a partner’s store. Carro is E-Commerce platform-agnostic, meaning it connects Retailers and Suppliers both on and off Shopify to each other. This opens the door for Retailers of all shapes and sizes to use Carro. They can be popular brands primarily known for selling one product, that want to curate complementary products to sell alongside it. Carro Retailers can also be marketplace businesses or platforms such as social selling apps, wedding/gifting platforms, and rewards programs. Carro ensures it has the best quantity and quality of Suppliers and products, because it can tap into any DTC brand, regardless of which platform they’re on. With thousands of Retailers and Suppliers, hundreds of thousands of products, and over $55 billion in orders analyzed, Carro is the world’s largest modern dropshipping marketplace.

Shiprocket is an eCommerce shipping platform that enables cost-effective shipping for direct-to-consumer retailers. Its platform employs a machine-learning-based data engine that recommends proper courier service for a business and chooses a courier company, prints shipping labels, and tracks orders from a single panel that enables businesses to manage their shipping and returns simply and effectively. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in New Delhi, India.

Forage is a third-party payment processor (TPP) and a pin provider that authenticates and processes EBT recipients and transactions. Forage makes it easier for grocers to accept SNAP EBT payments online. Forage guides merchants through the USDA application process and tech integration for merchants, taking most of the burden off retailers. Forage democratizes access to government benefits and helps underserved Americans easily access their benefits online. Forage works with multiple grocers and platforms such as Shopify and Flashfood to accept SNAP EBT payments online.

Codat is the universal API for SaaS and financial service providers. The company provides real-time connectivity to enable software providers and financial institutions to build integrated products for their small business customers. Codat handles the heavy lifting of integrations, leaving providers free to focus on how integrations can improve their products for their small business customers. Codat is backed by Tiger Global, PayPal Ventures, Index Ventures, and American Express Ventures.

Modulr is on a mission to unlock the embedded payment opportunity for every business. Through software-driven account and payment creation, Modulr enable incremental revenue, operational efficiencies and way smoother customer experiences.

Talos Trading is an institutional technology infrastructure provider that connects all crypto ecosystem participants to support a full trading lifecycle. Talos Trading is based in New York, NY and was co-founded by Anton Katz and Ethan Feldman in 2018.

Concerto Card is a company created to power credit card partnerships that enhance the user and product experience for consumers and businesses.

Xepelin is a fintech company that offers a SaaS platform for small and medium-sized businesses in Latin America that can organize their financial information in real-time. It seeks to simplify access to digital payments and capital for its clients by creating a Simple, Fast, and Safe experience. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Santiago Chile and Mexico City, Mexico.

Oyster is on a mission to create a more equal world by making it possible for companies everywhere to hire people anywhere.  The company's HR platform for globally distributed companies enables growing organizations to give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches or expense.  Oyster empowers hiring anywhere in the world with reliable, compliant payroll and great local benefits and perks.  Founded in January 2020 by Tony Jamous and Jack Mardack, Oyster is itself a fully remote company with a diverse, globally distributed team.

Ellevest provides an engaging investing experience to help women meet their financial goals in life. Ellevest offers a modern, engaging user experience. The same care, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail that is reflected in its beautiful, easy-to-use interface are applied to the construction of its portfolios, its selection of investments, and the development of the algorithms that drive its forecasts and recommendations.

LayerZero Labs is a blockchain messaging protocol developer that allows decentralized applications build across multiple blockchains. The company is a User Application (UA) configurable on-chain endpoint that runs a ULN.

Cymbio accelerates digital sales for brands with its end-to-end drop ship and marketplace automation platform. It unifies and connects data streams between brands and their retailers to capitalize on sales opportunities. Cymbio's platform allows brands to boost sales across their retail partners while gaining control over merchandising, pricing, and visibility. Retailers embrace Cymbio as it enables them to offer consumers a wider product selection with no extra inventory risk. The Israel-based company was founded in 2015 by Gilad Zirkel, Roy Avidor, and Mor Lavi.

Aptos is a web3 startup that builds a scalable Layer 1 blockchain that enables developers to design scalable, future-proof apps. The Aptos team consists of a talented group of engineers, researchers, strategists, designers, and constructors. The company was founded in 2021 and is based in Palo Alto, California.

Skipify is a technology company based in California whose mission is to eliminate friction in the shopper's journey and help merchants build even stronger relationships with their customers. Skipify streamlines the entire checkout process by instantly connecting shoppers with their payment options, rewards, and points. That means fewer abandoned carts and a better experience for everyone.

Anchorage Digital is a regulated crypto platform that provides institutions with integrated financial services and infrastructure solutions. With the only federally chartered crypto bank in the US, as well as Anchorage Digital Singapore, which offers equivalent security and service standards, Anchorage Digital provides institutions an unparalleled combination of secure custody, regulatory compliance, product breadth, and client service.  Founded in 2017, Anchorage Digital is valued at over $3 billion with funding from leading institutions including Andreessen Horowitz, GIC—Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Anchorage Digital is remote-friendly with offices in New York, New York; Porto, Portugal; Singapore; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Learn more at anchorage.com, on Twitter @Anchorage, and on LinkedIn.

Tala is a mobile technology and data science company that is oriented around financial services in emerging markets. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Santa Monica, California.

StreamElements is the premier platform of tools and services for livestream and video production, monetization, audience engagement, influencer marketing, and brand sponsorships. The platform provides content creators with 100% free cloud-based overlays, alerts, chatbots, loyalty and affiliate programs, sponsorships, and brand-safe moderation with legendary customer service. In addition to powering millions of creators across platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok, StreamElements connects their massive audiences to brands through creator-driven performance marketing campaigns at scale.

Cart.com is the leading provider of comprehensive commerce and logistics solutions that unify commerce operations across channels and capabilities, enabling B2C and B2B companies to operate seamlessly across channels and sell and fulfill anywhere their customers are. Cart.com drives powers digital and physical commerce operations for over 6,000 customers, including some of the most beloved consumer brands and most complex B2B organizations. With over 1,000 employees, a team of AI and data scientists and 14 warehouses nationwide, our scale allows us to support middle market and enterprise level companies across industries.

VNLIFE is a technology company that develops a digital ecosystem for the tourism, logistics, and commerce sector. It enables a full suite of digital products on their payment and service platforms for individual consumers. The company's mission statement is to become the enabler to startups in terms of technical expertise, business guidance, building networks, and capital so as to provide these startups unprecedented opportunity not only to grow their products and services in the domestic market but also to compete in the global arena.

Jetty is a financial services company that develops a real estate insurance platform to simplify the leasing process and improve conversion. The company is on a mission to make renting a home more affordable and effortless for everyone. Jetty's solution helps property managers increase lease conversion, reduce bad debt, and streamline operations. For the renter, Jetty lowers the barrier to entry, saving residents thousands of dollars on move-in costs. Jetty was founded by Mike Rudoy and Luke Cohler in 2015 and is headquartered in New York.

Extend is an API first company that allows any merchant to offer extended warranties and protection plans, both online and offline, while also providing the merchant's end customers with a vastly improved and modern support experience that eliminates many of the issues customers face today with legacy underwriters. Their intelligent decision engine uses machine learning to optimize warranty offers in real-time, thereby improving warranty and cart conversions and generating the most revenue for the merchant.  Extend platform is integrated into leading eCommerce solutions including Shopify, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, BigCommerce, and others so that they can be up and running quickly, with no technical requirements. They also provide custom API integrations for larger merchants who have their own eCommerce platform. It stores all the details of an individual's product purchase and warranty plan for them, while also assisting throughout the claim process to create a seamless experience from start to finish. It was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

The mission of Arkose Labs is to create an online environment where all consumers are protected from online spam and abuse. Recognized by G2 as the 2023 Leader in Bot Detection and Mitigation, with the highest score in customer satisfaction and largest market presence four quarters running, Arkose Labs offers the world's first $1M warranties for credential stuffing and SMS toll fraud. With 20% of our customers being Fortune 500 companies, our AI-powered platform combines powerful risk assessments with dynamic threat response to undermine the strategy of attack, all while improving good user throughput. Headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices in London, Costa Rica, and Brisbane, Australia, Arkose Labs protects enterprises from cybercrime and abuse.

Paxos is a regulated financial institution building infrastructure to enable movement between physical and digital assets. The company takes a two-pronged approach of establishing regulatory designations that give it access to the current financial infrastructure and the ability to develop innovative products. This allows Paxos to operate as a gateway between traditional finance and the digital future.  Paxos was founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York, United States.

TaxBit is a cryptocurrency tax and accounting software that automates tax calculations and reports on cryptocurrency transactions. With TaxBit, users can link their exchanges and wallets to seamlessly pull their transactions through their tax engine and auto-generate tax forms. Aside from automating taxes, TaxBit provides crypto enthusiasts with real-time portfolio tracking and tax optimization visibility so that they can make tax-optimized crypto trades throughout the year. TaxBit connects the consumer and enterprise cryptocurrency tax experiences.

Divvy software gives users complete control and real-time visibility into company spending while eliminating the hassle of expense reports. Divvy is a secure financial platform for businesses to manage payments and subscriptions, build strategic budgets, and eliminate expense reports. By integrating real-time tracking for every business transaction, Divvy provides organizations with instant insight into their spend. With Divvy, you can make informed cash flow decisions, curb losses before they happen, and never have to save a receipt again. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in Lehi, Utah.

Tink is a cloud-based open banking platform that provides the infrastructure and value-adding data products that are enabling the future of financial services.  Tink offers products such as account aggregation, payment initiation, data enrichment, and personal finance management that can be used to develop standalone services or be integrated into existing banking applications. Its partners include ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas Fortis, Nordea, Klarna, and SEB. Tink was founded in 2012 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Neon is a Brazilian fintech founded in 2016. The company emerged after the indignation of Neon's founder, Pedro Conrade, who after blowing R$ 1.00 from his checking account, discovered that his bank would charge R$ 46.00 of fee to start using the overdraft. When investigating his bills, Pedro realized that every year he spent his monthly salary on bank fees per month. Indignant, Pedro thought about the thousands of Brazilians who lose their money every year with abusive fees, from there Neon, the first digital account in Brazil, emerged. Over the years, Neon has consolidated itself as one of the largest fintechs in the world, offering customers a complete portfolio with debit and credit cards without annuity, personal loans, payroll loans, investments in a simple way in CDB and CDI, cashback in debit, various forms of payment, among other products designed for Brazilian workers and without abusive fees. In addition, with MEI Fácil, the company offers financial services and education to individual micro-entrepreneurs throughout Brazil. Today Neon has more than 1,600 employees and 15 million customers. The company grew its revenue three times in 2021 and the expectation for this year is to continue growing at an accelerated pace.

STORES support the development of an economy driven by commitment, passion, and fun. They support the digitalization of business, such as opening online shops, POS cash registers, cashless payments, and online reservation systems.

Even offers an affordable on-demand pay product that allows employees to access their paychecks when they need it most—without confusing, hidden, or predatory fees. With a proven track record of reducing employee turnover and increasing retention and productivity, Even is the highest-rated on-demand pay app and has helped employees save more than $82 million to date.

SafeBreach is a pioneer in the emerging category of breach and attack simulation. The company's groundbreaking platform provides a “hacker's view” of an enterprise’s security posture to proactively predict attacks, validate security controls and improve SOC analyst response. SafeBreach automatically executes breach methods with an extensive and growing Hacker’s Playbook of research and real-world investigative data. SafeBreach is funded by Sequoia Capital, Deutsche Telekom Capital, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder and investor Shlomo Kramer.

Paidy is a software platform that allows consumers to buy online without a credit card or pre-registration. It is optimized for mobile and instant-checkout, Paidy allows consumers to buy online and does not require a credit card or pre-registration. Paidy's payment service allows users to make purchases online, and then pay for them each month in a consolidated bill. The company uses proprietary technology to score creditworthiness, underwrite transactions and guarantee payment to merchants. Since many Japanese consumers prefer not to use credit cards for online payments, Paidy’s service can help vendors increase their conversion rates, average order values and repeat purchases.

Raisin is a savings and investment marketplace that connects retail customers with banks looking to expand deposit reach. The company's goal is to provide savers the best interest rates. The company gives access to exclusive savings products from all over Europe. Raisin assures a smooth investment process and the simple management of investments with all of the partner banks via one single platform. Raisin was founded on 2012 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Raisin DS was formed by a merger of the FinTech companies Deposit Solutions and Raisin in June 2021.

Happy Returns provides comprehensive return solutions for the world's leading online and omnichannel retailers and their customers. They provide aggregated shipping and logistics across all channels with optimized delivery to retailers' preferred destinations.

Cambridge Blockchain develops blockchain-based identity management and compliance software solutions for financial institutions. The company provides an identity management platform for multinational banks financial institutions that puts control of personal identity data back in the hands of the end-user. It returns control of personal data back to users while delivering the benefits of trusted, distributed identity to consumers and organizations. Alex Oberhauser, Alok Bhargava, and Matthew Commons founded it in 2015, with its headquarters in Cambridge in Massachusetts.

Dosh is a fast growing cash back card-linked ecosystem that drives in-store sales through contextually relevant offers. Brands utilize Dosh’s real-time behavioral and transactional data to convert new customers, increase frequency, and average order value – tracking marketing dollars to every transaction and bench marking performance against competition. By shifting advertising dollars directly to consumers through Dosh, brands are proven to drive sales and positive brand propagation.

Monese is a digital banking alternative that provides a mobile-only, multi-currency account fully-featured and fully localized banking experience (both its apps and its customer service.

Pulsate enables direct communication with customers based on their location, context, interests and behaviours. Pulsate allows you to design and push rich media content directly to customers devices.  Deepen the relationship by establishing a customer dialogue. Allow users to reply to your campaigns, provide feedback and keep complaints outside of social media. Maximize foot traffic by targeting street level or competitor locations. Combine with segmentation for optimal results.  iBeacons:tm: enable you to understand indoor customer location and context with incredible accuracy. Easily manage deployment and configuration of iBeacons:tm: with the Pulsate cloud platform. Gain a deeper understanding of your mobile customers and a comprehensive view of each mobile campaign.

Toss is a South Korea-based mobile financial service platform operated by fintech startup Viva Republica. Its application offers peer-to-peer money transfers, manages credit scores and bank accounts, access loan and insurance plans, split bill options, QR payment and other similar services that enable users to manage their finance. Toss was established in 2011 by Seunggun Lee in Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi.

Pine Labs offers a merchant platform that includes technology and financial solutions for merchants. These solutions are aimed at helping merchants in increasing their revenue and reduce cost, complexity, and risk. The company connects financial institutions and consumer brands to enable merchants to deliver value to their retail customers. It powers offline and online last-mile retail transactions, provides customer insights for targeted sales, and offers financial solutions. The company’s cloud-based platform powers 3,50,000+ POS terminals across 3700 cities and towns in India and Malaysia. Over 1,00,000 merchants across sectors - electronics, food and beverage, fashion, airlines, and more, use Pine Labs’ solutions. 15 major banks, 7 financial institutions, and 100+ brands are part of Pine Labs’ platform.

Simility helps companies prevent fraud in real-time with machine learning, big data analytics, and data visualization capabilities. It levels the playing field against even the most sophisticated fraud ring by enabling analysts to create and configure detection mechanisms without having to write one line of code. It is free to analyze trends and test insights at will, analysts can now match fraudster's move for move.

PayPal Ventures is PayPal's venture capital arm, investing in PayPal's strategic interest fields for return. Leveraging PayPal Venture's expertise and experience, PayPal – and the companies in which it invests – are helping to bring innovative solutions to market more quickly, scale them faster, and build a global financial system that is more transparent, personalized, inclusive, and customer-focused. PayPal Venture's investments reinforce its commitment to leading the financial technology industry and supporting entrepreneurship.

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