VC & Funding

Fintech Futures published the largest volume of funding and M&A coverage last week. On the funding side, it reported that Bain Capital led a $74m strategic investment for RQD* Clearing, that Socure hit a $5.2bn valuation with its latest funding round while also acquiring Fravity, that Canada's Helcim raised a $38m Series C to fuel product development, and that Standard Metrics landed $20m to develop an investor portfolio management platform. On the M&A side, Fintech Futures covered Vanguard's $4bn deal to acquire digital custodian Altruist, Nayax's agreement to acquire smart parking provider IPS Group for $350m, and reports that Vietnam's Techcombank is in talks to sell a 15% stake to its first major foreign investor. It also ran a roundup titled "August 2026: Top five fintech M&A stories of the month."

American Banker Fintech covered the suspension of Stripe and Advent's pursuit of PayPal. Connecting the Dots in FinTech reported that US fintech investment topped $80B in H1 2026, while separately noting that UK fintech funding hit a decade low, presenting a contrast between the two markets.

Payments Wrap Up covered two funding stories: Fasset hitting unicorn status after a $68M Series C, and AI fintech Rillet raising $100M at a $1B valuation. Stack and Story also covered Fasset's rise to a $1B valuation, framing it around emerging-market plumbing.

The Fintech Blueprint covered banks scrambling to lend $10B to Anthropic under an AI-focused lens. Linas's Newsletter touched on several subjects, including Revolut's EURR stablecoin positioned to serve as a euro stablecoin on-ramp in Europe, an Anthropic IPO pitch valued at $30T, and Stripe's ownership of a $140B startup described as a "Legal OS."