Venture capital

Mike Cagney, the former chief executive of the lending giant SoFi, is searching for investors for his latest startup, Figure Technologies. The company, which builds financial products on a blockchain, is also seeking to spin off some product lines as it navigates a dramatic industry downturn.

It's been less than three months since FTX collapsed in what U.S. prosecutors called one of the biggest financial frauds in American history — and a former top executive is eager to get it all behind him and move on to his next big thing.

Crypto startups are facing a harrowing time attracting private financiers after the collapse of the digital-asset exchange FTX. Venture capital investment in the industry plunged to its lowest level in almost two years during the fourth quarter of 2022, according to data from the research firm PitchBook.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is in talks to invest about $200 million in Akulaku, an Indonesian online lender backed by Jack Ma's Ant Group, according to people familiar with the matter.

The challenger bank for Black and Latino individuals introduced Elevate, a membership-only tier that includes access to private clubhouses and networking aimed at people of color.

Btech Consortium, a partnership between several small banks, a venture capital firm and an asset manager, will identify emerging technologies that meet their members' near-term needs.

The crypto custodian Copper Technologies has obtained $196 million in fresh funding this year, as part of an ongoing series C investment in the business.

Citigroup's venture capital investing group made its first digital-asset seed investment in a Hong Kong-based digital-asset management firm. 

Tally Technologies, a startup that automates credit card payments, has tripled its valuation to $855 million in a funding round led by Sway Ventures.

The parent company of Silicon Valley Bank has hired a law firm to assess its "Access to Innovation" effort. That program aims to provide support, including more funding, to startups and venture firms that were started by women and members of certain minority groups.