Learn more about Mercury's competitive push into software and Ramp's potential M&A targets

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The big story

Digital banking startup mercury is adding software to its bank accounts to present its business customers the power to pay bills, invoice customers and compensate employees, the corporate told TechCrunch exclusively. The additional features put the corporate in much more direct competition with corporations like Brex and Ramp, two rival fintechs which have been fighting for share in an increasingly crowded marketplace for years. Mercury says greater than 200,000 customers send $4 billion in outbound payments through its platform every month and that the move was a natural fit for the seven-year-old company.

Analysis of the week

CB Insights is committed to identifying this 85 potential takeover targets for ramp “Given increased interest in M&A.” Here are some examples: Streamlined, a Greycroft-backed accounts receivable (AR) automation company whose $4 million raise TechCrunch covered here; Oddr, which focuses on invoice-to-cash management for the legal sector; Pactum, which handles negotiations with AI providers; and OpStart, a startup valued at $10 million in 2022 that gives “financial operations for startups.” So far, Ramp has acquired Cohere, Buyer and Venue.

Dollars and cents

We covered first Ansa in 2023 after they got here out of stealth and announced a $5.4 million donation. Last week, popular fintech company TC exclusively said it had raised a further $14 million to expand its wallet-as-a-service business. We were impressed by the undeniable fact that 95.6% of investors within the Series A round were female and by the appeal of the corporate. Read more here.

Flipping houses will not be for the faint of heart, irrespective of how fun or HGTV easy it could seem. A startup desires to make the method simpler by offering one other option to borrow money to finance such a purchase order. Backflip offers real estate investors a service to secure short-term loans. Backflip’s technology not only helps users secure funding, but additionally helps investors find, track, compare and evaluate potential investments. Think of it as a cross between Zillow and Shopify. And it just raised $15 million.

What else we write

Hans Tung, managing partner at Remarkable capital, formerly GGV Capital, thinks loads in regards to the state of enterprise capital today. We recently featured him on TechCrunch Equity capital Podcast discussing valuations, why founders must play the long game, and why some VC firms struggle greater than others. We also took a deep dive into why he’s still bullish on fintech and which sectors in fintech he’s particularly enthusiastic about. Check out interview excerpts and the present podcast here.