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- Maren

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The UK has joined the US, Canada and the EU in ordering its government officials to remove the TikTok app from their work devices amid fears of a security threat. Government officials in the west say that TikTok's ownership by the Chinese tech giant ByteDance puts sensitive user data at risk of being accessed by the Chinese government.

As the Guardian's UK technology editor Alex Hern tells Hannah Moore, the governments are not able to cite specific incidents to back up their ban but it forms part of an overall cooling in relations with China.

TikTok itself has never been more popular: last year it was the most downloaded app in the world. It has a reported user base of more than a billion people and remains the fastest-growing social media platform since 2020. And it operates in the west in a way that western tech companies such as Meta and Google are not able to in China.

But despite assurances from TikTok's executives that the data they hold on users has not been handed to the Chinese government, ByteDance admitted that in the past employees used their own app to spy on reporters in an attempt to track down journalists' sources.

The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all. But we increasingly need our readers to fund our work.

Support The Guardian

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The UK has joined the US, Canada and the EU in ordering its government officials to remove the TikTok app from their work devices amid fears of a security threat. Government officials in the west say that TikTok's ownership by the Chinese tech giant ByteDance puts sensitive user data at risk of being accessed by the Chinese government.

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Malika. End of ‘easy money’ shifts start-up focus to profit

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Malika. End of ‘easy money’ shifts start-up focus to profit

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Tighter credit markets and slower consumer spending prompt a rethink after pandemic uplift.

https://www.ft.com/content/903bc367-fe31-4450-8663-cb40b8405ca4

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End of ‘easy money’ shifts start-up focus to profit

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Tighter credit markets and slower consumer spending prompt a rethink after pandemic uplift

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https://on.ft.com/3TwsFwR

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Janet Yellen will signal further US government backing for deposits at smaller American banks if needed, a shift that seeks to protect parts of the country's banking system struggling in the recent financial turmoil.

Amid mounting evidence that panicked depositors are pulling savings out of regional banks, the US Treasury secretary will say guarantees offered to all depositors at the failed Silicon Valley Bank could be replicated at other institutions if needed.

"The steps we took were not focused on aiding specific banks or classes of banks," Yellen is expected to say in a speech to the American Bankers Association on Tuesday.

"Our intervention was necessary to protect the broader US banking system. And similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffer deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion."

The US Treasury worked with the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in providing guarantees for all deposits, including uninsured ones, at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which both failed this month. In addition, the Fed announced a new facility to boost liquidity for struggling banks.

The US government also cheered efforts by Wall Street banks to shore up deposits at First Republic, another struggling lender, as well as the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, which was blessed by the Swiss government.

Yellen will suggest the US is relatively comforted by market developments in recent days. "The situation is stabilising. And the US banking system remains sound," she will say. "The Fed facility and discount window lending are working as intended to provide liquidity to the banking system. Aggregate deposit outflows from regional banks have stabilised.

"We are squarely focused on doing our job," she will add. "And you should rest assured that we will remain vigilant."

The Treasury secretary will also stress the importance of small and midsized banks to the US economy. A big concern in recent days has been that the current crisis would strengthen larger financial institutions at the expense of smaller ones.

Recommended

"Large banks play an important role in our economy, but so do small and midsized banks," Yellen will say. "These banks are heavily engaged in traditional banking services that provide vital credit and financial support to families and small businesses. They also increase competition in the banking sector, and often have specialised knowledge and expertise in the communities they invest in."

Yellen's comments suggest the Biden administration is expecting any additional actions to be focused on shoring up individual banks that may be struggling. However, US officials are also debating whether they need to take additional steps to restore confidence, including increasing or removing the $250,000 cap for deposits insured by the FDIC.

Congressional support would be required for such a step unless Biden administration officials find a way to adopt the measure by executive action.

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Janet Yellen to signal further US support for deposits at smaller banks

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Janet Yellen will signal further US government backing for deposits at smaller American banks if needed, a shift that seeks to protect parts of the country's banking system struggling in the recent financial turmoil.

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Third biggest fintech investment in Norwegian history

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Third biggest fintech investment in Norwegian history

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A norwegian fintech startup has been evaluated to over 800 MNOK after their series A round of 184 MNOK. This is the third highest fintech investment in Norwegian history.

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Serie A-runden på 184 millioner kroner var faktisk i boks allerede i fjor høst og pengene var utbetalt for lenge siden da startup-verdenen for to uker siden ble rystet av kollapsen i Silicon Valley Bank.

Heller ikke Two var uberørt av kollapsen. Pengene var delvis plassert i den britiske delen av Silicon Valley Bank, men Two-sjef Andreas Mjelde tok det likevel relativt rolig. Til forskjell fra mange andre kunder i SVB, hadde Two spredt pengene til flere banker.

- De konti vi trengte for å drive virksomheten var i andre banker, så det var langt fra like stressende for oss som for en del andre, sier Mjelde til Shifter.

At emisjonen har vært på plass en god stund, er selvfølgelig bra, men for Mjelde hadde det ikke spilt noen større rolle om han hadde måtte gi seg ut på pengejakt i dag.

- Vi opplever ikke at det er noen forskjell i interessen fra investorhold, hevder han.

Årsaken til det er at Two opererer innenfor en av fintech-bransjens få riktig hete segmenter - B2B BNPL - altså at man gjør fakturabetaling for bedrifter tilgjengelig også innen e-handel. Bare siden nyttår har flere konkurrenter hentet store beløp.

Sammen med et titall andre bedrifter er Two involvert i et race som enkelt forklart kan sies å være kampen om hvem som skal blir Europas "Klarna for bedrifter".
Les mer om det racet her.
Allerede i det første intervjuet med Shifter, i mai 2021, da selskapet så vidt hadde kommet i gang med virksomheten, pekte gründer og daglig leder Andreas Mjelde ut retningen og ambisjonene.

- Med de byggeklossene Norge har i løsninger, tankesett og erfaringer, ser jeg ikke noen grunn til at den neste store fintech-startupen ikke skal være norsk - særlig innenfor B2B, sa Mjelde den gang.

Tredje største fintech-investeringen

Nå har Two altså hentet 184 millioner kroner fra norske og internasjonale investorer for å ta et stort skritt nærmere det målet.

Serie A-runden er etter hva Shifter kjenner til, den tredje største fintech-investeringen hittil i Norge etter Dune Analytics sin runde på 600 millioner kroner og de 543 millioner kroner de norske eierbankene tilførte Vipps på vei inn i fusjonen med Mobile Pay.

Skal man regne med oppkjøp, så er også Storebrand-kjøpet av Kron for 400 millioner kroner, samt det samlede beløpet britiske Saltpay har puttet inn i MeaWallet, større.

Emisjonen verdsetter selskapet til over 800 millioner kroner etter penger.

- Vi har vært i den heldige situasjonen at vi til enhver tid har vært tilbudt mer kapital, enn hva vi til slutt har endt opp med å hente. Det er en vanskelig balansegang å sørge for at vi henter nok kapital, med en utvanning vi kan være komfortable med, samtidig som vi ikke blir for høyt priset heller, sier daglig leder Andreas Mjelde til Shifter.

- Så verdsettelsen på drøyt 800 millioner kroner, er noe dere har hatt styringen over og ikke blitt presset til å godta?

- Prising av startup-selskaper er ekstremt komplisert. Det er jo derfor vi har brukt "SLIP"-noter tidligere. Men vi har kunnet vise til en jevn kurve oppover i forhold til konverteringer og nåverdivurdering i rundene. Så ja, vi er fornøyde, sier Mjelde.

LES MER: Two tar sikte på de aller største bedriftene

Startet med Sequoia

Mjelde og hans fire medgründere Edward Brandler, Stavros Tamvamakis, Kiran Thomas og Joachim Krüger fikk en supertstart på gründerlivet gjennom at Sequoia Capital gikk inn med brorparten av pengene i den aller første seed-runden på cirka 30 millioner kroner i begynnelsen av 2021.

Andre som deltok var det britiske fondet Local Globe, tyske Visionairies Club, Antler, Arkwright, Bring Ventures og Oda-sjef Karl Munthe-Kaas.

I fjor ble det også kjent at Two på høsten 2021 fylte på kassen med drøyt 80 millioner kroner i en såkalt SLIP-avtale. Det er en mulighet til å finansiere et selskap uten å måtte sette en formell verdi på selskapet ved investeringstidspunktet. Den ble konvertert til aksjer i forbindelse med den nye emisjonen.

LES MER: Markedet til Two har eksplodert på kort tid: - Foreløpig er vi helt komfortable med situasjonen

Klikket med ny hovedinvestor

Hovedinvestor i denne runden er det amerikanske investeringsselskapet Shine Capital, som går inn med cirka 82 millioner kroner. Det ble startet i 2019 av Mo Koyfman, som nå trer inn i styret til Two.

Shine Capital forvalter i dag 435 millioner dollar, cirka 4,3 milliarder kroner, i tre forskjellige fond.

- Hvordan kom dere i kontakt?

- Vi møtte hverandre før første i gang i Barcelona for omtrent et år siden. Det var en perfekt match fra første stund. Mo har vært en fantastisk sparringpartner og problemløser så langt, og han vil være en viktig døråpner for oss inn i USA, sier Mjelde.

Koyfmans investeringsfokus har nemlig vært rettet mot det amerikanske fintech-markedet. Han har blant annet vært med på hele reisen til Plaid, en amerikansk fintech som gjør omtrent det samme som aktører som openbanking-selskapene Tink, Nets eller Neonomics.

LES MER: Tysk Two-konkurrent henter 130 millioner kroner

Antler satser satser stort

Nest største investor, investeringsselskapet Antler, er godt kjent med Two og Andreas Mjelde. Antler var med i den aller første såkorn-runden i begynnelsen av 2021, og har fulgt opp med mer penger etter det.

Når det nå handler om en Serie A-runde, høyner Antler innsatsen og går inn med 52,5 millioner kroner.

Mathias Owing Maanum, juniorpartner på Antlers London-kontor har holdt i Two-investeringen.

- Det er et betydelig beløp, men i tråd med vår strategi når vi ser på en "high conviction"-investering i en Serie-A runde, sier Maanum til Shifter.

Han er ekstremt imponert over Andreas Mjelde og hele gründerteamet til Two. Ikke minst evnen til å tiltrekke seg de beste talentene i Norge, i Storbritannia og i andre deler av verden.

- Hva er det som gjør Two til en spennende investering?

- B2B-betalinger er tre-fire ganger større enn B2C og volumene beveger seg raskt online. Det som virkelig kan akselerere dette skiftet, er gode og sømløse betalingsløsninger. Det er lett å glemme, men også B2B-betalinger blir gjennomført av individer. De forventer seg de samme løsningene på jobb som privat, men det er langt fra realiteten i dag, der papirfaktura fortsatt er standarden. Vi mener Two har bygget et markedsledende produkt og er godt posisjonert til å bli en ledende aktør globalt, sier Maanum, og fortsetter:

- Two gir forhandlere evnen til å tilby sine kunder kjøp på kreditt, uten selv å måtte opptre som bank. Samtidig kan Two hjelpe bankene med å kunne tilby kreditt til SMB-segmentet på en skalerbar måte.

- Twos samarbeidsavtale med Santander og Allianz Trade var klar etter at emisjonen var gjennomført. Bidro den likevel til investeringen?

- Det var ikke avgjørende for vår investeringsbeslutning, men selvsagt positivt. Evnen til å lande en slik avtale er et bevis på styrken til teamet og at de har utviklet en innovativ løsning

Alliance Ventures går også inn med et betydende beløp. Via sine to svenske fond Delta og Delta Norweigan Sidecar bidrar Alliance med drøyt 16 millioner kroner.

Blant andre investorer fyller både Bring Ventures og Visionaries Club på tidligere investeringer. Det er også verdt å notere at Kjetil Holmefjord og Henrik Hatlebrekkes Sondo går inn med drøyt 800.000 kroner.

Sequoia Capital deltar derimot ikke i denne runden.
MELD DEG PÅ FINSHIFT- nyhetsbrevet som kommenterer ukens viktigste fintech-nyheter.
Fersk avtale sikter på de største selskapene

I begynnelsen av januar kunne Two og Mjelde melde om en samarbeidsavtale med verdens største kredittforsikringsselskap, Allianz Trade og investeringsbanken Santander CIB.

Målet er å kunne tilby BNPL-løsninger, ikke bare til små og mellomstore bedrifter i enkeltland, men også en global løsning til de aller største selskapene på tvers av landegrenser.

Mjelde har ikke noen planer om å overgi SMB-markedet, men forklarer én ny, skikkelig stor kunde i beste fall tilsvare 1000 små kunder i transaksjonsvolum.

Siden storemisjonen faktisk var i boks allerede i september i fjor, har Two for lengst begynt å ta i bruk pengene.

Høyest på agendaen står det å få ferdigstilt en løsning som sømløst integrerer finansiering fra Santander og kredittforsikring fra Allianz med Twos BNPL-løsning for bedrifter.

- Vi kommer til å investere i vekst inntil vi er kommet dithen at vi ikke trenger å hente mer penger. Det betyr at vi investerer tungt i teknologi og jakter på utviklere og data scientists. Vi lager et produkt som hjelper andre selskaper å håndtere risiko og kapitalflyt. Å bli best på risikobeslutninger, enten det er kreditt eller svindel, er et arbeid som alltid er "work in progress" som aldri blir helt ferdig, sier Mjelde.

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Two gjør kjempeemisjon - henter 184 millioner kroner

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Serie A-runden på 184 millioner kroner var faktisk i boks allerede i fjor høst og pengene var utbetalt for lenge siden da startup-verdenen for to uker siden ble rystet av kollapsen i Silicon Valley Bank. Heller ikke Two var uberørt av kollapsen.

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The venture capital and private equity database today launched VC Exit Predictor, a tool trained on PitchBook data to attempt to suss out a startup’s growth prospects. When given the name of a VC-backed company, VC Exit Predictor generates a score on the probability that it’ll be acquired, go public or not exit due to becoming self-sustaining or experiencing any event (e.g., bankruptcy) that prevents an exit.

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PitchBook’s new tool uses AI to predict which startups will successfully exit

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PitchBook is launching a new tool that uses historical data and AI to attempt to predict which startups will successfully exit.

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Interesting article about the state of Venture Capital Investments - Robin

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Interesting article about the state of Venture Capital Investments - Robin

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"Exit activity for venture-backed startups in the fourth quarter plunged more than 90% from a year earlier" & "In February, funding was down 63% from $48.8 billion a year earlier." "The frothy pre-2022 market isn’t coming back, assume this is normal" - Bill Gurley

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SVB collapse is double-whammy for tech startups already navigating brutal market

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Startup founders across the U.S. were already cutting costs and preserving cash before Silicon Valley Bank’s failure this month complicated their situation.

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Tough time for late-stage market as YC scales back ambitions - Huyen 

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Tough time for late-stage market as YC scales back ambitions - Huyen 

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Y Combinator, the prolific Silicon  Valley accelerator known for its bets on DoorDash, Reddit and Airbnb, said it will cut back on investing in later-stage companies and will trim nearly 20% of its staff.

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Y Combinator, the prolific Silicon Valley accelerator known for its bets on DoorDash, Reddit and Airbnb, said it will cut back on investing in later-stage companies and will trim nearly 20% of its staff.

In a blog post released Monday night, CEO Garry Tan said that "late-stage investing turned out to be so different from early stage that we found it to be a distraction from our core mission."

He said Y Combinator would decrease the amount of late-stage investing it does, prompting it to dismiss 17 people from its late-stage team.

Y Combinator said its layoffs and pullback from late-stage investing are unrelated to the fallout surrounding the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Y Combinator's announcement highlights a challenging time for late-stage startups that were already facing a difficult environment. While known for investing in seed and early-stage startups, Y Combinator had increased its later stage deals in recent years, peaking at 68 deals valued at $8 billion in 2021.

The late-stage startup landscape faces a rough outlook on several fronts. Capital demand is greatly outpacing supply, and this shift has been most pronounced in the late stage, where demand has outstripped for capital is outpacing capital supply by almost 150%.

"The later stage will become more overextended as news like this continues to come out," said PitchBook analyst Alex Warfel.

Late stage is the most capital-starved stage of the VC market, with a $26.1 billion funding gap in last year's fourth quarter, according to PitchBook data. In 2021 the relatively low cost of capital had meant an ample supply, but investors scaled back in 2022 even as demand was rising sharply.

"Late stage is already dealing with a lack of capital and too many companies, with no path to liquidity," said PitchBook senior analyst Kyle Stanford.

PitchBook's analysts were quick to note that while the accelerator's strategic shift will have a limited impact on later-stage startups, it adds to an already growing hole in the demand for capital.

"It's just a difficult time for them," Stanford said. "There's not a lot of liquidity there."

Featured image of Garry Tan by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images

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Tough times for late-stage market as Y Combinator pulls back | PitchBook

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Y Combinator, the prolific Silicon Valley accelerator known for its bets on DoorDash, Reddit and Airbnb, said it will cut back on investing in later-stage companies and will trim nearly 20% of its staff.

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Tiger Global marked down the value of its investments in private companies by about 33% across its venture-capital funds in 2022, according to people familiar with the firm.

The markdowns erased $23 billion in value from Tiger's giant holdings of startups around the globe, one of the people said. Its private portfolio includes big bets on hundreds of companies including TikTok parent ByteDance and payments company Stripe. In the fourth quarter, Tiger's newest venture funds lost between 9% and 25%.

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WSJ News Exclusive | Tiger Global Writes Down Venture Funds' Bets by 33% in 2022

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Tiger Global marked down the value of its investments in private companies by about 33% across its venture-capital funds in 2022, according to people familiar with the firm. The markdowns erased $23 billion in value from Tiger's giant holdings of startups around the globe, one of the people said.

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After a week of concerning financial news, with the collapse of SVB, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse has also faced great issues, and a huge downturn. This is as a result of Saudi National bank, a major shareholder, ruled out any further investments. The potential fall of Credit Suisse has been shaking up financial markets, and had a huge impact in numerous stock markets. The fear of a financial crisis has been spread like wildfire, and private equity is extracted from banks, as many banks are no longer trusted. However, Credit Suisse has been granted a $54Bn lifeline from the Swiss national bank. The loan is set to increase liquidity and regain investors confidence and trust. This might be particularly interesting for our Swiss friend Sebastian:)

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Credit Suisse plans to borrow up to SFr50bn ($54bn) from the Swiss central bank and buy back about $6bn of its debt, in an attempt to boost its liquidity and calm investors a day after the bank's share price plummeted.

The Swiss National Bank had said on Wednesday it was willing to provide a liquidity backstop to Credit Suisse after the troubled lender's shares fell as much as 30 per cent. The sell-off came after the chair of the Saudi National Bank, a major Credit Suisse shareholder, ruled out any further investment.

In a statement on Thursday, Credit Suisse said it had taken the decision "to pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity" by borrowing the funds from the SNB under a loan facility and a short-term liquidity facility.

The Zurich-based bank also said its international subsidiary would repurchase some of the Credit Suisse operating company's senior debt securities in cash for up to SFr3bn. It also plans to make a cash tender offer for ten US dollar denominated senior debt securities worth up to $2.5bn and four euro denominated senior debt securities worth up to €500mn.

The offers will expire on March 22.

Chief executive Ulrich Körner said the measures "demonstrate decisive action to strengthen Credit Suisse as we continue our strategic transformation". Körner's restructuring has included selling off a part of Credit Suisse's investment bank and cutting thousands of jobs.

The move is the latest attempt by Credit Suisse to regain investor confidence after a series of scandals and setbacks have rocked the Swiss bank and pushed its stock price down to a record low.

Credit Suisse shares closed down 24.2 per cent on Wednesday, pushing its market value below SFr7bn. Shares in the bank, which raised SFr4bn of capital just a few months ago, are down 39 per cent this year and 85 per cent over the past two years. Credit Suisse's US-listed shares were trading up 5.6 per cent in after-hours trading.

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Credit Suisse to borrow up to $54bn from Swiss central bank

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Credit Suisse plans to borrow up to SFr50bn ($54bn) from the Swiss central bank and buy back about $6bn of its debt, in an attempt to boost its liquidity and calm investors a day after the bank's share price plummeted.

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Third-largest bank failure in US history — Arturo

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Third-largest bank failure in US history — Arturo

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https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/13/signature-bank-third-biggest-bank-failure-in-us-history.html?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew

The collapse of Signature Bank, the third-largest bank failure in US history just two days after the collapse of SVB, has caught my attention. I think the controversy surrounding the closure of Signature Bank, whether it was singled out for its ties to crypto or related to the collapse of SVB, makes it an interesting case study for entrepreneurs in the financial industry, because this event may signal potential ripple effects in the financial sector worldwide, making it relevant for those interested in acquiring venture funding.

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Sheryl: Interesting article on Stripe that touches on a lot of topics we have covered-employee options, valuations, and more!

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Stripe Cuts Valuation Nearly in Half in $6.5 Billion Share Sale

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Investors agreed to buy more than $6.5 billion in stock in Stripe in a fundraising deal that nearly halves the valuation of one of Silicon Valley's highest-flying startups and delays what could have been [one of the splashiest stock listings](https://www.wsj.com/articles/stripe-sets-one-year-timetab