Because some former Bench customers are not happy

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This week, we look at the latest with fintech Bench, Robinhood’s $45 million liquidation, a couple of M&A deals, some interesting fundraising and more.

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The great story

After the beginning of accounting Bank closed abruptly on December 27 and was bought in a fire sale by Employer.com, Bench customers are now learning that they can not easily just take their financial data and leave. And some are very unhappy about it. Meanwhile, Bench states that “the only way they can get their data at all is to opt to give Employer.com permission to access their data, because the only other entity that currently has this data to begin with does not no longer exists and is in active bankruptcy proceedings.”

Dollars and cents

Float Financialan expense management and corporate card startup focused on the Canadian market, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round. Toronto-based fintech compares to US-based fintech giants Brex and Ramp but says it is different in its sole focus on Canadian SMEs.

At 24, Pryce Yebesi already has an exit: he is selling his cryptocurrency company Utopia Labs to Coinbase for an undisclosed amount. On Monday, Yebesi announced the launch of his new company, Open Ledgerwhich incorporates automated accounting software into products that businesses and small businesses already use. Is it it has already raised $3 million in a round led by Kindred Ventures and Blank Ventures.

Focused primarily on cross-border payments for merchants across Asia and the Middle East, NamePay has raised $37 million in financing at a valuation of $200 million to expand its business.

The financial services company Moodyhas agreed to acquire Head of Analyticsa geospatial AI startup, for an undisclosed sum.

Clearwater Analyticsa company that develops accounting, compliance and risk reporting tools for asset managers, has agreed to acquire investment management platform Infusion for $1.5 billion.

What else do we write

robinhood he agreed forking out $45 million to resolve an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into several alleged violations, including one related to this 2021 hack.

As digital payments turn into strategic assets, India offers a model for other nations seeking to reduce dependence on Western payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

grow upIndia’s largest stockbroker, is is preparing to file an IPO in 10 to 12 months, seeking a valuation between $6 billion and $8 billion, sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

High interest securities

In HR software news, Buka human resources software provider based in Santiago, Chile, raised $50 million in Series B round funding at a valuation of approximately $850 million. This is from the Valuation of $417 million had obtained in 2021.

Based in Toronto On the ground has been acquired from an HR software company Labor heroas the Australian company seeks “to gain a foothold in Canada.”

Fintech giant plaid he told TechCrunch that he planned open an office in Raleigh, North Carolina. Headquartered in San Francisco, Plaid now employs more than 1,000 people and has additional offices in New York; Washington, DC; London; and Amsterdam. A spokesperson told TC that “Raleigh is the next step in expanding Plaid’s footprint to meet the growing demand for its technology as the financial services sector moves increasingly online.”

Thanks for reading. See you again next week!