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Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech<\/a>! This week, we\u2019re looking at how two fintech companies serving the underserved are faring, and more!<\/p>\n To get a roundup of TechCrunch\u2019s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 7:00 a.m. PT, <\/em>subscribe here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n PayJoy<\/strong> is an example of a company with positive unit economics and a mission to help the underserved. It\u2019s not often that we see those two things intersect, so when we do, we get pretty excited. I wrote about the company\u2019s milestone of achieving $300 million in annualized revenue<\/a> and profitability last year, while also managing to land $150 million in Series C funding. The company\u2019s model is unique: It helps people build credit through pay-as-you-go financing for smartphones. Once the phones are paid off, customers can apply for loans through PayJoy using their devices as collateral. Read all about its growth here.<\/p>\n Petal<\/strong> is another fintech company that aims to help the underserved \u201cbuild credit, not debt.\u201d Last May, TechCrunch wrote about the company\u2019s $35 million raise and plans to spin off its data unit<\/a>. Last week, Empower Finance announced its plans to acquire Petal, which apparently began looking for buyers last year \u201cwhen it was short on cash,\u201d according to Fortune<\/a>. A spokesperson for Petal told me via email: \u201cLike Petal, Empower \u2026 uses cash flow underwriting for its suite of credit products. \u2026 With the Petal acquisition, it will soon have a family of credit cards to complement that offering.\u201d Will we see more M&A in 2024? I\u2019m eager to see.<\/p>\n TransferGo<\/strong>, the U.K.-based fintech best known as a consumer platform for global remittances, has raised a $10 million growth funding round<\/a> from Taiwan-based investor Taiwania Capital, with a view to expanding in the Asia-Pacific region. It last raised a $50 million Series C funding round in 2021. TransferGo claims its growth, combined with the new investment, doubles its valuation.<\/p>\n Brazilian startup Salvy<\/strong>, a mobile carrier for businesses, was the only company based in Latin America in Y Combinator\u2019s latest batch<\/a>, the accelerator confirmed to TechCrunch\u2019s Anna Heim. That\u2019s a significant drop compared to cohorts that went through the accelerator during COVID when it was remote, but also more recent classes. For example, there were 33 Latin American companies in Y Combinator\u2019s Winter 2022 batch. Could the overall state of the fintech sector be partly to blame? Historically, around one-third of the 231 Latin American companies that went through YC focused on fintech. And with fintech funding on the decline, this could perhaps partly explain YC\u2019s lack of LatAm interest.<\/p>\n Investors circle \u2018most hated\u2019 fintech and e-commerce sectors<\/a><\/p>\n Stride and Utah set new precedents in benefits for independent workers<\/a><\/p>\n US startup Parafin lands $125M warehouse facility from SVB and Trinity Capital<\/a><\/p>\n Tabs secures $7M seed funding to enhance AI-driven accounts receivable platform<\/a><\/p>\n UAE\u2019s fintech Fortis secures $20M in a Series A round\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Anrok hits a $250M valuation with a mundane idea: calculating<\/a><\/p>\n Want to reach out with a tip? Email me at maryann@techcrunch.com or send me a message on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew at tips@techcrunch.com. For more secure communications,\u00a0<\/em>click here to contact us<\/em><\/a>, which includes SecureDrop (<\/em>instructions here<\/em><\/a>) and links to encrypted messaging apps.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe big story<\/h2>\n
Analysis of the week<\/h2>\n
Dollars and cents<\/h2>\n
What else we\u2019re writing<\/h2>\n
High-interest headlines<\/h2>\n