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WonderFi to acquire Coinberry for $38.5 million in all-stock deal as Canada’s crypto space continues to consolidate (BETAKIT)
Less than a month after closing its acquisition of Bitbuy, Vancouver-based WonderFi has inked a deal to acquire another licensed Canadian crypto platform in Toronto’s Coinberry, for approximately $38.5 million CAD in WonderFi stock. As part of this acquisition, Cinaport Acquisition Corp. III has agreed to settle its lawsuit against Coinberry.
CoinDCX raises $135 million in funding as valuation doubles to $2.15 billion (THE ECONOMIC TIMES)
Crypto trading exchange CoinDCX has raised $135.9 million (about Rs 1,000 crore) from investors led by Pantera Capital and Steadview Capital, doubling its valuation to $2.15 billion in less than a year to become the most valued crypto trading platform in India.
How Lending Loop pivoted from peer-to-peer lending to a cross-border banking platform for e-commerce (BETAKIT)
Lending Loop’s business took another hit when the federal government started doling out loans for small businesses through a variety of programs, which made Lending Loop’s ability to provide meaningful capital challenging, Pastoll told BetaKit in an interview.
Beanstalk cryptocurrency project robbed after hacker votes to send themself $182 million (THE VERGE)
On Sunday, an attacker managed to drain around $182 million of cryptocurrency from Beanstalk Farms, a decentralized finance (DeFi) project aimed at balancing the supply and demand of different cryptocurrency assets. Notably, the attack exploited Beanstalk’s majority vote governance system, a core feature of many DeFi protocols.
Osler releases inaugural multi-year study of 300+ Canadian VC and growth equity financings
Osler’s Emerging and High Growth Companies practice has released its first comprehensive study of 332 anonymized venture capital and growth equity financings from 2019–2021, valued at US$5.7 billion, providing data and insights for founders, entrepreneurs, investors and advisors contemplating transactions this year and beyond.
The report is unique as it draws on both publicly available data on venture capital and growth equity financings, as well as Osler’s confidential anonymized data sources. The report authors have distilled actionable insights on the data, including on common terms and structural considerations.
Read the Deal Points Report: Venture Capital Financings
Toronto venture funding continued to reach new heights in Q1 2022, but tech valuations may be due for a cooling (BETAKIT)
Toronto’s tech sector once again swept venture funding records away in Q1 2022, but showed signs it may cool off in the coming quarters. Meanwhile, the first quarter also saw Alberta’s tech sector set a new venture funding record, British Columbia see strong results, while Waterloo Region “moved in the right direction,” according to new reports from briefed.in.
Better.com’s third round of layoffs in five months believed to impact over 1K employees (TECHCRUNCH)
Digital mortgage company Better.com has conducted its third mass layoff in less than five months, citing a declining mortgage market, according to an email to employees seen by TechCrunch.
QuadFi inks agreement for up to $127 million CAD to provide loans to underserved individuals (BETAKIT)
Toronto-based online lender QuadFi has entered into an agreement for a new financing facility of up to $127 million CAD ($100 million USD) from Crayhill Capital Management.
Despite Growing Crypto-Corn Numbers, Sector Not Immune To Macro Trends (CRUNCHBASE)
According to Crunchbase data, the first quarter saw VC-backed companies in the crypto space raise about $5.1 billion—less than the $6.6 billion that cascaded into the sector in Q4 of last year, and also less than the $6.3 billion seen in the first quarter of 2021.
Brim co-founder raises $10 million for new “smart card” startup Savvii (BETAKIT)
FinTech startup Savvii Group Inc. has secured $10 million in seed funding that closed at the end of the last quarter. The financing came from a financial investment firm, which the startup refused to disclose.
Robinhood revives plans to launch in the UK with deal to buy crypto app Ziglu (CNBC)
Robinhood said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Ziglu, a London-based FinTech app that allows users to trade bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies. The acquisition will help in its expansion plans in the U.K. and Europe, the company said.
Versapay expands accounts receivable solutions with DadeSystems acquisition (BETAKIT)
The acquisition is being funded by Great Hill Partners and Ten Coves Capital, the latter of which is a DadeSystems investor. As part of Versapay’s acquisition of DadeSystems, Ten Coves is rolling its stake into Versapay.
Plaid Co-Founder Takes Aim at Rickety Banking Tech (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Even the flashiest FinTechs have to rely on banks to do their financial grunt work. William and Annie Hockey think Column can be their bank of choice.
Responsive receives $3.5 million in Co-operators-backed Series A round for US, Europe expansion (BETAKIT)
The financing was led by Co-operators, a Canadian insurance co-operative. Co-operators has been using Responsive’s solutions to provide custom onboarding and advisor workflows for its clients, and said it will continue to partner with Responsive to add more functionality to its wealth management platforms in the future.