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Cushion<\/a>, a fintech startup that described itself as the \u201cPlaid for buy now, pay later (BNPL),\u201d has shut down.<\/p>\n On Thursday, founder and CEO Paul Kesserwani posted<\/a> on LinkedIn about the decision to wind down the company at the end of 2024.<\/p>\n In the post, Kesserwani said that \u201cdespite bringing multiple new fintech products to market,\u201d Cushion<\/a> \u201cdidn\u2019t reach the scale needed to sustain the business.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in late 2016, San Francisco-based Cushion had raised a total of $21.6 million from investors such as Afore Capital, Flourish Ventures, Vestigo Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and 500 Global.\u00a0<\/p>\n Its last publicly announced raise was in May, 2022 when it closed a $12 million Series A<\/a>. Its post-money valuation in 2022 was $82.4 million, according to PitchBook.<\/p>\n Kesserwani did not immediately respond to TechCrunch\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Cushion offered a consumer app that sucked in the transaction history from its users\u2019 bank accounts, determined what fees had been assessed and then conducted negotiations on their behalf to get a refund. It was designed, Kesserwani told TechCrunch<\/a> in 2019, to be incentive-aligned with consumers by only taking a commission on any returned cash.<\/p>\n Kesserwani got the idea for Cushion after leaving his job at Twitter. While taking some time off to think about what he wanted to do next, he was helping his parents manage their bank accounts while they were traveling for work in Lebanon. Due to bank security policies, his parents weren\u2019t able to log into their accounts from Lebanon, and eventually, they faced a mountain of banking fees as their accounts went unattended. As Kesserwani investigated, he turned to his own accounts, and realized he had also been paying fees to the tune of $400 that he had no memory of agreeing to.<\/p>\n In Thursday\u2019s LinkedIn post, Kesserwani said that Cushion had automated bank fee negotiation and reached $3 million ARR in 10 months and processed over $300 million in BNPL loans. He added that the company had onboarded over 1 million consumers over time, with more than 200,000 paying customers.<\/p>\n Wrote Kesserwani: \u201cI gave Cushion everything I had for 8+ years. While the outcome wasn\u2019t what we hoped for, we built something that moved the industry forward \u2014 and I\u2019m proud of that. As for me, I\u2019m excited for what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n Data suggests that 2025 is expected to be another brutal year for startup shutdowns<\/a>. In late December, another fintech \u2014 Bench \u2014 shut down abruptly only to be acquired<\/a> days later.<\/p>\n Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up for TechCrunch Fintech\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Want to reach out with a tip? Email me at\u00a0maryann@techcrunch.com<\/a>\u00a0or send me a message on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew at\u00a0tips@techcrunch.com<\/a>. For more secure communications,\u00a0<\/em>click here to contact us<\/em><\/a>, which includes SecureDrop and links to encrypted messaging apps.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n