Pezesha fintech embedded finance raises $11 million in equity debt round ahead of Series A – TechCrunch

To get a bunch of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox daily at 3pm PDT, Sign up here.

Hey hey Hey! We are very happy to have you back with us again. Today, we’re mostly surprised at how quiet Twitter is on Burning Man and glad we’re doing it Labor Day sale for TechCrunch Plus, if you were trying to read our registration site but you declined for any reason. – Christine and Haje

TechCrunch’s Top 3

• Embed that finance: Pezesha, a fintech startup based in Kenya, is getting $11 million in fresh capital as it seeks to bridge the gap between access to financial products and a “$330 billion financial deficit.” for small businesses that make up 90% of Africa’s businesses,” Annie report.
• We are all connected: If you haven’t found yourself in one of the Circles of your Twitter connections, you might soon. The social media giant is rolling out “Best Friends” features globally, Ivan report. Add more people to your Circles and receive tweets.
• No delivery for you: The new Gopuff delivery platform is only available in Europe as of November 2021, but Natasha LOL writes that they have made the decision to discontinue service in Spain. Perhaps this is to focus more on the UK market, she said, where sales are up 30% month-on-month.

Start-ups and VC

Start-up capital is VC Garry Tan’s answer to a need first highlighted by Y Combinator. As an accelerator partner from 2010 to 2015, Tan spent time working with companies to better understand what they needed from investors after graduation. This week, he announced that he has returned to leadership at YC, and Natasha USA interview him about what’s next for Y Combinator.

The company behind last summer’s hot social app, Poparazzi, seems to Get ready for round two after the $15 million Series A announced in June. A new listing in the App Store under the developer account, TTYL, is featuring a pre-release app called Made with Friends, Sarah report.

When the news hits you, like a big pizza, it’s another news:

• Notification Balloons: Devin reported that, in the end, there an underwater messaging app.
• Money Laundering Money: Discharge new money, British ‘eco-laundry’ start-up Oxwash has raised $12 million to plan growth, Natasha LOL report.
• Faster when farther: 5 billion pounds The Gigabit project launched the first contract to connect rural areas to high-speed broadband, Paul report.
• PriceOye receives Thiel’s seal of approval: Islamabad-based startup PriceOye offers a wide range of electronic products, including smartphones, TVs and home appliances. It just closed a round of funding from investors, including Peter Thielreport Jagmeet.
• Dodging bullet SPAC: Alex and Anna wrote a really cool piece on TC+ (use “DC” for 15% off if you’re not already a subscriber) about SPACs, how they’re distributed, and how could Europe have dodged a bullet on that front.

How to Communicate With Your Crypto Community When Things Don’t Go

Image credits: Peter Dazeley (Opens in a new window) / Beautiful pictures

Because it’s a nascent industry that’s largely unregulated, crypto companies generally don’t have the crisis communication skills. (We’re being very generous here.)

When a bank or financial services company experiences a major security incident or a volatility shock, federal law regulates how it must communicate with its customers. However, crypto startups must base their own best judgment on.

“There’s little benefit to claiming the sky is falling and begging your community to invest, but an overly-bright outlook won’t fool you,” said Tahem Verma, Co-Founder and CEO of Mesha. anyone,” said Tahem Verma, Co-Founder and CEO of Mesha.

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams rise to the top. You can register here.)

Big Tech Inc.

Last chance to get your game on Facebook game app. The social media giant said it would shut down its standalone app at the end of October, Aisha report. Don’t worry, you can still find your game in the actual Facebook Games. When it launched the separate app two years ago, it seemed to be tougher than Facebook bargained for, so they decided to join them instead of beating them.