Latest from Mary Ann Azevedo
Ilya Sutskever’s new AI venture, and time to BeReal about bankruptcy
Get ready for a jam-packed episode of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups! This week, co-hosts Mary Ann Azevedo and Haje Kamps…
Brex’s compliance head has left the fintech startup to join Andreessen Horowitz as a partner
Ali Rathod-Papier has stepped down from her role as global head of compliance at corporate card expense management startup Brex to join venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as a partner…
PayPal Ventures leads $20M round into Gynger, which offers companies ‘buy now, pay later’ for technology purchases
Gynger, a platform that lends capital to companies for technology purchases, has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by PayPal Ventures, it told TechCrunch exclusively. The financing…
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at layoffs at BaaS startup Unit and car insurance company Loop, as well as Brex’s decision to abandon its co-CEO model, Apple…
Fintech Brex abandons co-CEO model, talks IPO, cash burn and plans for a secondary sale
Since fintech startup Brex’s inception in 2017, its two co-founders Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi have run the company as co-CEOs. But starting today, the pair told TechCrunch in an…
NEA’s Vanessa Larco says generative AI will change the SaaS pricing model – and that’s a good thing
Vanessa Larco, a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), believes that generative AI’s impact on the world of SaaS could be huge. The investor joined…
Rippling’s tender offer decision draws mixed — and strong — reactions
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at Rippling’s controversial decision to ban some former employees from selling their stock, Carta’s massive valuation drop, a GenZ-focused fintech raise, and…
Kleiner Perkins leads $14.4M seed round into Fizz, a credit-building debit card aimed at Gen Z college students
Carlo Kobe and Scott Smith believed so strongly in the need for a debit card product designed specifically for Gen Zers that they dropped out of Harvard and Cornell at…
When foes become friends: Capital One partners with fintech giants Stripe, Adyen to prevent fraud
The tension between incumbents and fintechs has existed for decades. But every once in a while, the two groups decide to put their competition aside and work together. In an…
A look at LoanSnap’s troubles and which neobanks are having a moment
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at LoanSnap’s woes, Nubank’s and Monzo’s positive milestones, a plethora of fintech fundraises and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest…
Former teen model co-created app Frich to help Gen Z be more realistic about finances
As a teen model, Katrin Kaurov became financially independent at a young age. Aleksandra Medina, whom she met at NYU Abu Dhabi, also learned to manage money early on. The…
Bootstrapped for over a decade, this Dallas company just secured $110M to help people pay bills by text
Solutions by Text, a company that gives people a way to pay their bills and apply for loans via text messaging, has secured $110 million in new growth funding. Edison…
The demise of BaaS fintech Synapse could derail the funding prospects for other startups in the space
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at the long-term implications of Synapse’s bankruptcy on the fintech sector, Majority’s impressive ARR milestone, and more! To get a roundup of…
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Synapse, backed by a16z, has collapsed, and 10M consumers could be hurt
Synapse’s bankruptcy shows just how treacherous things are for the often-interdependent fintech world when one key player hits trouble.
The proposed AI ‘kill switch,’ and why it’s rough out there for emerging fund managers
It was an event-filled week in startup land, and the Equity crew had a blast breaking it down for you. On today’s episode of TechCrunch’s…
For this episode of Equity, we spoke to two Aussie VCs: Dan Krasnostein of Square Peg and Gabrielle Munzer of Main Sequence.
Teen fintech Copper had to abruptly discontinue its banking, debit products
Another fintech startup, and its customers, has been gravely impacted by the implosion of banking-as-a-service startup Synapse. Copper Banking, a digital banking service aimed at teens, notified its customers on…
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at the continued fallout from Synapse’s bankruptcy, how Layer wants to disrupt SMB accounting, and much more! To get a roundup of…
AI’s busy week, and why the heck are so many VCs leaving their firms?
If there was one thing we heard about this week, it was AI. As a matter of fact, there were so many AI updates to…
A US Trustee wants troubled fintech Synapse to be liquidated via Chapter 7 bankruptcy, cites ‘gross mismanagement’
The prospects for troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse have gone from bad to worse this week after a United States Trustee filed an emergency motion on Wednesday. The trustee is asking…
Khosla Ventures, Pear VC triple down on Honey Homes, a smart way to hire a handyman
There’s apparently a lot of demand for an on-demand handyperson. Khosla Ventures and Pear VC have just tripled down on their investment in Honey Homes, which offers up a dedicated…
When Newchip, an online accelerator promising to help startups, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2023, it was revealed that the company had just…
Meet PayHOA, a profitable and once-bootstrapped SaaS startup that just landed a $27.5M Series A
PayHOA, a previously bootstrapped Kentucky-based startup that offers software for self-managed homeowner associations (HOAs), is an example of how real-world problems can translate into opportunity. It just raised a $27.5…
Inside TabaPay’s drama-filled decision to abandon its plans to buy Synapse’s assets
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we look at the drama around TabaPay deciding to not buy Synapse’s assets, as well as stocks dropping for a couple of fintechs, Monzo raising…
Finally, some good news! This week, we were pleasantly surprised to see that FTX’s fraud victims would be getting some money back — even if…
Inside Mercury’s competitive push into software and Ramp’s potential M&A targets
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re looking at Mercury’s latest expansions, wallet-as-a-service startup Ansa’s raise and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories…