The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | October 10th

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.

Financial inclusivity and profitability

️‍ In a move to support underrepresented entrepreneurs, Amazon Catalytic Capital announced it would invest $150 million into venture capital funds, accelerators and incubators. It focuses on funding Black, Latino, Indigenous, women, and LGBTQIA+ founders at the pre-seed and seed stages. Within the next year, Amazon plans to support over 200 companies and more than 10 funds.

The senior vice president of worldwide corporate development for Amazon, Peter Krawiec, said, “We’ve seen incredible innovative ideas from underrepresented entrepreneurs—from companies providing inclusive health services to women to startups helping companies mitigate climate impacts for underserved communities—and we’re convinced that inclusive investing leads to innovation and better returns. We want to ensure that these companies and their founders have the same access to capital as anyone else.

Railsr, an embedded finance platform, has received $46 million in funding, including $26 million in equity and $20 million in debt. Among the investors participating in the equity portion of the fundraising were Ventura, Outrun Ventures, CreditEase, and Moneta. Anthos Capital led the equity portion of the round. The debt facility has been provided by Mars Capital, a new investor in Railsr. A significant step forward in Railsr’s journey to profitability has been accomplished with the funding, according to CEO Nigel Verdon.

Deal or no deal

It was expected that PayU’s acquisition of BillDesk for $4.7 billion would be completed by the end of 2022, but certain conditions failed to be met by that date, and the agreement was automatically terminated. The Prosus’ FinTech business would have grown in India and become one of the world’s largest online payment providers. According to PayU CEO Laurent Le Moal, the move aligns with the Indian government’s Digital India project and strengthens the country’s digital economy.

Following its failure to raise the funds necessary to secure a full banking license from the Bank of England, Manchester-based neobank Bank North is closing its doors. According to board chair Ron Emerson, the bank wasn’t able to secure funding within the required timeframe as it aimed to become fully regulated. Earlier this year, Bank North received a restricted banking license from the UK Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA).

What is the buzz

New York-based Tiger Global plans to raise $6 billion for its new venture capital fund, according to a letter sent to its limited partners, according to the report by ET. To raise $6 billion, this fund is significantly smaller than the $12.7 billion technology platform. In international media reports, it closed earlier this year. Over the past few years, Tiger Global has invested the majority of its PIP 15 (Tiger Global Private Investment Partners LP) fund into the early-stage enterprise software and fintech companies in the United States and India, where it continues to find the highest risk-adjusted returns.