The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Mar 24th

By Puja Sharma

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

Landmark $1.5 billion Crypto deal

Funding Societies | Modalku, the SME digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has announced a strategic equity investment from Gobi Partners, an Asia-focused venture capital firm.

The investment comes as lenders and investors have become increasingly cautious toward FinTech firms following industry challenges. Gobi Partners’ backing reinforces Funding Societies’ stability and growth in SME financing and its foray into payments since 2022.

Kraken, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, is set to acquire NinjaTrader, a retail futures trading platform, in a landmark $1.5 billion deal—reportedly the largest-ever merger of traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto. Founded in 2003, NinjaTrader operates as a CFTC-regulated Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), offering a cloud-based trading platform with tools for trade management and order flow analysis, serving approximately 1.8 million users.

Kraken views this acquisition as a key step in its broader strategy to expand across multiple asset classes, including equities and payments. By leveraging NinjaTrader’s FCM license, Kraken will be able to offer crypto futures and derivatives in the US. Upon completion, expected in the first half of 2025, NinjaTrader will continue operating as a standalone platform within Kraken. This move builds on Kraken’s previous acquisitions of Cryptowatch, Crypto Facilities, and Staked. Founded in 2011, Kraken recently secured an EMI license in the UK and currently serves over 13 million users, providing access to more than 350 digital assets and six national currencies.

Advance audit evidence generation

Kosli, a provider of automated governance solutions for software delivery, has secured $10 million in Series A funding, led by Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) group and Heavybit, with participation from Defined Capital, Transpose Platform, and several angel investors.

The company has also launched Kosli Enterprise, introducing new features tailored for financial services businesses, including large-scale user support, change management automation, and audit evidence generation.

Kosli aims to address the inefficiencies in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) workflows, which have struggled to keep pace with advancements in cloud and DevOps. These outdated processes create costly bottlenecks, delaying production changes while increasing operational risks.

Flutterwave, Africa’s payments technology company, has broadened its reach in Ghana through the integration of Pay With Bank Transfer, done in partnership with Affinity Bank.

With over 115 million bank transfer payments recorded in Ghana in 2023, this move will ensure that Flutterwave businesses can now receive payments seamlessly and securely through a rapidly growing payment method. While Mobile Money leads as the preferred payment type for everyday transactions in Ghana, the recent growth in transactions for Pay With Bank Transfer symbolises the expanding payment options available for Ghanaian businesses.

Flutterwave has a track record of driving innovation in the African finance ecosystem, and this new development promises versatility, thereby expanding the pool of customers available to businesses. As a preferred payment method, it also promises faster payments while providing access to a more secure process of transacting, which benefits both the sender and the receiver (business).

What is the Buzz

Klarna’s upcoming U.S. initial public offering (IPO) could help revive British FinTech listings after a period of limited activity, according to media reports. The Sweden-based buy-now, pay-later company recently filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, marking its second attempt at an IPO in four years.

Klarna had initially considered listing in 2021 after its valuation surged from $5.5 billion to $45.6 billion through multiple funding rounds. However, as investor confidence in tech companies declined due to rising interest rates and economic uncertainty, the company was forced to cut its valuation to $6.7 billion in a 2022 fundraising. Now, Klarna is returning to the market and is expected to be valued at least $15 billion, with its IPO likely to be priced in the first half of April.