Venture capital

The financial-technology firm Plaid is close to a new round of funding at a valuation of about $13 billion, almost three months after scrapping its sale to Visa, according to people familiar with the matter.

Now approved by Fannie Mae, the digital servicer aims to shake up the status quo by reducing costs caused by a “monopoly in the market.”

The fintech world is expanding at a sometimes breathtaking pace. Much of that growth is driven by venture capital, but how do VCs decide which companies to invest it in--or not? Join Greycroft partner Will Szczerbiak in a discussion with Olugbenga Agboola, the founder and CEO of Flutterwave, the San Francisco-based startup building the largest payments infrastructure in Africa. Guest host James Ledbetter, editor and publisher of the fintech newsletter FIN, will explore these questions: What are VCs looking for in a fintech startup? What are the hottest fintech sectors in 2021? How has the rise in fintech valuations affected the market? Where will growth be strongest in the next few years?

After doubling its valuation in five months, Blend plans to use its latest funding to strengthen its digital lending experiences for banking and mortgages.

Bee Mortgage App will use blockchain and automation provided by Elphi to create "a COVID tool for real estate agents" to get fully digital mortgage approval in under three minutes.

The substantial Series D fundraise fuels speculation on whether Better.com will be the next mortgage company to hop on the IPO trend.

Record-low interest rates, high origination volumes and social distancing created a perfect storm for mortgage fintechs like SnapDocs and LoanSnap to score a cash infusion.

Fintechs are facing unique challenges in the pandemic. There might be a resurgence in funding on the horizon, but startups are looking to see what they can do now to weather the storm.

In the latest example of a new wave of mortgage-related fintech investment, Snapdocs will boost its artificial-intelligence capabilities with its new $25 million funding round.

Blooma has developed a software product that combs databases to create property profiles for commercial real estate lenders. It can drastically cut origination costs and approval times and help banks identify safer loans, the company says.

Better.com has added new capital to support its growth and, in a separate deal, New Residential has agreed to use some its funds to buy property management firm DGG RE Investments.

Ally Financial took a stake in Better Mortgage, just the latest in the growing trend of banks investing in mortgage fintech companies to enhance their digital lending offerings.

With its latest round of funding, the mortgage fintech company will continue to build its digital platform, with a goal of reducing the complexities and costs of home buying.

A digital mortgage startup called Brace is using machine learning to automate loss mitigation and has lined up backing from several venture capital sources, including a fund with high-profile investors like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

With its new round of funding, the mortgage fintech company will look to expand its geographic reach and reduce the mortgage closing process to a week in 2019.

CrediFi helps bankers pursuing commercial real estate loan growth minimize the risk in lending to customers they historically haven't served.

Residential mortgage loan exchange provider Maxex has closed a new $38 million funding round it will use to improve and expand various aspects of its platform.

Technology startup Eave is making a foray into Colorado's fast-moving, high-end mortgage lending market by offering software designed to quickly analyze jumbo borrowers' more complex incomes and assets.

Maxwell Financial Labs, a provider of a digital cloud-based platform used by the mortgage industry, is getting a new $3 million round of funding led by Anthemis Group's investment arm.

Fintech and marketplace lender LendingHome is getting more than $450 million in investment and funding from different channels to help support mortgage production growth and technology improvements.