Fintech startup Ramp sees 32% bump in valuation, Mercury expands into consumer banking

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week we look at Ramp’s surge and valuation surge, Mercury’s move into personal banking, Klarna’s new credit card, global funding rounds and much more!

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The big story

Ramp, a spend management startup rivaling Brex, Navan and Airbase, exclusively told TechCrunch last week that it had raised $150 million at a post-money valuation of $7.65 billion. Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund co-led the round, representing a 31.9% increase in valuation from its August 2023 increase. This is an impressive feat in a tough market full of drawdowns. In addition, Ramp is notably one of the few large fintechs that does not have to lay off staff. What’s driving all the investor interest in Ramp? CEO Eric Glyman believes it’s the company’s continued growth and focus on AI.

Analysis of the week

Starting a merchant bank Mercury is expanding into personal banking services. The company, founded seven years ago, now serves more than 100,000 businesses, many of which are startups, through its B2B practice. CEO and co-founder Immad Akhund told TechCrunch that Mercury hopes to convert many of its enterprise customers into customers, rather than going after the masses. Onyx Private, with a similar offering, recently reversed course, moving from B2C to B2B. Industry experts I spoke with emphasize that business and personal banking are “two different beasts,” but that Mercury isn’t starting completely from scratch.

You can listen to the Equity team discuss this week’s fintech news here:

Dollars and cents

Embedded fintech startup based in Berlin finmid raised $24.7 million in a Series A round with a post-funding valuation of $107 million to further develop its product and enter new markets.

Since 2015, Pula, a Kenya-based insurtech, wants to improve access to agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers in emerging markets. So far, the insurtech has helped 15.4 million farmers across Africa, Asia and Latin America get insurance, and it’s eyeing more after a $20 million Series B funding round.

Midasa financial technology startup that allows Turks to invest in U.S. and Turkish stocks, says it has raised $45 million in a funding round led by Portage du Canada.

Rumor has it that the HR/fintech startup Ripple raises $200 million, and an additional $670 million of stock is sold by existing shareholders.

What else do we write

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

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