 Mumbai-based Indian banking company Niyo has raised a $100M Series C. The round was led by Accel and Lightrock India and further supported by Beams Fintech Fund, Prime Venture Partners, and JS Capital. Begun in 2015, the digital banking platform has partnered with banks across India to provide its 4 million customers access to wealth management, mutual fund investments, savings accounts, 24/7 chat support, and more. More: - Niyo will use the money raised for hiring, marketing, branding, distribution, and growth.
- The growth plan includes acquiring 2-3 business acquisitions this year.
- The company will also invest in diversification, entering new markets such as personal loans, credit cards, and insurance.
- While largely focused on individual consumers, the 500-employee startup currently represents over 7,000 corporations.
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 Email security software company Cloudflare, Inc. is set to acquire Area1 Security for ~$152M. The company will integrate Area1 Security's anti-phishing technology to improve its own email-security management system. The acquisition is expected to take place by the end of 2022's second quarter. More: - Approximately 40-50% of the acquisition will be paid out via Cloudfare's Class A common stock.
- Area1 Security's cloud-native software can be used with any email service.
- According to the company, the product prevents 30% more phishing attacks than its competitors and therefore saves companies money and time.
Zoom out:
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The quantum computing startup QuantrolOx has raised £1.4M (~$1.9M) in Seed funding. The round was led by Nielsen Ventures and Hoxton Ventures and supported by Voima Ventures, Remus Capital, Dr. Hermann Hauser, and Laurent Caraffa. While we are still in the early stages of quantum computing, the startup's niche focus on "solid-state qubits" is a viable focal point that may foster growth in the burgeoning industry. More: - Begun at Oxford University, QuantrolOx aims at harnessing machine learning to regulate qubits (the quantum analog to traditional bits).
- According to Techcrunch, "The idea here is that instead of going through a slow manual tuning process, QuantrolOx's system will be able to tune, stabilize and optimize qubits significantly faster."
- Unlike previous interventions into qubit technology, QuantrolOx's system is scalable.
- The company plans on keeping its team small.
- Currently, QuantrolOx has seven full-time employees. It plans on hiring upwards of 10 new employees in the near future but, due to the niche nature of its project, does not plan on growing larger than that anytime soon.
- The startup will use its new funds to build partnerships with labs that can grant access to expensive machinery and rare source code.
- As of now, QuantrolOx is partnered with an undisclosed computing lab in Finland.
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In a round led by Highland Europe, the London-based email security company Red Sift has raised a $54M Series B. Sands Capital, Oxford Capital, and MMC Ventures also helped grow the fund. A partner from Highland Europe, Sam Brooks, and SANDS Capital partner Michael Graninger will be appointed to Red Sift's Board of Directors. More: - The most recent funding round brings the total raised by Red Sift to $69.8M.
- The funds will support the company's growth and expansion, a new headquarters in Austin, Texas, and further product development.
- The company's award-winning, automated email security function helps businesses protect their brands from unwanted attention.
- Red Shift also provides companies with personalized threat detection services.
- Red Shift, which was founded in 2015, also shuts down phishing sites to further protect company data.
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 A message from PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY VCs Predict Inflation and Labor Shortages as Biggest Issues According to VCs, the most significant emerging issues for private businesses are inflation and labor availability, according to data from the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Survey. The Pepperdine Graziadio Business School (PGBS) has published its capital markets report every year since 2009. The data comes from its annual survey of venture capital, angels, private equity, mezzanine, banks, appraisers, limited partners, and more. “We are very excited to be entering our 14th year of the survey,” stated Dr. Craig R. Everett, executive director of the project. “Our reports are downloaded by thousands of capital providers and valuation professionals who are seeking insights into cost of capital and industry trends. This research fits perfectly into the entrepreneurial culture here at PGBS.” The 2022 Private Capital Markets Survey is now open. The resulting report will be published in April and is free to all 2022 survey respondents. Take the Pepperdine Survey
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With offices in Singapore, Bangalore, and Tokyo, the San Francisco-based sales engagement platform Vymo has secured a $22M Series C. The growing company's latest funding round was led by Bertelsmann Investments with participation from existing investors Emergence Capital and Sequoia Capital. Bertelsmann Investment's Rohit Sood will join Vymo's board. More: - Vymo has raised a total of $45M to date.
- The money will be used to expand into new markets, including the United States.
- The company, which currently serves 65+ financial institutions globally, was founded in 2013 by Yamini Bhat and Venkat Mallad.
- Current Vymo-users include Aflac, SOMPO, Sun Life Financial, and many others.
- The company claims to gain a new user every three minutes.
- The pandemic has heightened demand for Vymo's remote coaching team.
- Vymo's successful sales interventions have helped companies multiply customer engagement, double clientele, and increase leads by upwards of 20% in just one week.
- With 20% growth quarterly and a net revenue retention rate of 142%, Vymo is performing at the top 0.5% of SaaS companies globally.
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 NayaPay CEO and founder Danish Lakhani wants to use his platform to serve the estimated ~100 million underbanked Pakistanis. The company's $13M Seed round is one of the largest Seed rounds in South Asia following Tag, which raised $12M last year. The round was led by Zayn Capital, MSA Novo, and Graph Ventures. Other investors included Saison Capital, Maple Leaf Capital, Warren Hogarth, CEO Empower Finance, and the sponsors of the Lakson Group. More: - The company's goal is to reach at least 5 million Pakistani customers and small businesses.
- Naya pay is modeled after well-known mobile-banking platforms like Square and Venmo.
- Users of Nayapay will be able to send and receive money, split bills, and make payments.
- The company will also provide digital and physical banking cards.
- NayaPay's license from the State Bank of Pakistan makes the company the country's first eMoney institution.
- 90% of financial transactions made in Pakistan are by its underbanked population.
- With a total of $4T in yearly payments in Pakistan, only 1% are made digitally.
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- Milan-based Scalapay raised $497M in Series B funding. The platform allows customers to "buy now, pay later" without interest. They have raised over $700M to date.
- In a Series A round led by Tiger Global, the Stockholm-based product recommendation software company Depict.ai has raised $17M.
- Startup PromisePay is partnering with government agencies and utility companies to help people pay their bills. The company raised $25M in its most-recent Series B funding round.
- The SQL-enabled Decodable has raised $20M in Series A funding. The company provides novices with the ability to develop data-driven applications.
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 |  | Courtney K. Rawlings is an Inside Analyst living in Los Angeles, California. She has returned to her hometown of LA after spending several years working at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is completing a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History. While working toward her Ph.D., Courtney has developed an interest in the language and history of the tech industry, including, but not limited to, business, politics, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and podcasting. In fact, she hosts her own podcast Low Culture Boil! |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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