Spend management fintech Ramp raised $300 million on Aug. 22 to fuel its product expansion aims.  

The series D funding round has given the New York-based company a valuation of $5.8 billion, according to a release from the company.  

Ramp’s valuation dropped from $8.1 billion in 2022, when it raised $200 million in equity and $500 million in debt financing in a series C round in March, according to Crunchbase.

The current valuation is lower due to a broader startup market valuation reset and the increased cost of capital, the release stated. 

Ramp has seen its transaction volume increase by a factor of six since its last funding round, and has helped save customers nearly $600 million in that time, the release stated. Nearly 15,000 businesses use Ramp’s services, a fivefold increase since the March 2022 round.  

Ramp investors include Thrive Capital, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel’s Founder Fund and Lux Capital, according to the release. 

In January, Ramp teamed up with challenger bank Grasshopper to provide virtual and physical corporate cards to its business clients. 

Better.com goes public via SPAC, shares nosedive 

Home financing fintech Better.com went through an initial public offering on Aug. 23, merging with Aurora Acquisition Corp. via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).  

“Going public provided Better with $565M of fresh capital,” a spokesperson told Bank Automation News. “This infusion of capital will allow Better to continue investing in its core technology and emerge from the current market cycle as one of the top five most well-capitalized mortgage lenders in the industry.” 

The company’s shares opened at $1.98 on Nasdaq and dropped to 83 cents since its IPO, a 58% drop.  

“When the deal [going public] was priced in 2021, rates were at record lows,” the Better.com spokesperson told BAN. “We believe that when interest rates normalize, our technology powered by Tinman will drive long-term growth and create shareholder value.” 

With the new capital infusion, Better can provide mortgage service to Americans in a high-inflation and high lending rate environment that will help grow its operations, the spokesperson said. 

The New York-based company is looking to use the money to create a One Day Mortgage product that allows customers to go from click to commitment letter within 24 hours for their mortgage application, the spokesperson said. 

ClassWallet raises $95 million 

ClassWallet, a digital wallet that offers purchasing and reimbursement services for public funds, raised $95 million in a private equity funding round on Aug. 15.

Guidepost Growth Equity led the round, with participation from Education Growth Partners and Lazard Family Office Partners, a release stated. The money will support the company’s growth in enabling government agencies, particularly those in education, to digitally manage their finances.

The company aims to use the money “to execute on strategic initiatives, expand our markets, invest in technology and in our people,” co-founder and President Neil Steinhardt told BAN.

The company “already uses AI to analyze every call center interaction and to help guide customer service agents to be more efficient,” and is “implementing AI into our platform to help our clients make better decisions when approving transactions from their users.” Steinhardt said.

Petal announces $200 million debt facility 

Credit card fintech Petal announced a $200 million debt facility on Aug. 3 from Victory Park Capital, a Chicago-based venture capital company. 

The funds will help New York-based Petal scale its credit card program, which provides cards to customers who are new to credit without requiring credit scores to qualify, according to a release. 

The company has provided 400,000 credit cards to consumers since its inception in 2016 and issued 100,000 credit cards in 2022, the company’s release stated.  

“It will soon be possible for any U.S. consumer to use their banking history to qualify for new and better financial services,” Petal co-founder and Chief Executive Jason Rosen said in the release. “That’s great for consumers, and an opportunity for Petal to make credit accessible to millions of people who have been overlooked and underserved for too long.” 

Petal has raised $992 million since 2016 and has Jeffries and Trinity Capital as investors, according to Crunchbase. 

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