Rippling Sues Deel Over Alleged Corporate Spy Who Fled After Trying to Flush His Phone 🇺🇸
We're also covering the Klarna-DoorDash announcement outrage 🇺🇸, Kraken & Coinbase derivatives push 🇺🇸, the software design flaw that cost TD $3.1B 🇨🇦 & Dalma's pet insurance play 🇫🇷.
🇺🇸 Rippling Sues Deel Over Alleged Corporate Spy Who Fled After Trying to Flush His Phone
Corporate espionage has rocked the fintech world as HR platform Rippling files an explosive lawsuit against competitor Deel. The San Francisco-based workforce platform alleges Deel planted a spy in Rippling’s Dublin office who conducted over 6,000 illicit searches and leaked competitive data, sales leads, and employee phone numbers for poaching. When confronted with a court order, the alleged mole reportedly locked himself in a bathroom, allegedly tried to flush his phone, and later fled.
The lawsuit, filed by high-profile attorney Alex Spiro (who represents Elon Musk and Jay-Z), claims: "The evidence in this case is undeniable. The highest levels of Deel's leadership are implicated in a brazen corporate espionage scheme and they will be held accountable."
This legal battle follows a January class-action lawsuit against Deel alleging insufficient anti-money laundering measures and sanctions violations, charges Deel denies, while suggesting Rippling orchestrated that complaint. "Weeks after Rippling is accused of violating sanctions law in Russia and seeding falsehoods about Deel, Rippling is trying to shift the narrative with these sensationalized claims," a Deel spokesperson said.
What makes this legal drama interesting is that it involves two fintech powerhouses. Deel boasts a $12B valuation with $800M annual revenue, while Rippling reaches $13.5B valuation with estimated $580M annual revenue.
Interestingly, Rippling was established in 2016 by current CEO Parker Conrad, after he left Zenefits following a wave of controversies. Adding to the drama, Prasanna Sankar, a fellow Rippling co-founder and former Zenefits colleague, is on the run from the Chennai police with his son since Sunday, claiming in a widely shared X post that his wife was unfaithful, lodged baseless accusations of rape and child abduction against him, and is tormenting him amid their divorce battle. Prasanna Sankar, who previously served as Rippling’s CTO, departed the company in 2020.
Source: Global Fintech Insider, Inc. & Times of India
🇺🇸 Klarna & DoorDash Let You Buy A Burritos In Four Interest-Free Installments
Food delivery giant DoorDash is integrating Klarna's buy-now-pay-later services into its app. Users will now have options to pay immediately, split payments into four interest-free installments with "Pay in 4," or defer payment until a later date through "Pay Later" features. The partnership extends BNPL financing to everyday food purchases and comes as Klarna prepares for an IPO with a targeted $15 billion valuation. DoorDash rival GrubHub was already offering Klarna payment services. The announcement triggered a deluge of memes (like the one above) and negative comments comparing it signs of market excess examples such as the dot-com bubble officiel punching bag Pets.com or subprime mortgages. Semafor writer Liz Hoffman voiced these concerns on X: "When the economy finally cracks, we'll look back on 'installment loans for food delivery aligned with payday schedules' as the moment we should have known better." Meanwhile, fintech entrepreneur Rory O'Reilly, CEO of Knot, offered a different historical perspective on X: "In 1983, people went crazy over using a credit card at Burger King... Now? People swipe, tap, or Apple Pay without blinking."
Source: Global Fintech Insider
🇺🇸 Kraken & Coinbase To Spend Billions To Get Into Lucrative Derivatives Market
Kraken is buying futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. The acquisition will allow the crypto exchange to offer crypto derivatives while expanding into traditional asset classes through NinjaTrader's futures trading tools that serve nearly two million users. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025, as Kraken prepares for a potential IPO. According to Kraken's co-chief executive officer Arjun Sethi, the acquisition represents the initial phase of their plan to enable the trading of all types of assets. Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, Kraken competitor Coinbase is in advanced discussions to acquire Deribit, the world's largest trading platform for Bitcoin and Ether options, in a deal that could value the crypto derivatives exchange at $4-5 billion.
Source: Bloomberg & Global Fintech Insider
🇨🇭 Swiss Bank Acquires Majority Stake In Danish Online Trading Platform Saxo Bank For $1.2B
Swiss private banking group J. Safra Sarasin is buying a majority stake in Danish online trading platform Saxo Bank. The Swiss bank will acquire approximately 70% of Saxo from Chinese conglomerate Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Finnish financial services group Mandatum for around 1.12 billion euros ($1.21 billion), valuing the entire fintech at approximately 1.61 billion euros ($1.74 billion). Following the transaction, Saxo founder and CEO Kim Fournais (pictured above) will continue leading the company while retaining his 28% ownership stake. J. Safra Sarasin plans to integrate Saxo's technology platform into its operations and expand Saxo’s fintech partnerships with banks, corporates, family offices, asset managers, and independent wealth managers.
Source: Wall Street Journal
🇦🇪 NymCard Raises $33M To Expand Card Issuing & Payment Infrastructure In Arab Countries
Abu Dhabi-based NymCard has secured $33 million in Series B funding to expand its embedded finance platform across the Middle East and North Africa. Founded by CEO Omar Onsi (pictured above), the company offers API-first solutions for card issuing, embedded lending, and money movement services that enable banks, fintechs, and enterprises to launch financial products quickly. Led by QED Investors, the funding will help NymCard strengthen its presence in more than 10 regional markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Oman and Lebanon, where it already serves over 50 financial institutions and businesses.
Source: PYMNTS
🇨🇦 TD Bank Money Laundering Woes Tied To Auto-Fill Default In Compliance Software
TD Bank's massive $3.1 billion fine for money laundering failures in the US stemmed, in part, from software design flaw. The bank's currency transaction reporting system automatically defaulted to listing the account holder as the person conducting transactions. While tellers could and should have manually corrected the auto-filled field, this default setting made compliance failures much more likely, as evidenced when TD staff failed to update the information more than 500 times in money launderer Da Ying Sze's case alone. This software’s UI flaw, combined with understaffed compliance teams and management's reluctance to implement stronger controls due to cost concerns, allowed Sze to move $474 million through TD Bank branches while avoiding detection, ultimately leading to the first-ever guilty plea to conspiracy to commit money laundering by a US bank. TD Bank, the 10th largest bank in the US, is the US subsidiary of Toronto-Dominium Bank, the second largest bank in Canada.
Source: Bloomberg
🇫🇷 Dalma Raises $22M To Expand Pet Insurance Across Europe
French pet insurtech Dalma has secured a €20 million (21.7 million USD) Series B funding round led by Breega, Northzone, Anterra Capital, and Bpifrance. Co-founded in 2021 by CEO Alban de Préville (pictured above, left), COO Raphaël Sadaka (pictured above, right) & CTO P. Harry Belinga, the fintech provides insurance products covering medical expenses for dogs and cats, offering policyholders unlimited free online veterinary consultations and educational content while aiming to become an augmented insurance platform similar to health insurer Alan but focused on pets. Currently operating in France and Germany with 65,000 insured animals and 100% growth in 2024, Dalma plans to use the funding to expand across Europe, enhance its AI capabilities, and grow its team moderately from 45 to 50-60 employees by year-end.
Source: Journal du Net
🇺🇸 Multiply Raises $23.5M To Help Ramp And Other Companies Offer Cheaper Mortgages To Their Employees
Denver-based Multiply Mortgage has secured a $23.5 million Series A funding round led by Kleiner Perkins. Founded in 2022 by former Square and Goldman Sachs execs Michael White (center, back row, with sunglasses) and Gautam Gupta, the fintech provides employees of partner companies like Anduril and Ramp with one-on-one mortgage advisor sessions, educational resources, and interest rate discounts up to 0.75% through its network of 15-20 lenders. ”We’re creating a new category of financial wellness benefits: discounted mortgage interest rates, expert advisor support, personal financial education – all at zero cost to the employer”, wrote CEO Micheal White in a recent Linkedin post. The startup operates as a mortgage broker licensed in 19 states with partners in 26 additional states and plans to begin direct lending within months. Multiply differentiates itself from competitors like LendingTree through its employer-focused model and concierge service.
Source: TechCrunch & Global Fintech Insider
🇳🇿 Airwallex Opens New Zealand Office With Former Xero & Lightspeed Executive
Hong Kong based fintech unicorn Airwallex is expanding its physical presence in New Zealand. The payments platform has hired Auckland-based Lowry Gladwell (picture above, second from the left) as its New Zealand lead and first local staffer, with plans to add 10 more employees in business, sales and operations roles by year-end. Gladwell brings significant industry experience as former head of strategic partnerships at Xero and head of partnerships for Asia Pacific at Montreal-based point-of-sale provider Lightspeed. Airwallex, valued at US$5.6 billion, already serves several prominent Kiwi businesses since its remote launch in 2022, including band management firm Merlin, retailer Rodd & Gunn, and tech companies Tracksuit and Auror.
Source: The New Zealand Herald
🇺🇸 Insiders Mourn the Death of TechCrunch as it Changes Hands Once Again
Regent, a private equity firm founded by tech entrepreneur Michael Reinstein, has acquired TechCrunch from Yahoo. In a post explaining the ownership change, TechCrunch’s editor-in-chief and general manager Connie Loizos claimed the deal would ensure "minimal disruption" to operations, but insiders paint a starkly different picture. "Over the past 18 months, TC lost a huge chunk of its long-time leadership and editorial team. Half were laid off (like me), and the rest walked," wrote Matt Burns, former Managing Editor who spent 16 years at the publication, in a Linkedin post. Garden District Ventures managing director Jason M. Cronen, whose seed fund invests in fintech startups across Southeast Asia, was even more direct on Linkedin : "Rest in peace, TechCrunch... it's disappointing that you didn't acknowledge what often follows when private equity takes over a media brand: mass departures of talented journalists, declining readership, the silencing of contrarian viewpoints and investigative reporting".
Source: Global Fintech Insider
Upcoming Fintech Events
🇨🇦 The Canadian Fintech Summit will be held in Toronto on April 8th, 2025 (221 USD), with speakers such as Darcy Tuer, CEO of ZayZoon and David Nault, GP at Luge Capital.
🇩🇪 FIBE Fintech Berlin will be held in Berlin on April 9-10, 2025 (1,204 USD), with speakers such as Dan Schulman, former CEO of PayPal & Hélène Falchier, partner at Portage Ventures.
🇹🇭 Money20/20 Asia will be held in Bangkok on April 22-24, 2025 (3,195 USD), with speakers such as Lucy Liu, co-founder & president of Airwallex & Martha Sazon, CEO of GCash.
🇬🇧 The Innovate Finance Global Summit will be held in London on April 29, 2025 (450 USD), with speakers such as Justin Basini, co-founder & CEO of ClearScore & Diana Avila, Global Head of Banking and Expansion at Wise.
🇺🇸 FinovateSpring will be held in San Diego on May 7-9, 2025 (1,299 USD), with speakers such as Vishal Garg, founder & CEO at Better.com & Lauren McCollom, Head of Embedded Finance at Grasshopper Bank.
🇦🇪 Dubai FinTech Summit will take place in Dubai on May 12-13, 2025 (899 USD), with speakers such as Arik Shtilman, co-founder and CEO of Rapyd & John Caplan, CEO of Payoneer.
🇺🇸 Stablecon will take place in New York on May 29, 2025 (1,295 USD), with speakers such as Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa and Edward Woodford, CEO & co-founder of Zero Hash.
🇳🇱 Money20/20 Europe will be held in Amsterdam on June 3-5, 2025 (3,395 USD), with speakers such as Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING & Yoni Assia, CEO of eToro.
Who Am I?
Hi, my name is Julien Brault.
From 2017 to 2024, I was the CEO of Hardbacon, a fintech I co-founded, which reached 400,000 unique visitors at its peak.
A Google update ultimately sealed the company’s faith and I started this newsletter to keep myself busy in the aftermath.
I’m now product manager for Beeye, an AccountingTech SaaS.
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Because my goal is to use my experience as an economic journalist, fintech entrepreneur and product manager to present the most essential fintech news from around the world through the eyes of an insider.
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