Fintech
Beeper acquired by Automattic, fintech decline and YC’s lack of LatAm founders
When it comes to news we love at TechCrunch, IPOs rank really high. Another interesting piece of news that comes less frequently than we would like is that a startup buys another startup. These deals are often very attractive as they bring a bit of talent or technology to an already growing company, potentially accelerating it.
So it was with joy that the Equity podcast the crew dug into Automattic purchasing Beeper for $125 million. Recall that the parent company WordPress bought Texts.com last year for $50 million. Elsewhere in business land, Proton bought Standard Notesand we recently discussed Wonderschool-Early Day purchase. More please!
In the Offers of the Week column, Mary Ann chose PayJoy’s huge new execution speedwhile Alex wanted to keep redoing the Proxima Fusion round this could help bring the next energy revolution a little closer to reality.
To close, we looked Anna Heim’s latest news on the evaporating issue of Y Combinator of participating startups from Latin America, which we assume might have something to do with fintech’s fall from grace among investors – and fintech is the category of startups we most associate with the activity of Latin American founders.
Not that fintech is dead, far from it. But we’re certainly an ocean or two away from the heady days we’ve seen in 2021. Equity returns Monday morning to kick off your week! See you then!
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For the full transcript of the interview, for those who prefer to read rather than listen, read on or check out our full archive of episodes as well as Simplecast.