Published:
Nov 09, 2024
Author:
Sarah Parsons Wolter
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As a new U.S. administration takes the helm, tech luminaries - or adversaries - such as Elon Musk are poised to wield an even more pronounced influence on the policy landscape. The implications of this dynamic are profound: Musk’s visions extend far beyond electric cars and into realms that redefine national priorities, from space colonization and AI development to reimagining sustainable energy grids. With his unique cocktail of audacity, innovation, and market dominance, Musk is not just a CEO; he's a power broker capable of nudging the federal agenda toward futuristic ambitions that once belonged to science fiction.
However, such influence invites a double-edged scrutiny. While Musk's disruptive prowess aligns well with aspirations for a high-tech, eco-friendly future, it raises questions about the concentration of power among the tech elite. The current and future administrations, already navigating a complex socioeconomic landscape, must balance Musk's increasingly outsized influence with broader democratic oversight. The intersection of public interest and private enterprise in policymaking could lead to pioneering advancements—or, unchecked, to regulatory blind spots that favor the visionaries over the vigilant.
In this new era, where innovation fuels both policy and profits, Musk will surely bring a spark to the national conversation. But will he bring his sink too?
Portfolio News
MoneyLion announces third quarter 2024 results - MoneyLion generated record revenue of $135m and Adjusted EBITDA of $24m in the third quarter. These results met or exceeded guidance across all metrics. Building on this momentum, the company announced that they are raising full-year 2024 guidance, which implies revenue growth acceleration exiting the year. For full-year 2024, they now expect revenue of $536m to $541m and Adjusted EBITDA of $88 to $93m. Read more
ORDA partners with EAT’N’GO to revolutionize restaurant operations - Under the partnership, ORDA will provide its ORDA POS, Omnichannel and ORDA Stock software across 100+ outlets. ORDA has been closely working with Eat N’ Go (the master franchisee of Coldstone Creamery and Pinkberry Yoghurt in Nigeria and Kenya) since January of 2024 to develop advanced solutions to help Africa’s leading franchise operator to manage its restaurant operations, track inventory, connect to on-demand delivery providers and accelerate its in-house data use with machine learning. Read more
LendSaaS taps Ocrolus for AI-driven document analysis - The strategic partnership will offer LendSaaS customers access to Ocrolus’ industry-leading document analysis, cash flow analytics, and fraud detection directly through the LendSaaS platform. Read more
Is The Sink Coming Too?
Behind the Curtain: The most powerful (unelected) man ever - Elon Musk — the most influential backer of President-elect Trump, thanks to his money, time and X factor — now sits at the pinnacle of power in business, government influence and global information (and misinformation) flow. As Axios reports, Trump has the White House and four short years. Musk has so much more since his influence cuts across government, media, business, the world, space and time. Read more
Trump should heed Adam Smith’s lesson on markets - An oft-overlooked point of Adam Smith is an appreciation of family firms. When Smith developed his ideas about markets, the only enterprises around him were family-owned ones (with the notable exception of the joint-stock East India Company, which Smith decried). Read more
The crypto industry spent over $130m on the election; it paid off - On Tuesday, the spending spree fueled a string of victories for congressional candidates who had expressed support for cryptocurrencies. You can track them all here on StandWithCrypto.org/races. Read more
Industry News
Goldman, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley eye crypto clients as IPO prospects brighten - The new enthusiasm reflects optimism that improving market and regulatory conditions after a Donald Trump victory in the U.S. presidential election could clear a way for companies like Kraken, Fireblocks and Chainalysis to go public. Bankers’ interest in meetings is also a shift from much of the past two years, when many investment banks saw crypto companies as too risky to do business with, advisers say. Read more
Mexican banking fintech Klar aims for 2026 IPO - Mexican fintech Klar is setting its sights on a 2026 IPO, aiming for a $500m run rate by next year’s third quarter, as it eyes investor sentiment under President Claudia Sheinbaum's new administration. With 2m active users, Klar plans to expand its reach to 10m, tapping into Mexico's largely underbanked population where only a third of adults have formal credit access. Read more
Robinhood, Kraken, Paxos launch Global Dollar stablecoin network - Major firms from crypto and traditional finance have partnered to launch the Global Dollar Network, a regulation-compliant network designed to accelerate the adoption of stablecoins. Read more
Trump’s election win wakes up sleepy decentralized finance cryptocurrencies - Prices of tokens associated with DeFi outperformed most other categories the day after the election, according to tracker CoinGecko. Some of the largest DeFi coins by market value include UNI, the governance token of decentralized exchange Uniswap, and AAVE, the crypto from the namesake DeFi lender. Read more
The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56 - The average age of homebuyers in the U.S. has risen by six years since July 2023 — another sign that younger Americans are being priced out of the market due to escalating ownership costs. The median age of first-time buyers also rose from 35 to 38, while the share of first-timers dropped from 32% to 24% of all buyers for the year ending July 2024. Read more
Goldman Sachs takes quantum leap on options pricing - Goldman Sachs has conducted research on the application of quantum computing in the options pricing market. Traditional computers struggle to price options accurately when processing large amounts of data quickly or exploring a large number of possible scenarios. Goldman Sachs worked with Quantum Motion to develop an efficient algorithm, including researching the necessary software and hardware capabilities, to enable quantum computations fast enough to give the bank a winning advantage. Read more
State Street says it is ‘shopping’ for a private credit manager - State Street’s asset management arm is looking to buy a stake in a private credit or infrastructure manager, as one of the world’s largest passive fund managers tries to boost its presence in the fast-growing realm of alternative assets. Read more
Affirm expands to the UK in first major international foray - As part of the company’s first expansion overseas, Affirm's U.K. offering will include interest-free and interest-bearing monthly payment options. Interest on its plans will be fixed and calculated on the original principal amount, meaning it won’t increase or compound. Read more
Trump win boosts prediction markets that nailed election outcome - And with the election seen, particularly in finance circles, as a referendum on the relative power of polls and these platforms, betting websites will now no doubt take on an even greater air of market-powered invincibility. Read more
Select Financings
Ellipsis Labs - New York based Solana decentralized exchange developer raised $21m in new funding led by Haun Ventures. Read more
Flueid - Austin based title software company raised $8.3m in new funding led by LiveOak Ventures. Read more
Fractional - San Francisco based startup enabling users to co-invest in properties together raised $15m in Series A funding led by Fifth Wall Ventures. Read more
Fundcraft - Luxembourg based fund operations platform raised €6m in Seed funding led by 3VC and MiddleGame Ventures. Read more
Further - Washington based mortgage calculator startup raised $4.1m in pre-Seed funding led by Link Ventures. Read more
JustFund - Sydney based fintech for family law legal fees raised $5.7m in Seed funding led by Xilium Capital. Read more
Lerian - Brazil based core banking startup raised $3.2m in Seed funding led by Maya Capital. Read more
Marosa - Spain based accounting SaaS for invoicing and compliance raised €12m in new funding from Aquiline. Read more
Melio - New York based accounts payable and accounts receivable platform raised $150m in Series E funding led by Fiserv. Read more
MoradaUno - Mexico based real estate rental platform raised $5.6m in Series A funding led by Flourish Ventures and Cometa. Read more
Plato - Berlin based ERP automation platform raised $6.5m in pre-Seed funding led by Cherry Ventures. Read more
Vlayer - London based Ethereum smart contract startup raised $10m in pre-Seed funding from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator. Read more
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