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Hi all, Julie here.

Happy Monday! Excited to get October started off on a high note. In case you missed it, we have new Tux Time episodes with Charley Ma, Credit Karma’s GM of Money, and TripActions Liquid’s SVP. More exciting interviews to come :)

Today's Partner, Laika

Navigating enterprise procurement

Let’s be honest...enterprise procurement is tough. Thanks to increasingly stringent security requirements, regulated businesses expect comprehensive security programs instead of templated cookie cutter policies.

With Laika, businesses get custom security and compliance programs. Win bigger deals and reduce headaches with a team of compliance experts to help prepare for procurement by:

1. Answering security questionnaires
2. Implementing policies that enterprise buyers expect
3. Managing audit processes and internal reviews
4. Updating and monitoring policies as you grow

It’s time to start building lasting compliance practices into your business. Request a demo to chat with our experts and learn how Laika can help you close enterprise deals.

Company News

Monzo Backs Out of License Application

British challenger Monzo has withdrawn its application for a U.S. banking license after starting the process in April of last year. Monzo said this “isn’t the outcome” it initially set out to achieve, but “following recent engagement with the OCC” the startup decided to back out of the process for now. It’s worth noting that Monzo successfully secured a full banking license in the U.K. in 2017, though the company has yet to turn a profit.

Funding and Deals

Ladder’s New Round

I have very fond memories of Ladder. I interviewed the founder, Jamie, at SXSW a few years ago and they crashed Gwyneth Paltrow’s party with me after. True story. Anyways, Ladder, which provides flexible term life insurance policies providing coverage, announced $100M in new equity funding and a valuation of $900M. The company says that revenues are growing four-fold this year and it’s on track to issue $30B in coverage by the end of this year. Ladder focuses a lot on younger demographics, with easier-to-use interfaces, a wider range of pricing and coverage options, and algorithms that can produce quotes and close deals much faster.

Crypto Watch

Compound(ing) Losses

Not a good weekend for Compound. After a glitch in the DeFi lending platform that led to nearly $90M in mistaken rewards being distributed last week, Compound Labs’ founder said that might not be the end of it. On Sunday, he tweeted that an additional 202,472.5 COMP tokens were issued, bringing the total dollar amount of crypto that was accidentally distributed to about $160M. COMP is the “native token” used to conduct transactions. Since the platform is decentralized, the company must now wait and hope that users return the funds that they were sent by mistake. So far, having the founder beg and even threaten users hasn’t worked...

Shaq NFTs

It’s really too bad that Shaq is doing this after Ian’s birthday and we can’t get these as a gift for him this year...Shaquille O’Neal announced he’s releasing his own collection of NFTs in partnership with Ethernity Chain. The collection of five NFTs will run on Ethernity and be available for purchase on October 15. On top of that, the buyers will be entered to win a pair of custom size 22 shoes and a personal video call with O’Neal himself, as well as a dinner table at O’Neal’s music festival. This literally would have been the perfect birthday gift for Ian, ugh. Anyways, Ethernity has previously launched athlete-partnered NFT collections with the NFL’s Ezekiel Elliot and boxer Manny Pacquiao, so this isn’t the first big release the platform has seen.

Crypto Funds Get Inflows

Bitcoin is back above $40K and everyone is bullish again. Digital asset investment products attracted $90M in new money, marking the seventh straight week of inflows after experiencing a rough summer. The report from CoinShares showed Bitcoin-focused funds took in $69M, the third straight week of inflows, while crypto funds focused on Ethereum saw $20M of inflows.

Together With Fintech Meetup

Meet all the Fintechs that matter at Fintech Meetup!

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Plus leading Banks including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, Investors including Bain Capital, General Atlantic and Point 72 and many others!

Our custom tech stack and workflows get you meetings in 5 simple steps, without leaving your office (or home office!). It’s supercharged networking--we’re facilitating 30,000+ meetings for 3,000+ industry professionals. Qualifying Startups get special startup rate tickets, qualifying Banks & Credit Unions eligible for FREE tickets. GET YOURS HERE!​

​Lead Product Designer, Banking Ecosystem, Sqaure:​

Equal parts design systems, IA, and visual design, this role will impact the future of everything Square builds. As the Lead Designer on the Square Banking Ecosystem team, you will be the first dedicated designer on this newly formed team, reporting to the Head of Design & Creative for Banking. Square is building a suite of new financial products and you will be essential to creating connections between these products and defining the roadmap and design vision for the shared product surface areas. Apply at the link above!

Congrats to Community Member and friend Ohad Samet of TrueAccord for being named one of 10 people defining the future of consumer credit!

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​Parker Jay-Pachirat is Chief of Staff at Fintech Today. Before FTT, she worked in product management for three years across several companies, also gaining experience in venture working for Unovis Asset Management and Impulsum Venture CoLab. Parker graduated from Occidental College in May of 2021 with a specialized focus on brain-machine-interfaces. Her senior thesis interrogated the way in which commercialized brain-machine-interfaces will disrupt society's prevailing models of ability and disability. In her free time, Parker enjoys reading, skiing, and techno.

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