Capital markets

Tech companies that help banks detect money laundering have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in recent months because of advances in their products. Observers suggest the vendors will have to diversify their offerings to survive in a crowded field.

The Rhode Island bank endured a sharp decline in fee income from home loans, which had spiked earlier in the pandemic. But CEO Bruce Van Saun says the company is well positioned as the refinancing boom fades and the home purchase market becomes more important.

The Minneapolis company recently advised a nonprofit on a $30 million issuance that will provide financing to developers building multifamily housing and community facilities. It includes a framework, which the bank intends to deploy again, for informing investors on how the money is being used.

Revolut raised $800 million from investors including SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global Management at a $33 billion valuation, the latest sign of investor demand for fintechs.

N26 GmbH is holding discussions with investors to raise several hundred million dollars in a fundraising that could value the German fintech at about $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The fintech company Wise rose in its debut following a direct listing on the London Stock Exchange, in the largest such deal ever, bolstering Brexit Britain’s capital-market hopes.

Dozens of digital tools are billed as democratizing finance. But a number of entrepreneurs still see massive gaps. Here’s why Donald Hawkins and Asya Bradley, co-founders of First Boulevard, believe building a financial brand for Black America is imperative. Join us in a conversation with Mary Wisniewski, editor at Bankrate and First Boulevard’s co-founders as they discuss what banks have missed in serving Black America and how the neobank aims to improve the financial livelihood of the community.

Deserve, a credit card technology startup, raised $50 million from backers including Mastercard and Ally Financial’s strategic investment arm, its chief executive said in an interview.

Upgrade, a lending startup that counts Banco Santander SA and SVB Financial Group’s Silicon Valley Bank as investors, is seeking to triple its valuation in a fresh funding round, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The cloud-based software vendor has completed a $10 million funding round through BlackFin Capital Partners and Picus Capital.